“I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and my femininity. And I want to be respected in all of my femaleness because I deserve to be.” . . . I just wrote a whole post about how the tide is turning where as women, we are claiming back what has been seen as dichotomous in society: we can be tenacious, hard working, resourceful, confident, opinionated and still be feminine and dress how we want. It was an awesome post that I spent at least 1/2 hour crafting. When I went to post it, the whole thing disappeared. SO! Know that what I wanted to say is that I love how as women we are reclaiming our bodies, our strength and our all-around power. We are choosing to do it in a pencil skirt or in pants. WE are choosing. No more apologizing for the complex, beautiful, divinely feminine creatures that we are. We're here and we're rising. Let's go, ladies. . . . The gorgeous @theashleyclem
In honor of all the badass female energy that's been going on lately, I want to kick off your Friday with THIS BADASS! @theashleyclem is a force. She just released SONA, a sci-fi show that she conceived, wrote, directed and starred in THAT SHE SHOT MOSTLY IN HER APARTMENT! You can binge watch the whole thing on Alpha. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which Ashley starred in, won the very first ever Emmy for a web series ever. Ashley is whip-smart, resourceful, strong, super fun and all around rad. . . . Ashley approached me to shoot because she loved how I portray and shoot women: powerfully feminine and badass--of which Ashley clearly is! She hadn't had any photos reflecting that part of her, so it was an honor to showcase this side of her. I know that all women have this side to them, and I LOVE helping women see it in themselves and capturing it for them in photos. And I love that I'm recognized for doing so. It's amazing and I'm so grateful for it. . . . Happy friday, baddies! . . . #losangeles #femalephotographer #SONA #losangelesphotographer #sony #alpha9 #alphafemale #bealpha #vsco #lightroompresets #lizziebennetdiaries
Just one more lil pic of this cute corner...I am very grateful of how things have come and continue to come to me as I create my home: gifted, thrifted and lifted 😜. JK nothing was “lifted”, it just rhymes and I’m clearly tired as that’s cracking me up way more than it should. Haha! Anyway, stay tuned for more portfolio pics interweaved with some personal posts. Happy Wednesday to you all! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Last week, I posted some photos of me and my man in costume for Halloween and Día de los Muertos. I’m seriously getting so tired of people getting so caught up in the Instagram game that they are forgetting the purpose of this forum in the first place (read my Morticia costume post for a longer point!) . I’ve decided that while I’ll still be using IG for portfolio, I’m also gonna use it to post up whatever the fuck I feel like posting. And right now, I’m feeling like I wanna let you guys in on my home. . . . I’m SUPER proud of my home. I had to work my ass off in ways that you can’t imagine in order to create this. Almost everything is thrifted or was given to me. Our little home was created and built on love, above all else (and good deals...you’ll see as I start to post home photos!). You don’t need alot to make things beautiful. My beautiful may not be your beautiful and that’s ok. Be resourceful. Be open. Be ready to receive. . . . Here’s one little vignette in my house: this rad gold mirrored 80s nightstand, found at St. Vincent de Paul for $25 (and it’s hard to see how rad it is because it’s so reflective—you’re mostly seeing the reflection of the floor); spider plant gifted from the homie @briseeley ; lamp from Ikea; all three books from various used bookstores; vintage stamp kit in wooden box from my ❤️ @heatherbejar . . . ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀#mylittlecorner #vintagefurniture #thrifting #thishouseisahome
It’s been a while since I’ve busted out my cards. I used to read for friends and would occasionally lay out a spread for myself, but it’s been a while. . . . Today I was reflecting on the political landscape that we’ve been in and then of course, of the election last night. It popped up in one of my feeds that tonight is also a new moon—which is all about planting seeds and setting your intentions and making new starts—so I thought today would be as good of a day as any to pull a card (plus I LOVE the cards/drawings/interpretations from @the_wild_unknown !). The card for today was the Nine of Cups, which in essence represents bliss and harmony. How fitting on so many levels. So whether you “believe” in tarot or not, let this message bring you some hope...in whatever you’re going through. On this new moon, plant seeds of harmony and bliss and new wishes. . . . From The Wild Unknown: Alas...the card of wishes come true. When the Nine of Cups appears, worries & fears will be cast away. A new phase of peace and harmony awaits. The world seems to be granting your every wish. Good health, happiness & material gains are heading your way. Enjoy. . . . #tarot #newmoon #bliss #harmony #wildunknown #wildunknowntarot #thisisme #mylittlecorner #mylittlecorneroftheworld
Soooooo, at the 2016 elections, I was all primed for someone else to win the presidency. I got all dressed up in my America clothes, including this rad vintage jacket from the 1988 Olympic games. By the time I got to the bar to watch the results, I couldn't believe my eyes as to what was happening. It felt surreal. I have never felt so embarrassed of my country and to be wearing a USA jacket at that time? I wanted to crawl under the table. And straight up, our political environment still feels incredibly surreal. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ BUT! Today, I am hopeful that we will have a shift. I hope that we have been riled up and woken up and shook up enough to change shit up. I'll be proudly wearing my USA jacket once again today as I pray for a change of pace for the US. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #vote #ivoted
Cheesing in my USA gear and feeling grateful that we have the right to vote in our country. No matter where you stand, we all have the right and the duty to make shit happen. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #vote #ivoted
So, have you? DO IT! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #vote #ivoted
And wrapping up this row of three, you get me! We had soooo much fun in our Morticia and Gomez costumes. And we even got three events out of them over the Halloween/Day of the Dead season! Until next year!!!
Making rows of threes! Posting one more shot of this gorgeous Gomez, mon coeur ❤️🔐❤️ #gomez #halloween #dayofthedead #mylove
Happy Halloween, Cara Mia 🖤🌹🖤 . . . While I mostly utilize Instagram for my portfolio, I haven't been posting a ton of photos of any type lately. I'm getting a little tired of Instagram's current algorithm that does not support authentic interaction and followers. I get so many people who follow me in hopes that I'll follow them back so that they can build up their visibility in the feed and increase their follower numbers--and then they unfollow immediately because they actually don't care about my work. The current algorithm encourages fake interactions. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I do love Instagram for inspiration and for sharing my current work, but I wish for authenticity in this platform. The authenticity and real interactions were what made IG great when it first started. For businesses, public figures, musicians, artists, etc., getting the current algorithm "right" rather than getting authentic interactions, followers and real support has changed the entire thing. And this, in turn, has fed into how businesses hire "Influencers" to promote their products. Rather than hiring someone with real talent, many companies hire people based on the amount of followers they have. IG is becoming one big commercial. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ SOOOOOO! I'm still going to post my work regularly and I do take pride in my portfolio on this platform, but I decided I'm going to also start posting more personal photos as well. IDGAF about a stupid algorithm or how many followers I have. No one should. I do however, care about who truly enjoys my work and wants to interact with me--and me with them. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This long-ass description for my post leads me to this: my love and I put together these Gomez and Morticia costumes for Halloween. I fucking love what we made and I fucking love him, so this is what I wish to share with you today. This is me. This is us...real & authentic. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Happy Halloween, friends!
“Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ― Pierre Teilhard De Chardin . . . Beautiful @redrosamond for @thekitvintage #inspiration #riseup #losangeles #vintagefashion #femalephotographer #bealpha #alphafemale #sonyalpha9 #femalephotographer #beauty

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