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Archive: ‘housekeeping/fyi’

Setting Up My New Studio in San Diego

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

This is probably “Part 1” in a long (well, hopefully not TOO long!) series of blog posts! I’m ridiculously excited about my new studio in San Diego, and I’ve been working REALLY hard to get it set up & ready for business ASAP!

(I know, more iPhone photos. Have you EVER seen this many iPhone photo posts from me?? It ok though: the movers brought a bunch of my office supplies, and I’m pretty sure my card reader is in there somewhere!! I promise things will be back to normal soon!)

I spent the weekend running from store to store, trying to stock up on supplies & decor. Pictured is just one of, like, 5 Home Depot receipts. Big ones. I’m ready to accept their Customer of the Week award.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a big day! We finally got everything (we think) we needed from various stores, and got to start working inside the studio. We went through the first roll of painter’s tape pretty quickly…

Taping job by yours truly. I may have missed my calling as a light-switch-painter’s-tape-master.

And then – the most exciting part of Bailey’s morning – the movers came! They delivered all the furniture, supplies, etc. I need for my office and to participate in upcoming dog events! It’s starting to feel more like “my studio” with all my things in it!

After finishing up with the movers and doing allllllll the taping, we needed a lunch break. We headed a block down the street and found a great place with incredible burgers, which came with fries that Bailey enjoyed very much! (yes, we feed our dog food from the table, I know I know, but she’s okay with it and so are we.) At one point, she missed a fry we dropped down to her and it somehow bounced all the way under the next table – and she was the most pitiful thing! She just stared at it wistfully. My husband took this photo of our sad puppy. What a silly dog.

After lunch, it was time to get to painting!

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the decor… the bird is my little tribute to my hometown, Portland. Anyone know why? :)

And LOOK! Laminate floors!! We’re actually putting nice flooring in a large part of the space, to make sure I can shoot my studio sessions in that area. I’m nervous about the process but we’re told it’s easy to do… I feel like a first-time homebuyer without ever having bought a home. (Is that a good thing?)

It’s coming along!! I hope you enjoyed these “before” photos, haha! More are on their way… let’s hope everything keeps going as smoothly as it has up till now! :) Thanks for reading!

Tags: dogs, pets, photography, San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, studio
Posted in housekeeping/fyi, just for fun, pet photography | 2 Comments »

San Diego’s Newest Pet Photography Studio!

Saturday, June 15th, 2013

Well, it’s official! I wanted to keep it under-wraps until the papers were signed and the keys were in my hand… and now, it’s true: I’m the owner of San Diego’s newest pet photography studio! Yay!!! This is sooooo exciting!!

I’m not going to show you any photos of the space yet, because honestly, they’re “before” photos. And what good is a “before” without an “after”? I promise, they’re coming! But right now, you’ll have to imagine the possibilities through these photos (taken with my iPhone, because I still haven’t found my card reader in our moving boxes yet… gah).

I’m feeling a lot of different emotions right now – probably what every photographer that’s opened a studio goes through. I’m scared the space won’t live up to the ideas I have in my head if I can’t decorate it well enough. I’m scared for my upcoming bill at Home Depot. I’m scared that the investment will start to weigh on me. I’m scared of a break-in. But at the same time, I’m so excited to have a space in the community where I can invite people, clients & dogs over! I’m excited to be able to simply say, yes, I have a studio! I’m excited to decorate & design it, and I’m excited to have a place that can do everything I need it for: client meetings, shoots, ordering sessions, etc. Honestly, I’m a little bit excited to separate my business life from my personal life, because – not gonna lie – my time-management skills could use a bit of work (coughfacebookcough) and I think having limited access to my files at home might be just the push I need to be as productive as possible while working.

So in the meantime, I’m accepting any & all suggestions on decorating & maintaining a brick & mortar studio. Ken and I are about to head to Home Depot now… and I’m praying the employees there have plenty of patience! We are first-timers, after all! :)

Thanks for reading – and stay tuned for more updates as I do my best to make this studio perfect! :)

Tags: pet photography, pets, photography, San Diego, San Diego Dog Photographer, studio
Posted in events, housekeeping/fyi, personal, pet photography | 2 Comments »

Allison Shamrell Pet Photography is Moving to San Diego!

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

It’s a lot of happy and sad. It’s “finally!” and “already?”. It’s been in the making for a very long time… and I can hardly believe the moment is here. My husband accepted a job at an aerospace engineering company yesterday, making the move 100% official. We really are headed to San Diego.

I just announced the move on the Facebook page a few hours ago, and already I’ve been getting questions. I’ll answer a few here:

~ When it’s happening: we’re moving in a WEEK! Not what I would have chosen, but that’s just the way the timing worked out. Of course it’s caused my stress level to skyrocket, but thankfully we (mostly) knew this was coming, so some preparations have already been made.

~ Am I accepting more sessions here in Florida: unfortunately, no. I REALLY wish I could have warned those people that have contacted me in the past and said “someday I’ll do a session with you!” I just don’t have any room in my tight schedule.

~ Is it a permanent move or just a visit: it’s pretty permanent! We don’t have plans to return to Pensacola right now, except on vacation.

~ Why am I moving: I get to blame this one on my husband! :) His career field is incredibly specialized (aerospace engineering), and a great company in San Diego offered him a pretty perfect job. We couldn’t say no, especially since he’s getting out of the Navy in just two weeks.

~ Am I going to start the business again in San Diego: YES! I can’t imagine trying to get a different job. I LOVE what I do and I’m hoping it won’t take too long to set up shop again!

If you have more questions for me, just leave a comment below. I’m excited for the future and I hope you are too!

Now… off to start packing…

Tags: pet photography, pets, photography
Posted in events, housekeeping/fyi, personal, pet photography | 2 Comments »

Personal: I’m going to Europe!

Friday, April 19th, 2013

So guess what! I’m going on vacation!!

It’s been a crazy year and a half in my life, and even more so for my husband. The long story short: he’s a helicopter pilot but he’s getting out of the Navy. So much has happened, so much that we never expected, both good and bad… talk about UPs and DOWNs! So right before he officially becomes a civilian again, we’re going on a trip! To Europe! It’ll be great to explore new things together that aren’t Navy medical policies and review board applications, haha…

Our itinerary includes Munich, Paris, Prague, Zurich, Lake Como, and Vienna! Maybe more! We’re usually the type to plan out every aspect of our vacation, all the way down to the order of rides we go on at Disneyworld (I know I know, it’s obnoxious), but because of our flight arrangements (or lack thereof), we’ve decided to take the opposite approach! We’re going to rent a car and just drive wherever we want each day – did you know Vienna is only 3 hours from Prague? I’ve actually already visited Munich, Paris & Prague – I studied abroad in college in Toledo, Spain, and that’s when I took the photos you see here.

I’m sharing this with you because A) I’m WAY excited, and B) I’d like to ask for your help! It would be a dream come true to do a pet photography session in Europe! Imagine: a hunting dog perched at the top of a rolling grass hill in Germany. A St. Bernard walking through a small Swiss village with the Alps in the background. A cute little terrier sitting outside an equally cute French bakery. There are soooo many possibilities!

translation: “Without justice there will be no peace.” “And without God there is no justice.”

So here’s my request: will you please share this blog post with your friends/relatives/acquaintances in Europe? Especially if they live in/around one of the cities I mentioned? You never know if they – or one of their friends – might think it’s the perfect time for a photo session with their pets.

We’re leaving TOMORROW – so please don’t hesitate! Please, if you would, send a quick message to your friends/family – include a link to this blog post if you want, or my main website (www.allisonshamrell.com). To book a session, all prospective clients need to do is fill out the contact form here: http://allisonshamrell.com/#/contact/ and then I’ll be in touch! It’s as easy as that!

The blog will be a bit quiet until I get back; I just had time to schedule one more post because I’ve been so busy with packing & preparations. Thanks so much – and get ready for a massive travel photography post when I get back! :)

Tags: dogs, pet photography, pets, photography
Posted in housekeeping/fyi, personal | 1 Comment »

New Photo Product: Metal Prints!

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

I am so thrilled to introduce this gorgeous new product for my photography clients: framed prints on METAL! They’re stunningly gorgeous and I was ridiculously excited after I took my sample out of the massive shipping box… I even did a little happy dance around my office! :)

Wait until you hear about these prints: in them, specialty dyes are infused directly into coated & smoothed sheets of metal. The resulting effect is a super-smooth surface that seems to SHINE from the inside! You can’t see the industrial metal texture underneath; the coating & dyes transform it into a thicker, smoother & stronger version of a regular print. But you can definitely tell it’s not a normal print! I’m telling you… this is jaw-dropping quality.

And the print just wouldn’t look complete without a frame! Since I figured it might be hard for my clients to find a local framer for metal prints (that’s not your average framing job!), each one of these babies already comes with its own frame. The hooks & hanging wire are included too, of course, so it’ll arrive ready-to-hang. That is, after you pick your jaw up off the floor.

Take a look!! And thanks for making this print look extra fabulous, Molly!

Ignore the thermostat… I hung the print up in my house in a place where one of our canvases usually covers that sucker up! :)

Super-smooth texture, and a thick beveled frame.

You can just barely see the thin edge of the metal print here:

These’s just a small space in between the print and the frame; if you get up close, it almost appears to float inside the frame!

(Gah. Thermostat. Next time you’re getting Photoshopped out.)

You’re just going to have to see it in person to take in the glossy, reflective sheen of the print… that’s probably the biggest thing for which pictures just don’t do it justice. And you can see it – in just three days! This baby will be making its debut at Gallery Night this week! Come say hello inside The Spotted Dog anytime after 5 pm on Friday, April 5th. (if you tell me you saw this blog post I’ll be so happy! haha)

Oh, and just so you know: WPPI introduced me to a lot of new things, and this is just one of TWO completely new products to the Allison Shamrell Photography line! So if you want, you can subscribe to the blog to hear about the next new addition as soon as possible. (The subscribe button is in the gray bar at the bottom of this page, on the far left). Yay! It’s a big week! :)

Thanks for reading!

Tags: pet photography, photo products, photography
Posted in housekeeping/fyi, new products | No Comments »

Archive: ‘housekeeping/fyi’

Setting Up My New Studio in San Diego

San Diego’s Newest Pet Photography Studio!

Allison Shamrell Pet Photography is Moving to San Diego!

Personal: I’m going to Europe!

New Photo Product: Metal Prints!

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