Fund Raising for Kenya Mission

I wanted to share a unique opportunity with you that I'm participating in and that I'm super excited about!

Next May I'm planning, with my church, to go to Kenya to work with AIDS orphans and tribal business owners through an organization called HeavenlyTreasures.org.

Heavenly Treasures is a micro-enterprise network that goes to countries in need two help them in two ways. First, to teach communities and tribes to setup, run, maintain and improve businesses based on their cultural hand crafts (ie. wood working, beading, etc.). Then HT brings their products back to the US to sell online, at local churches and at their storefront location. All proceeds earned from the sale of their products go right back into the hands of the community that made them!

Trips like ours send professionals, entrepreneurs and individuals who can teach new skills or business practices to help the community continue and thrive in their business trade. HT also partners with local orphanages to help and serve AIDS orphans that go with out so much so often without outside assistance.

My hope is that while I'm there I'll be able to document the mission through my photography and share with the business owners about marketing, and other business techniques and skills.

So, because each person needs to raise $5,000 to go on this trip I'm offering a special portrait day at which all proceeds from the sessions will go straight to the general team's financial fund which will make this amazing mission possible (and get this - all funds raised are being matched by a super awesome corporation!).

Kenya Portrait Day Details:
Currently I have one date only, however if demand exceeds our schedule we may expand to a second portrait date. Here's how it works:

• Make a Minimum Donation of $125 (cash, money order or PayPal only please) per family session.
• All proceeds benefit the general Kenya Mission Team from The River Church
• Up to 20 minute session at Los Cerritos Park in Long Beach on Saturday, October 25**
• Online proofing and optional print ordering for friends & family

Schedule your Saturday, October 25 session today by calling 562-881-7349 or email info(at)clsphotography. com.

Optional Items Available for Purchase:

**Dates other than October 25 can be scheduled for an additional $75 donation.

Not interested in a portrait session right now? Here are several other exciting ways to partner with this mission:

*Book a special Kenya Portrait Session for a friend or family member

*Do some or all of your holiday shopping on the HT website.
*Donate to the team via PayPal here to info(at)gototheriver.com

Thank you in advance and I can't wait to share the photographs with you all next year!

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Personal Project: September 2008

As of this month I'm starting a monthly post called, "Personal Project." My hope and goal is to further share and express who I am through my photography.

For a long time now I've meant to do this and just finally got around to doing it.

One of my favorite times of year is right now, not just because it's my birthday month, but because all of life seems to settle. I don't know why, but I get a feeling of calm as soon as the flowers start to change color and the evenings come a little sooner.

Take a journey with me on this first assignment, to find beauty and hope in Long Beach.

My project this month was inspired by the week our nation has had. I was ambitious to find glimpses of hope and glimers of beauty in my city. I think my journalism background has made me a little idealist when it comes to reality. I half expect to come across some amazing story while I'm driving in my '65 Mustang.

Midway through my shoot I began to get discouraged - thinking I had failed on my assignment if I didn't come back with a soul-shaking photo shoot. But oddly, in the simplicity of wandering down my block, through the rough Northern side and down Pine Ave. I found peace.

I discovered the sky wasn't falling (even though the stock market has taken a hit); I discovered people are still friendly (scroll down to read about "Jimmy"); and the world still has beauty as close as your front door.

Take a look at what I saw today:

Above: Jimmy and friend at his shoe shine booth on Pine Ave.

Above: What caught my attention in this photograph was Jimmy's own shoes. Often, those who work in a service based business don't treat themselves to the service they provide others. I know I'm hard pressed to find a photograph of myself that's not shot in the ever popular "MySpace self-portrait" style (to my mother's chagrin). And yet, Jimmy's own shoes are perfectly shinned. It is an interesting reflection of his seemingly positive self-perception.

From Personal Project: 9/2008

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Truly Honored!

I'm so excited and so very honored. This is an amazing opportunity and I'm glad I get to share it with everyone. We have been nominated to run in the MyFOX LA's Hot List competition for photography. It's a voting competition for photographers listed on the MyFOX LA website. Already a few fabulous people have left some reviews I'm so grateful for.

Seriously, if it wasn't for everyone of my clients, encouraging friends or family this dream of mine (aka. CLS Photography) wouldn't have come true.

Thank you so very much everyone!

If you'd like to vote for us too, just click the link below! Voting concludes November 7.

Thank you!

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Mr. Boddington's Studio

Every now and then you run across something that resonates within you. It could be a quote, an article, a color or something completely different.

Today as I was waiting for my loving hubbie to come home I found a fabulous correspondence boutique: Mr. Boddington's Studio

(image from Mr. Boddington's wedding site)

I happened upon this fabulous paper source while reading the Modern Vintage blog.

If paper or creative things make you excited (like they do me) then I encourage you to check out these sites. They're food for the paper creative soul. :)


Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Anthropologie

Recently I went through a clothing crisis.

No, my apartment didn't burn down or get raided by clothing thieves - I just realized that I'm not 18 anymore (wow, that was nearly 10 years ago). It's odd, I found myself living in a world of in betweens - my cute t-shirts just aren't appropriate for my work life and yet I didn't feel like converting to shopping the "women's department" - I'm only 27 for Pete's sake.

So what's in the middle for professional young-women? I had no idea until I discovered Anthropologie. They have the best selection of fun and classic clothes, with a wonderful blend of classy and unique styles (my favorite).

Check out my great finds!


I feel so confident and still young (but not inappropriately so). I'm so glad I stumbled upon this little gem of a store. If you're searching for the in between teenage and 40's clothing and have a vintage/classic style - check them out.

You'll be sure to see my new finds when I shoot my next wedding!

PS. Pants alert - The Limited and Banana Republic have some fabulous fitting pants in some ultra smooth colors.

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Social Networking

So today I've started a new system. LOVING IT!

For some reason I hate...no, I loathe opening MS Word or MS Excel files. I don't know why, other than our computer seems to run these programs at a snail's pace.

After backing up on some basic data entry I decided today to switch to using Google Documents. WOW! What a difference. I can't believe it.

I keep the tabs open in my browser (which I'm forever on) and it works like a charm. Rather than finding excuses not to enter our book keeping info, or waiting to make transfers or putting off using the fabulous networking and tracking spreadsheets Chris & Katie Humphreys provided me - I'm actually using them.

Whoo-hoo! So excited - really, it doesn't take much. :)

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

About Christine

For the past week I've been working on updating my website - changing photographs, updating pricing and text pages. Working on my bio was on my list, but I had been dreading it. I honestly had no idea what to say, but I wasn't happy with what was there either.

At this same time I was finishing up a book by photographer and author, Dane Sanders. It was a book for photographers on how to build your business authentically. Something finally clicked, and at the same time unearthed a freedom to be myself.

It's a great feeling.

Out of the realizations I made from the book's homework (yes, it had homework) I began to finally see how I have been uniquely gifted for this career. All this time I feel like I have been hiding behind the fact that I didn't know what made me uniquely suited to be a wedding photographer. Newly aware and prepared with the truth about me, in one sitting I wrote my new bio, posted below in italics.

Check it out. Let me know what you think. Leave a comment to this post by clicking the "comment" link below. I know on this new journey to being real I will need refining and guidance. I look forward to your added insights as I embark on this new adventure.

May you have a blessed day and continue on your own journey to being authentically you.



I'm pulling out all the stops. I'm living life - today - while actively seeking my purpose here on earth.

"What in the world does that have to do with being a wedding photographer?" you may be thinking. I'm glad you asked, because as it turns out it has a lot do with being a wedding photographer.

Recently, largely to the credit of my loving husband, I discovered I possess the following strengths: achievement, responsibility, learning, research and connecting. Earlier in life I learned that not only am I gifted at analysis, as well as suited for a career in photography, but that truth and honesty are deeply rooted in my being. This blend of characteristics, traits and strengths profoundly affect the photography I create.

I see people beyond their physicalities - I visualize and capture emotion and the beauty in people, in particular at weddings. The emotional nature of these life-changing events creates some of the most fantastic range of emotions a person can experience. My intimate awareness of environment and surroundings allows me to display honestly, with love, the reality of a moment.

Much of what you've read above was unearthed in me while I briefly studied for a MA program in theology and psychology before I married in 2005. A kind professor pointed out that I had a strong desire to portray truth - which she deduced was likely for influencing my gravity to studying Journalism, which is ultimately the study of storytelling, in my undergraduate studies. The camera in my hands finally made sense.

Passionate for art, I found purpose for it beyond pure aesthetic reasoning. I could tell a story with my photography or words. As I pursued photography, I began to favor it due to its inherit unbaised nature of representation of a moment, a story unfolding.

I love working with our couples every year. I see some of the most intimate moments of their wedding day; and I hope with each couple, each wedding, as they look through the photographs of their day that they sense the respect I had for them, their families and friends, and that they see the unbiased beauty of their love.



Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Birthday Bash Weekend

I have to admit I'm so spoiled to have such a great family.

Despite the fact that I am now the rightful-old-age of 27 (yes, that's correct folks) I had an absolutely fabulous birthday weekend. The fun started on Thursday, my normal day off with hubbie, when we drove up to San Luis Obispo's Apple Farm Inn. We got a great deal on a night there and so Matt spoiled me by driving up to spend the night.

Here's a look at our too adorable room:

I'm seriously thinking of redecorating with that teal/aqua color. It's pretty fun - but not overwhelmingly bright.

On the way home we stopped by the infamous Anderson's Pea Soup restaurant:

Then last night we went to dinner with my father-in-law, sister-in-law and her new hubbie (who you may recognize from their engagement and wedding photos from June), good friends Joey and Janvier, brother-in-law and my mom (who was in town for the weekend - yea!).

We had a great time at CPK in Long Beach.

Me and hubbie self-portrait.


A great moment of hubbie with his dad. This look and reaction are classic for these two.

Thank you so much to everyone who made this weekend so special!

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Wedding Tip or Trick of the Week

Have the Wedding of Your Life

The cake, the flowers, the DJ, the coordinator, the caterer, the photographer - the list goes on. People calling you, expecting details and answers to questions you didn't yet know existed. The job of "bride-to-be" feels never ending.

It's so easy to let the excited little girl inside you slip away under the mountain of to-do lists.

So how do you get the wedding of your dreams planned without nearly going crazy? How do you enjoy this time with your soon-to-be-husband without fighting more now than you ever have?

The obvious answers jump out: prioritize, categorize, organize and outsource. Not bad ideas or plans, but incomplete in and of themselves.

Yes, those are helpful ways to get it done. But I'm talking about getting back the dreamy excitement you had when you were age seven (or 12 or 25). How do you get her to resurface?

Part one of the answer may seem too simple: dream.

The answer to the chaos is to dream. Let yourself slip into the wonderland of mile high cakes and pretty bridesmaid's dresses. Wander in a land of garden ceremonies and twinkle lit dinner receptions. But don't get lost, yet, there's still part two of the answer.

Reconnect with your first love, then take him on the journey with you.

Plan a night to reminisce over your engagement, your courtship or the start of this adventure you two have set upon. As you do actively seek to discover what you both look forward to about the day it all comes together. You'll soon find that even though he could care less if there were pink roses or star gazer lilies in your center pieces, he may deeply care that during the ceremony you two take communion together or that the rings be exchanged in unique and meaningful way.

As you find common ground, take note of where you land together then make a list (yes, there is a list involved) and focus your time and energy on the things that matter most to you both. You may discover a united excitement of choreographing your first dance together that would have been missed under the pile of other details that don't mean quite as much to you. Hand the rest of those details to a trusted source - a coordinator or your maid of honor. You can do it. And if you do, I promise that the most important day of your life will a day you treasure forever - before it, during and forever after.

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Fall Portrait Promotion!

The holiday season is just around the corner! Now is the perfect time to book your personal, couple or family portrait session to include with your holiday cards. Session dates are limited; book your session today at: info @ clsphotography . com.

Session Price: $450
Session Includes:
*Up to 90 minute session in home or on location
*Online proofing and ordering for friends & family
*Gift Credit of $75 to use on prints or additional products
*Session Book of up to 20 client favorite images


Indulgences (sample images below)
*NEW Gallery Wrapped Canvas
*Custom Holiday Cards
*Modern Albums


GIVING BACK
5% of all portrait profits made (from portrait sessions and portrait products) in the remainder of 2008 will be donated to Zoe Home in Thailand - a haven for children rescued from slavery and child prostitution. Read more, or visit their website by clicking below:

"ZOE Children's Homes is a division of ZOE, an international Christian organization. The Children's Homes were launched to proactively rescue children who are at risk of being sold into human slavery and/or child prostitution. Our first goal is to provide a loving and safe atmosphere. We then educate, motivate and model servant leader principles. With your help, a new generation of leaders can be raised up to help stop these crimes against humanity."

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith