It's Friday!

Take some time this weekend for yourself.

Love yourself and take a picture while you're at it.

What was that? Did you say, you needed some "anytime" photo inspiration? Well, here you go...


Onada Photogrpahy


Jasmine Star



Elton Anderson

My First Award!!

Yay #2!!

Time to party, everyone! Thanks to Miss Ebonee Monique over at Becoming His Mrs., Chocolate Rose has just received it's first award!


Thank you, kindly! I feel extremely honored. :-)

To accept this award, I must tell you 7 things about myself then pass it on to 7 other bloggers. Hmm, let's see...let the crazy begin. :-)

First the 7 bloggers (no, their not crazy):
The Givens Chronicles
Soul Pretty
Get it Girl Style
Audrey's Blog
Bride Chic
Love and Marriage (the blog)
On My Way to Fabulous 40

On to those 7 things...

Thing 1) My favorite past time (using this term loosely) is clearing out my DVR. It's a guilty addiction, what can I say? The high I get everytime I watch a show and then pick up the remote to see how much recording space is left...ooo it just can't be matched!

Thing 2) Sometimes I want to burst out laughing in a crowded elevator when everyone's so stiff and trying not to talk...or blink...or breathe...speaking of...

Thing 3) I don't like people breathing on me...especially in an elevator.

Thing 4) I absolutely love wedding/lifestyle photography --maybe you already know that one. ;-)

Thing 5) I think Essence magazine has been showcasing some really beautiful magazine covers lately. --Yes, a completely random thought.

Thing 6) I learned what an "amuse-bouche" was by watching Top Chef. Please, don't judge me.

Thing 7) Whatever the topic of conversation, I can usually think of a song to go with it and will start singing it. However, surprisingly, I'm not really THAT into music. Weird.

CR has been featured!!

Yay!!

Carla from Sky+Carla Photographers emailed me to let me know that our very own, little Chocolate Rose has been featured on their blog! She did a fun feature about blogs who have recently featured their work and CR was listed! Love it and her for thinking of CR! Thank you, Carla!

Check out the feature here. And when you're finished, scroll down a little further to see the beautiful wedding where these beauties were featured!

Mega Post of Random Inspiration #2

It's back! Mega Post of Random Inspiration...#2! That's kinda catchy, right?! LOL Yeah, right. But, you can check out #1 here .

Anyway, just like last time, over time, I have saved photos as inspiration for various things, but didn't take note of the source. This post is a dedication to those inspiring photos. I hope they can inspire someone else out there. However, like before, if you recognize a photo as yours (I really believe some might be this time ;-) and would like for it to be removed, can send me the information to source it, or you want to send in more to showcase your event, please email me and I will do so immediately. Thanks and enjoy!

Theme: Tablescapes



































##End scene##

Bridal Style

A little more gorg for your Happy Friday! :-)

Marianne Wilson

Bridal Style

Gorg.






Cameron Ingalls

Beauty Smarts

For a while now, there's been a lot of research done on parabens (a preservative) and other seemingly cancer causing agents in our beauty products. Since then, there has been a big push for all things healthy and natural. This is important for all areas of our life as who knows what is going into our food and products today.

Um, regarding the food, has anyone read Skinny Bitch?! If not, it's definitely a great eye-opener about the foods we eat and what the FDA approves.



But i digress, focusing on what we eat effects our inward beauty and health, but let's not forget about the products we use for outward beauty (hair, make-up, skin care, etc.). I recently ran across a site called Best in Beauty...



...which has a ton of information on our beauty products, what's in them and what we should be looking to avoid when we go to purchase them. What we put on our body, may make us pretty on the outside, but may eventually make our health ugly on the inside.

Anywho, as we go about planning our weddings, gearing up for the sexiest of photoshoots or just plain ol' living our lives, it might not hurt to take a gander at this list first and do a little research.

Click here for more production information.

From Best in Beauty...

Best in Beauty has created a ... phrase to help you remember which chemicals to avoid when purchasing your much-needed personal care products. [The first letter in each word matches with the first letter of the related product listed below.]

Repeat after us:

“Pretty Products For Healthy People Minus Many Lousy Chemical Substances.”

Phthalates

Propylene Glycol

Formaldehyde

Hydroquinone

Petroleum

Mercury

Mineral Oil

Lead

Colorants

Sodium Laurel Sulfate

So if you've made it through all of this, the most important take away is to prepare for your beauty product shopping adventure before heading out to purchase. Learn what's in the products you use and which ones to avoid. It may take a little of your time now, but it's only to ensure that you have a lot more healthy time in the future. Happy hunting!



Chocolate Rose does not endorse the Best in Beauty site, simply sharing found information.

"Get Up!...24 hours, almost gone!"

Love this song! Listening to this on the way in this morning. Not sure who this is for, but something told me to post this today. :-)

The re-launched blog on the block

Ruffled formely known as Vintage Glam Wedding has just recently re-launched. So, if you're into some amazing wedding inspiration, check it out here.

Photo of the Week

Because. :-)


VISION Photography

Make love in a dumpster.

Because it makes for a fun series of photos!


Ohana Photographers

Bridal style and love is in the air...

...with Photography by Valerie!

Fierce!




Work those red pumps!


Love this shot!!




And this one!! They just look so in love that you have to smile. :-)

Don't call it a comeback!!

You may or may not be aware of my polaroid addiction as evidenced here and here. And you may or may not have been aware that Polaroid production was shutting down (even though, you could still find necessary film out there if you really needed it).

However, due to popular demand, it looks like our (or maybe just my :-) beloved instant, classic camera film could be back for good. Which is just absolutely fabulous! There's just something so perfect about a Polaroid picture.

Check out the article here.

Photo of the Week

An ode to my bicycle fetish. :-)


Oh Darling! Photography

More shoe love for your weekend.

Comfy and cool.
Mi Belle Photography

The V-Spot: Brooklyn Photography

As you can tell on this blog, photography is one of my favorite things. When I ran across this photographer's blog, I just knew I had to feature her in a V-Spot. Her sense of style and self was too unique and real to pass up. Her name, Brooke Fitts (she's the one on the left :-). Learn a little more about this amazing photographer and her work below.

+Please briefly detail your business and what you do.

Freelance photographer specializing in weddings, people, and love in general. Editorial photographer for Seattle Magazine. Sometimes fine art photographer and restaurant server.

+What and when was your "aha!" moment (if one) that you discovered photography was something you wanted to turn into a profession/career? If applicable, what was your previous profession?

I'm never sure how to answer this sort of question, as I've felt a pull towards photography since my teens. I was always trying to get into the photography classes in highschool, but it was always full so I never did. I've always been incredibly determined to figure out a way to do something I truly love and get paid for it, so I just never stopped pushing myself harder to get better and create more compelling imagery. I've waited tables for years, (and still do a few nights a week) and have always been so grateful for the opportunity it lends to being able to make rent and still provide free days for productivity in other fields.

+How did you get your start in this industry?

Photo taking and picture making has always felt very natural to me. My mind just sees images in everything everyday. But wedding photography per se was never something I had intended on doing. I was living in Hawaii and simply wanted to assist other photographers for experience. There were plenty of wedding photographers around who were happy to have me tag along and ask questions while carrying heavy bags and lights, so I just began feeling really comfortable being a presence on someone's wedding day. Assisting turned into second shooting, and when I felt like I had enough of a portfolio, I started shooting for friends and friends of friends. I feel blessed and lucky to say that 99% of my jobs are word of mouth.




+What is the passion that drives you to do what you do? In other words, what is it that you wish to express to your clients and the world through your work?

I love striving to find and capture that moment within someone when they relax in front of my camera and their true self and beauty comes thru. Making my clients feel comfortable and beautiful is half the job of taking a good photo, and I'm driven to never stop looking for that instant. I see beauty all the time, everywhere. I want my images to communicate an uncommon beauty in common things, a story, and expression.

+Have you had a moment where you wanted to quit? If so, what made you want to continue? If not, what would you say to encourage someone who has?

You have no idea how many moments I've wanted to quit. Nobody said being an artist was easy, and there's been more than a few times that I've thought how nice it would be just to have a steady income, 401K, and health insurance. Or how many times I've felt so inadequate and inundated by all the amazing photography and photographers out there. But my love of photography keeps me coming back every time. Whenever I've thought about quitting, I just can't imagine what else I would do that would bring me as much happiness and contentedness, so I just keep plugging along. Pluck and determination are two of the major components in pursuing any passion or dream. And I firmly believe that with enough of those two and timing in the mix, there's just not a whole lot of room for failure.



+What has been your most memorable (good, bad, funny, etc.) experience so far?

I once had a bride that cried and cried most of her wedding day because it rained. Pouring torrential summer rain. She had even researched 5 years of weather to find the least likely day for rain, and had her wedding on a weekday because of the prognosis. The ironic thing is that her photos turned out beautifully. The light was all pretty and diffused, and we did some fun stuff with umbrella and reflections in puddles. I'm a big believer in just dealing the best you know how with whatever life tosses your way. See the beauty in everything and the possibility in things going unexpectedly. Kind of like that quote... "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade."

+What is one thing you know now that you wish someone had told you before you started in this profession?

I wish someone had told me how to manage my time and to take Sundays off. I wasted a lot of good working hours surfing the internet and looking at other people's work... and then feeling badly of my mismanagement of time, I would feel guilty taking a day off and not working on "work". So I got really overwhelmed and felt stretched too thin by being in a work mode 24/7, but never feeling like I was getting that much accomplished. Steven Pressfield's "The War of Art" has been hugely helpful in my case of time management. Sometimes we just have to turn off the internet, and facebook and twitter and get down to business... And take one day a week away from the computer, email, and maybe even your phone!



+What did you eat for dinner last night? :-)

mmm... you caught me on a good night! I had fresh rigatoni pasta with italian sausage, tomato sauce and marjoram, glass of wine, and a baked apple bread pudding with caramel sauce and cinnamon ice cream for dessert.

Check out more with Brooke, here.

Lifestyle Wednesday.

New feature? Hmm, we'll see, what do you think? Until then, please enjoy your Wednesday!

Accent walls make everything better.



Black and white is clean and chic. And if it's not completely your thing, you can always add a splash of color to change the whole feeling of the room.



I love how the right decor can even make the smallest of rooms appear larger. So comfy. Notice the accent wall here as well. It warms up the room along with the ceiling to floor drapery.



Photo Source: Decorator's Home.

Yes.

things i am learning...
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 23:42



things i am learning... give compliments, say thank you, life is what you make of it, if inspiration does not come, go and find it, anxiety is overrated , comparison is a killer, envy is a waste of time look into the mirror and pour kindness into what you see, be attracted towards, intrigued by and enamoured with... make soup from scratch, none of us make it out of here alive, you are only as happy as you choose to be, live intentionally, live inquisitively , break out of routine, contradiction happens, walk, don't drive, remember that you don't know what someone else is going thru, when they cut you off in traffic, cut in front of you in line, or give a bad first impression. actively engage in relationship... be that person that someone can call for a ride, a favor, a need. stop blaming everyone else, take responsibility, open your heart, for more points of view than just yours. be generous, just cuz. apologize, its ok to say "i need", tell someone how you're really doing, being angry just isn't worth it, say "i love you"

By Brooke Fitts

Beautiful scheme.

Denise Bovee