Posted on November 12, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Jones Family Portrait

Last weekend I photographed the Jones family out in West Knoxville. We had so much fun! Their boys are super sweet as they should be with such nice parents. Of course, the leaves had fallen a few days before (an event marked by much chatter among us photographers who LOVE all of that beautiful fall color), but we found a few trees still hanging on.

Jones1109_0028We started with a warm up walk to the covered bridge.

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LOOK! We found fall! I knew it was hiding around here someplace!

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Jones1109_0204The kids always love the “funny face” opportunities!

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Jones1109_0259These kids are so sweet! They really get along great. No “pretend like you like eachother” here!

Jones1109_0292Mom & Dad get a turn too. It’s great to see couples who are so obviously in love!

Jones1109_0374OK, everybody loves to make a funny face.

Jones1109_0432If it weren’t for the leaves, I would say this is a summer portrait.

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Jones1109_0493A kiss from Boy #1.

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Boy #2 is much less shy about it!

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Look! I’m as tall as Dad! Well, with the aid of this GIANT ROCK!

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Jones1109_0827The shoot is over, feel free to get dirty!

Don’t miss out on your portraits during this beautiful fall weather! Plus we have that great special going on until the end of the month. We will be shooting during Thanksgiving week and weekend too!

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Posted on November 12, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

A great article on wedding photography

I just read this article that gives some hints about how to get great wedding photographs. It’s from the bride’s perspective and provides similar advice to a couple of articles I wrote a few years ago and posted here.

Anyway, I know the season is coming to a close, but for you ladies anticipating a ring in the next few months and those of you tying up the final bits for your spring event, I hope these come in handy!

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Posted on November 10, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

My new favorite restaurant

The other day, NPR had a story on about the economy (as usual) and how despite the fact that it sucks, certain businesses with lightly veiled suggestive names are doing really well. I’m talking the restaurants with scantily clad waitresses and booby names like Hooters. The timing was perfect because just the day before I had noticed a billboard advertising what appears to be Mexican Hooters.

After a surprisingly difficult search, I finally found the place online. It doesn’t do well on the search engines. I kept finding Indian places and much classier looking local lounges elsewhere, but finally, I found The Spice Rack Cantina (est. 2009) which confirms my Mexican Hooters suspicions. There’s a woman with perfectly shaped eyebrows, sultry eyes and a wry smile holding up a huge beer and a set of maracas (not the same maracas as found in their oh so subtle logo design).

And speaking of the logo design, where do you find maracas that look like boiled eggs in skirted egg cups? These are no maracas I’ve ever seen, but for some reason they remind me of boobs…

OK, back the the Spice Rack Girl. The thing that really gives this place away as a Mexican Hooters (besides the only somewhat linked to the food concept but wrought with innuendo name and suggestive logo that can be played off as “all about the maracas” much like Hooters is about that owl *wink*), is the Spice Rack Girl outfit. It’s lots of frills, but not a lot else. Honestly, it may provide more coverage than your average Hooters outfit. And you know, that name really is more thought out in how it pertains to the menu because they certainly don’t sell owl wings at Hooters. I mean, they could have just named it Big Rack or Nice Rack or just Rack assuming the obvious names like Bazonga’s or Cans or Fun Bags aren’t already taken.

Another way this place seems more tasteful than Hooters is back on that logo again. Sure, it’s boobs disguised as maracas, but at least the boobs have some coverage. Have you seen the Hooters logo? I’ll give you a minute to check it out. OK, what do you think? Those are full on boobies, uncovered with nipples disguised as owl eyes. So at least the Spice Rack people thought to give their booby maracas a shirt, low cut as it may be. And don’t get me wrong, I’m totally pro boobs. I have some myself and they are an excellent addition to my wardrobe. BUT I don’t put them on billboards pretending that they belong to some bird.

OH! I just had a fabulous idea. Picture this: Fine French cuisine served to you by women in tiny little flouncy skirts and petticoats, black stockings, some sort of short-cropped poufy-shouldered low-cut shirt and little hats with feathers. They dance up to your table with high kicks and we’ll call it… CanCans! I haven’t designed the logo yet.

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Posted on November 9, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

The Lounge Bridal Show

We had such a wonderful time at the Lounge Bridal Show. The food was fantastic, the DJs kept the party hopping, and we had a great time practicing bouquet holding. The bouquet was provided by Linda Parrent at Elegant Essentials. It’s completely faux, but it is AMAZING! And look how well everyone did. A bunch of pro’s! No “ice cream cones” or “statues of liberties” here! Even some of our fabulous vendors got in on the action.

Some of the vendors here include:

Rosa’s Catering

Luxe Catering

Above the Rest Event Design

Ryan’s Productions

Knoxville Photo Booth Company

Jyl Walker Jewelry Design

All Occasions Party Rentals

TE Photos

Me! Rebecca Claire Photography & Pellucid Photography

You can also see these shots at http://pellucidphotography.com.

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Posted on November 6, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

National Zoo Portraits

In October, we went up to D.C. to photograph family portraits at the National Zoo. Boy did we have a BLAST! Kiera and Zane are ADORABLE! We drove up the day before and got to hang out all day. The next day we did some more shots at a fabulous park down the street from their house. It was a really great trip and got us out of the movie cave where we’d spent the last two months. So I guess you guys are expecting to see some images or something, huh. 🙂

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Riding the Metro with Dad.

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The Toddler Run

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Looking for the animals.

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There's a leopard in there somewhere.

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Chillaxin'

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The zoo is big!

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It's the Daddy-express!

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Looking for small mammals.

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I love ALL the animals!

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Propper adult:toddler ratio? 2:1

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Tha girls!

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Three generations looking over there.

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Giddy-up, Granddad!

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I think we lost him.

Filed in life, portraits, Travel, Uncategorized, What I'm up to, work | 7 Comments
Posted on November 4, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Silvek’s; Little Rock, AR

Silvek’s is a fancy bakery inside a regular Kroger. I wish I’d thought I take a shot of the ridiculous array of choices there, but I was overwhelmed by the decision making process. Didn’t help that we had arrived right as they were closing up and the counter lady had already shut down the credit card machine so we had to procure some cash for the purchase.

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We ended up getting 4 items to share between the 3 of us (Nate, Anthony & me).

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First was this delightful lemon tart.

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Then this toffee chocolate thing. YUM!

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I’m not 100% certain what this was. Layers of flaky filo dough interspersed with mascarpone and hazelnuts. This was the riches item in our box of goodies.

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The tiramisu was good, but not real tiramisu. It was a yellow sponge cake rather than lady fingers and could have used a bit more coffee flavor. So I’m going to call it delicious sponge cake and just be happy that I ate it.

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Here is my serving of deliciousness. We each got a plate and stuffed ourselves (this was following a fabulous meal!)

Filed in life, Restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Posted on November 2, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Portrait Special

Some of you lovelies who follow me on Twitter or Facebook may know this already, but in case you missed it: I’m have a fabulous fall portrait special! Before the leaves finish falling off the trees (or after they do if that’s how you roll), it’s time to get the family all dressed up pretty and get some portraits done.

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Imagine your family looking equally cute and happy!

So, what is this fabulous special? Why it’s 1/3 off the regular sitting fee! ONE THIRD OFF?! Yup! You get an hour sitting on location for only $200 (+ tax in Tennessee).

But Claire, what do I get for my $200? Fantastic, fun, fabulous photos of you and yours, of course! But beyond that, you get $100 in print credits and online viewing and ordering. None of that dragging out the proofs at the Thanksgiving table and collecting up each aunt, uncle, grandparent, cousin, or sibling’s order. Nope! You just send them to the site, and I’ll take it from there.

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What about Christmas cards? We can do the postcard style or a folded card or you can purchase individual prints and make them yourself.

What if you don’t live in Knoxville?! Don’t worry! We travel! We already have trips to Cookeville, TN, Gainesville, GA, Atlanta, GA, and Macon, GA scheduled. There is a small travel fee to cover gas and other travel expenses to locations not already on the schedule, but if you buddy up with a few friends, you can split the travel fee amongst yourselves. PLUS if you’re feeling all organizational, plan a portrait day for your friends and family members. If you plan 3 total portraits during our trip to your area (including yourself), we’ll include an additional $25 print credit. If you plan more than 3 portrait sessions, you get an additional $50 print credit. Knoxvillians, the same applies to you. Refer 2 additional portrait sessions for $25 more in print credit, 3 or more for $50!

So what are you waiting for? Our print order deadline for guaranteed Christmas delivery is December 1st, so get your sitting booked now. We have weekends and weekdays available. That includes Thanksgiving week and weekend. So grab the family while they’re all in town.

Filed in portraits, What I'm up to, work | 4 Comments
Posted on November 2, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

The Huckleberry; Louisville, CO

When traveling, always ask the locals for restaurant suggestions. We stayed with our friends Michael & Wade in Louisville, CO after Gilly & Jerry’s wedding. It was a great visit, and we can’t wait to head that way again! Of course, what’s a visit with friends without a visit to said friends’ favorite breakfast spot? Thus, we headed to The Huckleberry, and hurray for that! There was a wait, and it was well worth it!

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We got some fried green tomatoes for an appetizer. They were delicious! Who knew you could get great fried green tomatoes in Colorado? The tomatoes were perfect in their greenness, a bit crispy, but not too much. The breading actually stayed on and was flaky and perfectly brown all over.

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Nate got a breakfast plate. that biscuit was delish! The potatoes and eggs were awesome too. But that’s not the really amazing part of his meal.

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The amazing part is that these pancakes rivaled Shorty Lu’s! Seriously! I know! I couldn’t believe it either. But they were light and perfectly cooked. They really know their pancakes in Colorado, I guess.

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Then there was my naughty little treat. I got the Mixed Berry Crepe. Now really, that’s not so bad. It was full of berries, and I got some fiber in the crepe and calcium in the mascarpone. Plus there’s the turkey sausage and eggs. It was a well rounded meal! And I ate every friggin’ bite, plus a few of Nate’s pancakes. No wonder my pants were all a bit tighter when we got home.

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Posted on October 29, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

The moment you’ve all been waiting for!!

Print Lots of people have asked me, “Claire, When? When do we get to see this movie you are always talking about? We’re dying here, really!” To which I reply, “I love you, but if you reanimate, we’re definitely going to have to shoot you in the head. And soon, my dearies! Soon you will be able to feast your possibly undead eyes on our creation.” This seems to calm the horde for a bit until I post again about how awesome this thing is and the questioning begins anew.

Well, this blog is here to tell you that the time is nigh! Heck, if you’re reading this tomorrow, the time may be RIGHT HERE AT THIS VERY MOMENT!!!!

I’m sure you have some questions, so I will provide answers, Zombi press conference style. You over there, with the horrible gash and the oozing wound.

“Ms. Presnall, what is the exact *brains* time, date and *brains*, I mean, location of said viewing.”

A very good question, my disgustingly undead friend. We have two, count ’em TWO showings! Our friend Morgan, owner extraordinaire at Organized Play, is so awesome that he has offered to give you, our wonderful friends and fans, two chances to see our film. What a swell guy!

The showtimes are:

9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Friday, October 30th!

The address for Organized Play is:

221 Cumberland Ave., Knoxville, TN

Of course, Google Maps thinks it’s over by Locust, BUT IT’S NOT!! It’s right next to the 1st Tennessee Building (that big glass one. Tallest building in town, you know) and diagonal from the Bijou. Here’s what it looks like (before Morgan put the store in):
View Larger Map

Or, you can just use my handy-dandy little map with only the important stuff (the river is to the left. Yes, I know this isn’t oriented North/South, but I’m okay with it).

directions

For you folks coming from James White like us (Northside REPRESENT!), if you take the exit US-441 S/Downtown/Cumberland Ave it will spit you out ON CUMBERLAND and you will see Organized Play on your right as you head towards Gay St. How awesome of the City of Knoxville to build an exit just for this event!

Organized Play is doing a full Zombie Theme Friday. He even wrote a blog about the event on their website (which has loads of info on the other fun things they’re doing as well as directions, store hours and such). So be sure to stick around and try some of their fabulous new Zombie games! We also have our art still hanging and for sale.

Speaking of things for sale, after watching, I’m sure you will want to know where YOU can acquire a copy of Zombi: Brotherly Love. Well, my friends, I will tell you. We will be selling copies on our website. Not quite yet (there are still a few design things required like disk art and packaging), but SOON!!! Soon Pellucid Creations will have many fun zombi things to purchase. If you’re interested in a copy of the film or fun things like posters, stickers, t-shirts and the like, just post a comment below or send me an email, and we’ll get right on it!

Of course, if you JUST CAN’T WAIT ALL THE WAY UNTIL 9 P.M. OMG!!! We will be on Knoxivi 11 O’Clock Rock talking about the film and showing a few clips to tease you (because we’re sadistic, I mean love you and want you to be excited, and in excruciating agony for the next 9-11 hours).

Yes, you with the ripped off arm and a giant seething bite wound on your remaining shoulder.

“But my brains *mmmm brains* were addled by the death and reanimation process. I don’t understand what time I can see this 11 O’Clock Rock.”

Another excellent question. 11 O’Clock Rock is a live online internet show hosted by none other than our very own Brent Thompson, star of Zombi: Brotherly Love and the lovely Lauren Lazarus. You can view it LIVE at 11 a.m. EVERY FRIGGIN’ DAY (during the week) or if your boss is a pain and doesn’t allow such amazing cultural expansion at work, you can check it out in the archives ANY TIME! Just go to their website and you’ll see lots of options. So, for those of you in the undead horde who didn’t catch that:

Watch us LIVE at 11 a.m. on FRIDAY, October 30th on 11 O’Clock Rock on Knoxivi.com.

Here’s hoping we don’t make asses of ourselves. 😉

One last question. You with the mostly decomposed flesh and only slight oozing.

“Are zombi welcome at your event *brains*?”

Yes. High-functioning zombi with at least a bit of self-control are welcome on a few conditions:

1. No attacking the living.

2. No eating brains during the event.

3. If you are unable to answer questions intelligibly and shamble towards us in a menacing, brain hungry way, we may consider you too far gone and have the right to dispatch you to save ourselves. If you’re a fast moving zombi, we will just have to dispatch you faster.

Filed in life, What I'm up to, zombi | 6 Comments
Posted on October 29, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Fitz’s; St. Louis, MO

I used to eat at Fitz’s in college (on the days I had money). It was good, but I’m not a rootbeer buff (or any soda, for that matter), so it wasn’t my usual haunt. I took Nathan there on our last road trip to Colorado. He loves rootbeer and for Christmas in 2007, I ordered him a case (plus a case of their orange cream). It’s very expensive to have the stuff delivered, plus you get fewer bottles in a case, so our plan was to load up the car with as much Fitz’s rootbeer as we could. We actually only got 2 cases, but that’s 48 rootbeers, and I think Nate may still have one or two left. He doesn’t share them. He will give you instructions on how to procure your own. I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you want to win Nathan’s affections, bring Fitz’s rootbeer.

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Fried pickles sound awful. I mean, pickles are perfectly good cucumbers that have been soaked in pure evil. But damn, you batter and fry those suckers, and I just love ’em!

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Nathan has taught me the importance of a good Reuben sandwich. Fitz’s makes a mean one! We took half home for Amanda (who loves Reubens as well).

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Do you see the bunny? There’s a bunny in the corner, hiding (as bunnies often do).

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Of course, I just wanted to buy the rootbeer and eat at my favorite St. Louis eatery, The U-City Grill. God I miss that place! Sadly, they only accept cash, and I was all out and without my ATM card for some reason. Just means we will have to return to St. Louis (and soon) with ample wads of cash so I can get some Korean diner food!

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