RACHAEL EARL » PHOTOGRAPHY: Lifestyle Portraiture and Wedding Photography

After such a horrific day on 9/11/2001, where did I find myself on 9/12? Contrary to what those who initiated the attacks wanted, I found myself a little prouder of my country, a little more willing to fight for my beliefs, a little stronger, and of course, a little more reflective of the previous day’s events.

I am a proud supporter of the 9/12 Project. Whatever your political views, Republican, Democrat, Independent, for one day, we were united. It didn’t matter what side of the fence you were on. That was the intention of our nation in the first place, from the very day it was created. Stand together, and never forget.

I’ll never forget where I was on 9/11/2001. I woke up to get ready for my classes at ASU. I had a project looming for my Advanced Photography class, and had no idea how to go about it, or what the subject matter would be. While I was in the shower, I heard Dan come in (he left really early that morning to work). I popped my head out to say “hi” to him, and I saw a look on his face that I can’t even describe. Maybe a mix of horror, sadness, and shock…he said, “We were attacked.” He went right in and turned on the TV in our bedroom. I came in and watched in horror at what was on the TV, just in time to see the live footage of the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. I knew we would never be the same.

Back to my project. I don’t know if most people would have grabbed a camera at that moment, but I wanted my project to reflect us right then. To me, it was the most important thing happening at that time. The artwork still hangs above our couch.

Here is a close-up of the artwork:

So, I’ve taken these off my website because I had a ton of stuff on there, but collAges are still available to anyone who wants one.  It’s a technique that I learned in collEge and I think it’s awesome!  Ask me about them if you’re interested!

This one has not previously been blogged, but it was about 150 individual images!  It is meant to be printed on a 20×30 canvas for maximum impact!

I absolutely love doing collage sessions, and had another yesterday for my good friends the Lofgrans.  Their adorable play room is decked out for tea and dress up, which made it the perfect spot for pictures.  Summer says she loves finding all the hidden kids in the collages, so we made sure to have plenty in hers!

I had another collage photo session yesterday with my good friends, the Dikes. I’ve officially given the title of cutest kid ever to this little boy…

This is a new type of session I’ve been booking.  It’s super fun, and includes a 20×30 canvas print of your “collage.”  The Yees like to play the Wii as a family, so we based their collage around that activity.  They were so fun to shoot, and their collage turned out pretty cool!

Let me know how you like it-I’ll be posting more this week!