Making and selling hula hoops is a big part of Bellawillow. Not only do we love to hula hoop but it gets other people active and is a good way to promote the other things we do here at Bellawillow. Last year we had attended the Terrapin Hill Harvest Music Festival and we had a blast. It was one of the places where we had first started getting into hula hoops so when we found out that they were hosting Flow Camp at Terrapin we immediately signed up to go.
The music festival at Terrapin Hill was great; it was big enough to feel like you were a part of something awesome, but still small enough to feel like you were a part of something special and exclusive. Flow Camp, since this was the very first one, was small and intimate. There were a variety of classes and instructional workshops that you could attend. You could learn anything from hula hooping and poi, to belly dancing and fire breathing, and so much more. Not only could you join the classes but you could learn so much from every person there, and everyone was willing to share what they knew. You weren't on a strict schedule and could wander in and out of any of the classes. There was the most laid back feel to the entire thing. It was as if all the most amazing people came together in one spot to just share their tricks and teach everyone else how to be just as awesome.
The camp wasn't just for experienced tricksters either. There were a lot of beginners there and we met a ton of people who introduced themselves as "Hey, I'm [insert name (for some reason if it was a girl then her name was most likely Sara)], I've only been hooping for about three days now. Do you have any advise?" It is so great to see so many people getting into things like hooping. And just in case you are a newbie and would like some advise...don't get discouraged, especially when you are covered in bruises and can't seem to stop hitting yourself in the face! If you are an experienced trickster, especially after attending Flow Camp, you will know that there is always a new trick to learn and with that new trick comes a whole new batch of bruises and sore muscles.
It did rain on the second day of Flow Camp. That really didn't dampen anybodies spirit though. As soon as the rain let up we were all right back out in the fields practicing our tricks. There was even a variety show put on by all the instructors at the camp. Starting with a batch of aerial performances (including a guy doing aerial tricks while suspended from nothing but the hair on his head!), then there was belly dancing, music and a fire show. And I should mention that the members of Bellawillow each got to hula hoop with flaming fire hoop during the camp's Virgin Burn session!
Flow Camp was such an amazing event. It was one of those things that you want to go home and tell everyone about every detail. As it was raining and we were huddled up in our tent we were discussing how Terrapin Hill is like one of those Twilight Zone places were it seems like time stops, all your worries go away, and you just have fun no matter what. It was pointed out, "The only bad thing that has happened was that some little girl lost her Gummi Bear bracelet...but she found it so that kind of cancels out and NOTHING bad has happened at Flow Camp." Hopefully there is one next year and we go again because it was a truly awesome experience.
Edit: You can now find our photo gallery of Flow Camp here. You can purchase prints from Flow Camp here and here.
Showing posts with label A Story.... Show all posts
Showing posts with label A Story.... Show all posts
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Father's Day Promo Shoot: A story of hiking to a giant rock
Jessica and Peyton were our models for our Mother's Day Photography Promotion, so for our Father's Day Promotion we decided to use the other half of the family. We took James and his two sons, Logan and Peyton out to the park! During initial discussions about the location of the shoot, James told us that there was a trail in the Charlestown State Park that went through a massive rock that looked as if it had been split apart by the trail. I knew exactly where he was talking about since I had always thought it was the most beautiful spot in the entire state of Indiana. It is basically right in the middle of the 2.4 mile, rugged terrains of Trail 1.
Concerns:
Next, we set off to hike to the giant split rock. We stopped several times to take pictures at other interesting spots along the trail...maybe we stopped a little two often. When photographing kids it is best to be quick about things. They don't really like to be still or take time out of their day to do things that they don't want to do. We hadn't even gotten halfway to the split rock before there were complaints of being hungry, and thirsty, and tired, and "is this almost over?"
When we finally did reach the rock, it was a bit of a disappointment. We had lugged around kids and cameras through poison ivy and a countless number of spider webs only to find that the massive rocks looked less like stone and more like gigantic mounds of moss. Plus, we were loosing light. We spent very little time at the rocks. As we were leaving, one of the boys began to get very chatty. In one breath, without any pauses, we heard, "I'm hungry I think I see a snake It is so hot Can we get food Is that a bear This trail is really long Are we going to take more pictures I'm tired I'm thirsty Can we go faster How can you walk up this hill I can't even walk up this hill This hill is really hard to walk up I can't even walk Can you walk I don't think I can even walk How can you even walk on this thing I'm hungry Is that a snake Are we going back to the truck now I'm hungry Are bears out here..." He said all of this so fast that I was out of breath!
Nearing the end of the trail, the kids seemed to gain a burst of energy and started running between the adults (couple of us had picked up the pace just because we were tired of walking through spider webs and we just wanted to get off the trail and back to civilization). We stopped a few times to take more pictures and then eventually got back to the truck and headed home. The kids did much better than I thought they would considering it was such a humid hike, and they were a lot of fun. I'm sure there is never a dull moment in a household with two small children. This was another photo shoot that turned out to be a great learning experience.
Concerns:
- Logan and Peyton are little kids and walking a 2.4 mile trail probably isn't something that they will be very excited about.
- It is only the first week of June but the climate in Southern Indiana has been sweltering hot with a overwhelming amount of sticky humidity. Sweaty faces don't make for the best pictures.
- Bugs. The tick population has been horrid this year.
Next, we set off to hike to the giant split rock. We stopped several times to take pictures at other interesting spots along the trail...maybe we stopped a little two often. When photographing kids it is best to be quick about things. They don't really like to be still or take time out of their day to do things that they don't want to do. We hadn't even gotten halfway to the split rock before there were complaints of being hungry, and thirsty, and tired, and "is this almost over?"
When we finally did reach the rock, it was a bit of a disappointment. We had lugged around kids and cameras through poison ivy and a countless number of spider webs only to find that the massive rocks looked less like stone and more like gigantic mounds of moss. Plus, we were loosing light. We spent very little time at the rocks. As we were leaving, one of the boys began to get very chatty. In one breath, without any pauses, we heard, "I'm hungry I think I see a snake It is so hot Can we get food Is that a bear This trail is really long Are we going to take more pictures I'm tired I'm thirsty Can we go faster How can you walk up this hill I can't even walk up this hill This hill is really hard to walk up I can't even walk Can you walk I don't think I can even walk How can you even walk on this thing I'm hungry Is that a snake Are we going back to the truck now I'm hungry Are bears out here..." He said all of this so fast that I was out of breath!
Nearing the end of the trail, the kids seemed to gain a burst of energy and started running between the adults (couple of us had picked up the pace just because we were tired of walking through spider webs and we just wanted to get off the trail and back to civilization). We stopped a few times to take more pictures and then eventually got back to the truck and headed home. The kids did much better than I thought they would considering it was such a humid hike, and they were a lot of fun. I'm sure there is never a dull moment in a household with two small children. This was another photo shoot that turned out to be a great learning experience.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Trunk or Treat: A story of how everything can go wrong
*We have switched our blog from Tumblr to Blogger. This was a post we had previous made back in November 2010.*
Halloween is one of those days that you can just plan on expecting surprises. Inanimate objects will jump to life to give you a scare or pranksters will be lurking in the shadows waiting to startle you. But when we were getting ready to head out for the Trunk or Treat event we thought we had everything perfected. We even uttered the phrase, "I feel like we are really prepared for this event." Big mistake! The universe does not like to hear that phrase and it will make sure you never want to speak those words again. We have learned our lesson, Universe, thank you.
We started off right on time. Our set-up was quick and easy. Other than heavy winds that blew around some of our papers, everything was going great. We started taking test shots for our photography area and that is when everything started to go wrong. Surprise! Only one of our brand new lights was going off. Now, we had just done a couple of photo shoots with these lights and they worked perfectly. We started trying to set the lights up differently. Hooking cords up in different configurations. Setting the lights up really close to each other and then farther apart. Nothing was working. We ended up going back home and getting one of our older lights and tried to see if it would work...nothing...We called the camera store that sold us the lights and they told us to bring them in and we could exchange them. Suddenly it seemed very lucky that our advertising for the event had fallen through and we didn't have many people there between 1pm and 5! At the shop, they tested some new lights that worked and sent us on our way. However, back at our booth, the lights still would not sync!
After calling the camera store back, we came to one conclusion. We were set up in front of a bank. There could be a possible chance that banks will only allow so much electric to pass through an outlet at a time to prevent people from breaking in or something. For both of our lights to work we would have needed a lot of electric. Using two lights...it wasn't gonna happen.
We ended up setting up our one light and waited for Trunk or Treat to start. At first nobody wanted any pictures made so it didn't seem like a big deal that only one of our lights worked. Everyone was entering into our Candy Count contest and our Coloring Contest so we were kept a little busy. Then one person asked for pictures...and then everyone asked for pictures! We were so suddenly slammed that we began running around trying to figure out what was going on and who was suppose to be doing what. Some jobs had to be switched due to lack of technical skills. It became pure maddness
Cue the battery in the camera starting to go dead!...and we didn't have a spare.
Seems like a good time for the printer to run out of ink!...luckily we had more.
Oh, and now the computer memory is filled to the max! Ahhhhh!
Thank goodness it was finally time for the event to be over and we could start packing up all of our stuff. In the end, our pictures were ok, but not great. We had a lot of people enter into our contest so that went well. We were able to walk away feeling very tired and stressed out, but ultimately successful. This was certainly one of the biggest learning experiences we have gone through and next time we will know that we will need to be even more prepared.
Halloween is one of those days that you can just plan on expecting surprises. Inanimate objects will jump to life to give you a scare or pranksters will be lurking in the shadows waiting to startle you. But when we were getting ready to head out for the Trunk or Treat event we thought we had everything perfected. We even uttered the phrase, "I feel like we are really prepared for this event." Big mistake! The universe does not like to hear that phrase and it will make sure you never want to speak those words again. We have learned our lesson, Universe, thank you.
We started off right on time. Our set-up was quick and easy. Other than heavy winds that blew around some of our papers, everything was going great. We started taking test shots for our photography area and that is when everything started to go wrong. Surprise! Only one of our brand new lights was going off. Now, we had just done a couple of photo shoots with these lights and they worked perfectly. We started trying to set the lights up differently. Hooking cords up in different configurations. Setting the lights up really close to each other and then farther apart. Nothing was working. We ended up going back home and getting one of our older lights and tried to see if it would work...nothing...We called the camera store that sold us the lights and they told us to bring them in and we could exchange them. Suddenly it seemed very lucky that our advertising for the event had fallen through and we didn't have many people there between 1pm and 5! At the shop, they tested some new lights that worked and sent us on our way. However, back at our booth, the lights still would not sync!
After calling the camera store back, we came to one conclusion. We were set up in front of a bank. There could be a possible chance that banks will only allow so much electric to pass through an outlet at a time to prevent people from breaking in or something. For both of our lights to work we would have needed a lot of electric. Using two lights...it wasn't gonna happen.
We ended up setting up our one light and waited for Trunk or Treat to start. At first nobody wanted any pictures made so it didn't seem like a big deal that only one of our lights worked. Everyone was entering into our Candy Count contest and our Coloring Contest so we were kept a little busy. Then one person asked for pictures...and then everyone asked for pictures! We were so suddenly slammed that we began running around trying to figure out what was going on and who was suppose to be doing what. Some jobs had to be switched due to lack of technical skills. It became pure maddness
Cue the battery in the camera starting to go dead!...and we didn't have a spare.
Seems like a good time for the printer to run out of ink!...luckily we had more.
Oh, and now the computer memory is filled to the max! Ahhhhh!
Thank goodness it was finally time for the event to be over and we could start packing up all of our stuff. In the end, our pictures were ok, but not great. We had a lot of people enter into our contest so that went well. We were able to walk away feeling very tired and stressed out, but ultimately successful. This was certainly one of the biggest learning experiences we have gone through and next time we will know that we will need to be even more prepared.
Sycamore Arts and Craft Show: A Story of Being Blown Away
*We have switched our blog from Tumblr to Blogger. This was a post we had previous made back in November 2010.*
Going to any kind of an event is a bit of a physical task. You have to pack up product, tables, tents, chairs, display stands, and much more. After it is all packed you then have to transport it to the event somehow, unload everything, and set up. After the event is over you then have to pack everything back up (hopefully with a lot less product), load it into your vehicle and then take it home...where you get to unload everything, unpack it, and put it away. Then take a nap for about three days and recover.
Over the weekend we went to the Sycamore Band Boosters Arts and Craft Show in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fist off, we had to take a large truck and I was blown away by the simple fact that we didn't crash into anything the entire trip or run over any small children (although there was this one bump in a parking lot that was questionable). Then, when we got to Sycamore High School about fifty band students came running up to us with trolleys yelling "I've got this one! I'm helping this one!" We get help? We don't have to drag all of our stuff a million miles away? WE ARE IN HEAVEN!! In one trip we were able to get all of our stuff out of the truck and where it needed to be and we didn't even have to carry any of it! Amazing!
During the show, we were doing our thing and suddenly another band kid came over and asked if we would like to order lunch. They took our order and delivered our lunches to us! Normally we would have to go one at a time and find our own food when we got hungry. This was the best place on Earth! They even made one of our meals vegetarian.
Guess what happened when the show was over...if you guessed that we had help loading up all our stuff and taking it back to the truck then you are totally correct. This was for sure the least back breaking event we had ever gone to and it was so awesome! If only they were all like that...
Going to any kind of an event is a bit of a physical task. You have to pack up product, tables, tents, chairs, display stands, and much more. After it is all packed you then have to transport it to the event somehow, unload everything, and set up. After the event is over you then have to pack everything back up (hopefully with a lot less product), load it into your vehicle and then take it home...where you get to unload everything, unpack it, and put it away. Then take a nap for about three days and recover.
Over the weekend we went to the Sycamore Band Boosters Arts and Craft Show in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fist off, we had to take a large truck and I was blown away by the simple fact that we didn't crash into anything the entire trip or run over any small children (although there was this one bump in a parking lot that was questionable). Then, when we got to Sycamore High School about fifty band students came running up to us with trolleys yelling "I've got this one! I'm helping this one!" We get help? We don't have to drag all of our stuff a million miles away? WE ARE IN HEAVEN!! In one trip we were able to get all of our stuff out of the truck and where it needed to be and we didn't even have to carry any of it! Amazing!
During the show, we were doing our thing and suddenly another band kid came over and asked if we would like to order lunch. They took our order and delivered our lunches to us! Normally we would have to go one at a time and find our own food when we got hungry. This was the best place on Earth! They even made one of our meals vegetarian.
Guess what happened when the show was over...if you guessed that we had help loading up all our stuff and taking it back to the truck then you are totally correct. This was for sure the least back breaking event we had ever gone to and it was so awesome! If only they were all like that...
Easter Promo Photo Shoot: A Story of Two Toddlers and a Duck
We recently had a photography special, so we decided to do a photo shoot with two of our favorite little kids, Connor and Lizzie. You can see photos of their previous shoots on Facebook, so make sure you become a fan of our page and check them out. These kids could not be any more different. Connor seems very quiet and shy. We have hundreds of picture of him with a serious, almost contemplative look on his face. Lizzie...well...Lizzie is WILD! If a wide variety of facial expressions is what you are looking for then she is your girl. Both kids are ridiculously cute.
So, what could make a picture of two little kids even more adorable, you ask?
A baby duck!
This is also the perfect combination for making the most hard to control photo shoot ever...but it was fun and an interesting learning experience.
Connor and his mom arrived first. Like I said, he is a shy kid, so combine that with the fact that he slept in the car on the way to the photo shoot and you get this docile little boy standing in the corner just looking at us and all of our equipment with this look on his face that reads "Have I been abducted by aliens...please don't probe me..." We tried to peek his interest with toys and the promise of being able to play with a duck (and that kind of makes us sound like we also own a kidnapper van and routinely hang out across the street from busy parks). He was very resistant, but finally broke down and began playing with some fake Easter eggs, but probably only because they reminded him of the eggs he had from last Easter which contained candy. Finally opening up, he became curious about the box in the corner that kept chirping...because it contained a baby duck. "Doog," he kept saying. "Bird doog. OH!"
Then Lizzie and her mom came in with a big TA-DA!!!! Look alive everyone, Lizzie is on set! It was like she was everywhere, all at once. Connor immediately reverted back to a shy little boy and just stood there watching as if this new little girl was going to spontaneously combust at any second. Lizzie didn't care, there were toys everywhere! We directed her to the toys that were set up to be used as props, we placed Connor in the middle of her whirl-wind of activity, and the fun began. It wasn't long before we busted out the baby duck. Oh the squeals of delight that are still ringing in my ears! "Baby! Baby!" Lizzie kept calling it.
"Doog! Oh!" Connor would say with a point. At first the duck kind of freaked out. It just kind of ran in a circle and we put it back in its little box for a break. Then we decided to maybe place it on a child. I'm not sure how we thought this would be a good idea since it had previously tried to run away. Since Connor was calmer and would sit still, we put the duck on his lap...and it stayed there! Lizzie was so excited, she kept reaching out for it and calling it 'baby'. We wanted the kids to have the same amount of time with the baby duck so we sat Lizzie down and began to place the duck on her lap like we had done with Connor.
She flipped!
There was no way she would let the duck touch her, no matter how much she reached out for it as if she wanted to hold it. The duck was quickly transferred back to Connor. They basically sat there together, the boy and his new duck, for the rest of the shoot, like the two greatest friends in the whole world. Lizzie provided the pictures with interesting poses and would carry in and take out different props all while screaming "Baby!" but then freaking out when the duck would show interest in moving toward her.
After the shoot was over and the kids had left we did take a few pictures of just the duck because he was so darn cute. We came to the conclusion that taking pictures of one toddler is challenging. Two toddlers in a photo shoot equal hard, yet fun, work. Add a duck into the mix and you get AWESOME CUTENESS!
So, what could make a picture of two little kids even more adorable, you ask?
A baby duck!
This is also the perfect combination for making the most hard to control photo shoot ever...but it was fun and an interesting learning experience.
Connor and his mom arrived first. Like I said, he is a shy kid, so combine that with the fact that he slept in the car on the way to the photo shoot and you get this docile little boy standing in the corner just looking at us and all of our equipment with this look on his face that reads "Have I been abducted by aliens...please don't probe me..." We tried to peek his interest with toys and the promise of being able to play with a duck (and that kind of makes us sound like we also own a kidnapper van and routinely hang out across the street from busy parks). He was very resistant, but finally broke down and began playing with some fake Easter eggs, but probably only because they reminded him of the eggs he had from last Easter which contained candy. Finally opening up, he became curious about the box in the corner that kept chirping...because it contained a baby duck. "Doog," he kept saying. "Bird doog. OH!"
Then Lizzie and her mom came in with a big TA-DA!!!! Look alive everyone, Lizzie is on set! It was like she was everywhere, all at once. Connor immediately reverted back to a shy little boy and just stood there watching as if this new little girl was going to spontaneously combust at any second. Lizzie didn't care, there were toys everywhere! We directed her to the toys that were set up to be used as props, we placed Connor in the middle of her whirl-wind of activity, and the fun began. It wasn't long before we busted out the baby duck. Oh the squeals of delight that are still ringing in my ears! "Baby! Baby!" Lizzie kept calling it.
"Doog! Oh!" Connor would say with a point. At first the duck kind of freaked out. It just kind of ran in a circle and we put it back in its little box for a break. Then we decided to maybe place it on a child. I'm not sure how we thought this would be a good idea since it had previously tried to run away. Since Connor was calmer and would sit still, we put the duck on his lap...and it stayed there! Lizzie was so excited, she kept reaching out for it and calling it 'baby'. We wanted the kids to have the same amount of time with the baby duck so we sat Lizzie down and began to place the duck on her lap like we had done with Connor.
She flipped!
There was no way she would let the duck touch her, no matter how much she reached out for it as if she wanted to hold it. The duck was quickly transferred back to Connor. They basically sat there together, the boy and his new duck, for the rest of the shoot, like the two greatest friends in the whole world. Lizzie provided the pictures with interesting poses and would carry in and take out different props all while screaming "Baby!" but then freaking out when the duck would show interest in moving toward her.
After the shoot was over and the kids had left we did take a few pictures of just the duck because he was so darn cute. We came to the conclusion that taking pictures of one toddler is challenging. Two toddlers in a photo shoot equal hard, yet fun, work. Add a duck into the mix and you get AWESOME CUTENESS!
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