HELP! Tight Braids :(

So it is 7:20 am right now... And for someone who didn't go to bed till nearly 3am I NOT be awake!
This is the second night in a row I have not slept and I wasn't convinced till now but its because of my hair!!

I went through what my boyfriend humorously calls "Natural Hair Shock!" At the salon my stylist never gives me pain or discomfort. And when I left the salon my head didn't hurt and the braids were not tight. Plus I got a braid and 2 strand twist combo like the last time and those didn't hurt so i thought nothing of it.

But that night........   -_____- was rough! My bed is super comfortable yet I spent 7 hrs tossing and turning having a million dreams cause i kept waking up. And this morning I should say, I am having it even worse. So bad where I am up now instead of sleeping typing this blog post and researching remedies cause i rather not take an advil. I haven't had this much pressure on my head since having braces. I need a resolution quick so I can sleep! Later this morning I will actually be attending the Savannah Natural Hair Show which is at a hotel on Abercorn St. but as much as I love my new hair style. When I get there I'm gonna have them take this headache down if I don't resolve the pain!

Remedies I tried and also found online:

• I tried using Taliah Waajid's Bodifier that stops itch and moisturizes but it really just cools the area doesn't take away the pain. The Bodifier: Medicated might do a better job but i don't have that one.
• eHOW suggests: soaking the braids in the shower or asking your stylist to soak the braids
• eHOW also suggests: re-doing select braids or taking a pain reliever until the braids loosen on their own.

*Braids that are too tight can hurt your hair*

• About.com and other sites suggest the same remedies.
• Moist Heat to help loosen the braid without destroying the hair style.
• Or sleeping sitting up

I'm so sleepy but my head hurts too much to sleep. It hurts sitting up or laying down but its defiantly better when i'm sitting up. im going to try applying a hot rag to the area that has braids and hope for the best. and next time I'm gonna net get braids for a while. I've been wearing my hair loose so much this year and summer that braids and pins are quick discomforts. This severe discomfort has never happened to me before  but i'll avoid it by avoiding little cornrows.

Personal Quote

Here is a personal quote that alot of people on Tumblr seemed to enjoy so I'm sharing it on my blogger.

"The worst part about being the tough girl is that you have no one to be weak in front of."

 

I said this last year when I was having a weak point and pretty much crying alone. I have a lot of friends who I give advice to and help guide them on good days and bad. But when I have a weak point I'm often left in solitude. Fragile individuals could loose hope seeing their strong hold breakdown. And other than God and one or two other distant adult women in my life, I'm the strongest one I know personally. I read about tons of stronger women and wish I could meet them so that I could go to them, but I don't dwell on that because Christ is my strong hold that will never leave me. So, I shed my tears, wipe my face, and get back to work. Sounds robotic but I'm so serious. I'm emotionally distraught so I can't help but cry, but when I'm done I grab a Kleenex and get back to homework, or editing photos like I'm all better. I don't do this to be fake because internally I'm still sad, but I'm also confident that God is going to take over and settle my troubled heart. Being patient is the only hard part.

 

 

Here is a link to my Tumblr Post with this quote.

 

And Here is another blog post where I wrote a poem about this type of situation earlier this year.

Nothing hurts worst

It hurts to see what you hide
It hurts to see all the potential I know you can bring
Your spirit lacks motivation
Your spirit lacks my God.

I wish I could give you my strength
My courage
My trust
My mentality
My dedication
My love
If I could package these things and send to you
What a difference the world would see.

You are not me
And I am not you
But what I have is trapped inside you.
I was once where you are but by the grace of God these gifts were released
I feel its my mission to bring these same gifts out of you
To better your life
To better your spirit
And enlighten your life.


If anything hurts me the most its seeing someone I love struggle with something I have once over come or learned to battle. Along with that hurt is the difficulty in teaching someone something that you feel. My faith and knowledge that God will and can take care of all my troubles and won't let me fail is felt in my spirit and encourages my daily life. But how do I take that and instill it in someone else? Especially in the ones I love. My over abundant optimism can be insulting to some and empty support to another. But I offer it to encourage what one could do themselves. I hear too many people say something is impossible and they can't do it, but the ability to complete a task is completely up to the individual. God won't give you anything you can't handle and fear is not something He put in you. YOU are your biggest obstacle in life. YOU determine if you can do something or not. Its up to YOU to say I will try, this is possible. You may not be able to complete something the way you envisioned or at this point in time. But your mentality should always be that you will try, problem solve, and let it be possible not impossible.

Frustration
Anger
Stress
Pressure
Fear

All these ugly things try to invade my life everyday and I'll be honest sometimes they win but never for long. I recognize these ugly words in my spirit and I cast them out with my strength, my faith, and my knowledge as what I can do through God. These ugly words are acts of a person I don't associate myself with. And crying out to God and my optimism squashes those ugly words and that person who comes with those words under the ground where they belong. My eyes are always looking up to heaven and toward a future I know God promised me in prosperity.

I just wish I could relate these ideas and emotions to the ones I love. Nothing hurts worst than someone you love battling something you can help but their spirit is resisting yours. Praying helps but the waiting hurts more. Only if they knew how hard I am praying for them and fighting for them day and night. I won't let the devil win.

Jerk chicken and macaroni casserole

Being able to cook is such a blessing. I just wanted to share my dinner i made last night. I was very proud of it.
So i made jerk chicken which was spicy but not too spicy. I love jerk chicken but when its super hot, like all Jamaicans require it to be, my eyes water and its a painful delicious situation going on and my only refuge is a glass of milk.
Side note: did you know that if you eat something very spicy you need to have a base to kill the burning? That's why blue cheese and ranch are often served with hot wings. If you chug down a soda which is really acidic all you'll end up doing is making your mouth hotter. And water is a neutral so out won't do nothing but wet ether interior of your mouth. What you need is milk or a similar base.
Back to the food! So i jerk my chicken with the Grace Jamaican Jerk (mild) that comes in a glass jar. Some thyme, chopped green onion (scallion), little lemon, and an assortment of dry seasonings i have on hand like pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. So i put that together in a bowl n let it marinate.

 



While that's marinating i cooked "Kraft macaroni and cheese homestyle" this package of Mac and cheese comes with the pasta, a seasoning packet, cheese pouch of creamy cheese, and a pack of bread crumbs for a topping. So i simply cooked the Mac and cheese according To the instructions. Then i dished out the Mac and cheese into a foil baking pan which i coated on the bottom with olive oil. I then sprinkled the bread crumbs on too and some shredded Parmesan cheese. This was now ready to ready to go in the oven that was preheated at 425 degrees for just 10 to 15 mins.
During that time i cleaned my space satisfying the chicken stuff and washing everything else. When that was finished i took the posts out the oven and covered it.
Now it was time for the chicken. The NuWave oven my mom gave me cooks everything from the inside out perfectly. But i had to adjust ether cooking time for this chicken cause the where big chicken quarters.
There were about 18 mins per side.
As it finished i dished out my plate and had my dinner. I invited some canned French style green beans to complete my healthy dinner! And that was it!

Natural Hair Spotlights

So due to recent experiences and relationships being built amoungst hair salons, natural hair representatives, products, and individuals I have been inspired to build a deeper portfolio in terms of natural hair. Not only do I want this to be photography but I want it to be an opportunity for me to begin a conversation about individuals and their natural hair journeys.

I've also learned its beneficial to me as a photographer to be able to shoot basic video in terms of audio and light. And when I photograph people my portraits are as great as they are because I've gotten a chance to get to know them. A slice of their life in a still image is all I attempt to provide. Also I decided over the summer that I want to get my masters in Journalism. So every blog counts even more now lol. I want to appeal to others while still talking about things that matter to me and especially things that can help someone else and touch their lives. I choose to use my God given talents to serve.

So every post on a natural hair individual is going to be titled "Spotlight on ___________" whoever is the model. I did my first one today and I can't wait to showcase it later in a fresh new post!
I hope that these posts get deeper in the minds of ladies on their journey's because that what it is. Your hair is an extension of you. And from what I recently learned at the Taliah Waajid World Natural Hair Show is that there are a lot of things emotionally that put a strain on your body as well as your hair. As I learn more I'm starting to really see hair as a reflection of the individual. Maybe one day I'll look and feel someone's hair to determine who they are like Ray Charles felt a pair of hands.
I even got some books about natural hair that are dated back in the late 1990s and early 2000s which I hope will teach me some things that were known well before this "era" of going natural. I know its been going on much longer than most know.

 

Tia Mowry SHORT HAIR!

So I NEVER NEVER NEVER do celebrity posts on my blog  but this one caught me way off guard!
Tia Hardrict, which everyone still says Tia Mowry (that's what you get for being famous since you were in diapers) CUT OFF all hair!!

For the very few in the world who may not know, Tia Mowry forms a duo with her twin sister Tamera Mowry and starred in Sister, Sister for years before I was born in 1992 lol. But growing up I watch the re-runs on TV all the time. They made that show and I've been obsessed with them since lol. Since the show they've made tv appearance and a few movies but other then that, that was it. THEN Tia got pregnant and I heard about a reality series coming to a STYLE network. I was so excited. So excited that I watch it faithfully and most the time I try and wait to watch it with my oldest sister Simone. There are things that Tia and Tamera do that I often compare to my sister and I. Every time we watch an episode we look at each other at certain funny moments. Even the emotional moments we're pointing fingers at whose who in our family lol. What I love the most about Tia and Tamera is their bond and love and dedication to their family and what they do. A fundamental I got from them actually is saying a simple Thank You to veterans or people in uniform. And I've done that everyday since I watched that special episode. I actually embrace those moments when they come cause the smile on their faces is so Worth it. Living in Savannah now I get to run into a lot of them since we have a pretty big military base here.


But let me go back to the hair cause I could probably write about these twins and every episode that has touched me. Speaking of books Tia wrote one which I hope to buy when I'm ready to have a baby. She keeps it real. According to US Magazine she cut it to save her time and spend more time with her son Cree Cree! That's very commendable. I can't wait to the new season to see what other factors led her to cut it all off. But long or short her hair is still soo soo beautiful.  Even though I know her hair is curlier than the picture shows (darn flat irons influencing beautiful curls). I tell ya they all got good genes! Have you seen her brother?! (Look Below!!) He's come a long way from Smart Guy and he's on a new show this year on ABC Family!! He's worth watching lol.

At any rate, whether its to save time or go NATURAL!! I defiantly encourage people to embrace their decisions and the moments like these. I meet too many girls who cover their natural hair cause its too short or chemically damaged it because its not the length they want. Embrace your curls, shrinkage, new growth, whatever you want to call it. And I'll have to have a post on its own about shrinkage cause its grown to be a word I don't like! Its misused!!

But to sum it up WATCH TIA AND TAMERA!!! If you loved Sister Sister or the twins in general you will love this! And Tamera is pregnant this season! So its time for the tables to turn! I just love this family so much. They just seem so genuine and you don't get that from a lot of people. Unfortunately I'm not a big tweeter so its hard to follow up with them on a day to day but one day we'll meet and do some great charity empowerment thing together or be their personal photographer lol. Either way I'll meet them one day.


New Season This Tuesday! I'll be watching ;)

Shooting Glass

So this was my latest assignment in my controlled lighting class.
We learned to shoot glass on black and white plexi and then we could do something creative.
The stock plexiglass in the studio is all nasty  and scratched up so I attempted to fix it in photoshop but my patience in photoshop is very poor. I am defiantly not one of those photo geeks that can sit around the computer n edit all day. it is not for me!

But at any rate enjoy my work. I'm LEARNING!!  :)
The before and after images are side by side and mighty obvious. Tips and Suggestions are encouraged!

 

 

RELIEF - PRINTMAKING

I just wanted to make a quick post about Printmaking because I really am loving it and when I make art work via printmaking I have some urge to make it ethnic and personal in some way.

For those who don't know printmaking is old old old before every one's time form of print and art. Everyone has done at least one print in their life time: Your foot print and hand print on your birth certificates. That was your first print!

 

My class this year started with Relief printmaking on linoleum or wood and I decided to be over ambitious and use wood cause I loved the texture of it and I thought it would be much more rewarding carving into a wood block. So I went to Lowes and got some wood and got at it! That easy! JUST KIDDING! not easy at all! I spent days planning what my image content would be and what it would mean slowly developed as I carved into a practice block. My practice block you can see here to the side. So the top right image is after I finished carving it. In relief you carve away the whites of your image. Then The image below that is after I rolled some ink on my block. The the bottom image is the press that my block and paper go through. And the larger image on the left is the final product on expensive behind paper!

The idea came from my relationship and a drawing my roommate from freshman year made me. Her name is Jessica Reed and I expressed to her how my boyfriend called me a giraffe and I called him a turtle due to obvious resemblances lol. She does awesome cutesy animation drawing and drew for me an animated turtle and giraffe in love! (Sorry blogger won't let me rotate it)

 So it started with two drawings  on a piece of paper. Scanned into the computer and put on top of one another. Then I used illustrator to put in the shapes on the shell. Then I printed it on 11x17 inch paper. Afterwards, I used a chemical I can't think of the name right now and the press and transferred my laser print onto the wood so it would be ready for me to carve.

In love with that piece I wanted to do something to that effect but in a more abstract way.So for my final wood block I designed the background to be giraffe skin and turtle to be in the foreground representing my boyfriend. The idea is that the turtle is the leader and head of the relationship, like how God dictates marriage to be. The giraffe skin is a gradient decreasing in size in the direction that the turtle is headed. That represents me the woman guiding the man (the turtle) in the right direction. Together they function and proceed with confidence knowing that they support each other with wisdom and love. People in my class commented that the piece looks tribal which is what I was going for. (I like tribal you'll see more of that in my copper piece as well.) I also refrained from making an outline around the turtle because I wanted the textures I carved to distinguish between the turtle and the giraffe skin but at the same time they act as one unit so I embraced the idea of them almost blending in together. The final product was printed on paper and you can see how it turned out below! And by the way P is for Perry :)

 

My Roarin' Twenties

Just last week I turned 20 and my world has already began to change. I have a feeling in my heart that this age is going to be my year of transition. My oldest sister and I have already deemed this year: My Roarin' Twenties.

I began my birthday(oct. 5th) on the road with my super assistant (Perry) to Atlanta, GA for my first contracted gig with Taliah Waajid's World Natural Hair, Health & Beauty Show. Based off the pictures I took at their Spring Show earlier this year, her people contacted my people (I'm my people lol) and asked if I would work their Fall show! So this gig was a big deal, contracts, deadlines, travel plans, BIG DEAL! And a footstep in the right direction and hopefully a lastly relationship with Taliah Waajid and her shows.



Amongst that shin-dig, I scoped out a new magazine coming out of New Jersey titled JOURNEY. Journey is going to be the FIRST and ONLY published Natural Hair Magazine. I've been in contact with the publishers and I'm hoping to make a lastly relationship with them as well. I rather not drop any more info on that because my excitement and fear like to walk hand in hand sometimes lol. But lets just say I'm contributing to the beauty and education of natural hair to women all over the world with my photography and words of wisdom.
More Info on the magazine can be found on their site HERE

My 20th year is also symbolic of a transitional year for me because I moved into an apartment, began a new decade of my life, began my 2nd year at SCAD(half way to graduation :), and I'm working on expanding my portfolios and polishing them up!


The apartment life is wonderful! I love my roommate and I love cooking. I have lots more cooking things I haven't posted in a while.

2nd Year at SCAD = Sophomore! woot woot lol. I'm taking Intro to Printmaking which is forming a new interest in my heart. I always said if I could afford to minor I would minor in printmaking. Which is why I took this class as my directive elective. I've carved into wood, scratched into copper, and so much more is to come with that! I'm also taking CMPA so I'm learning Illustrator, more photoshop, and next week we are doing InDesign. These computer applications I learn will be important on my resume so companies know I am proficient in a range of adobe applications. And lastly I am taking my Studio Lighting Course which has got me reading about light and loving it. lol. Just this morning I took out my little photo book on lighting - Light, Science, and Magic and read two chapters back to back. Reading it just gets me excited as to what I can learn today to apply tomorrow.

CAREER!!! Its getting a little scary as I approach the big graduation date I gotta look at my work, where I want it to go, and the type of professional audience I want to reach. Not to mention I want to enjoy what I'm doing of course! I still have my body stuff, but I'm beginning some personal projects on natural hair which is going along with my portraiture and lighting i suppose. And whenever I find a willing model it will go hand in hand with my nude body of work. Today I'm actually suppose to start what I call are portfolio planning books where I will put my plans and ideas and contacts in writing in something tangible I can build upon.

Speaking of careers I've separated business from pleasure if you will lol. I now have TWO facebook LIKE pages: one for my personal work - Stephanie Brown Photography and one for my event photography which is Saje Creations (link is in the tool bar of this blog.) I am still working on the website for my personal work and it should be up by Spring for the big career fair.

The ROARIN' TWENTIES!!! Its only beginning but I'm excited to grow as a photographer and adult and business professional. I've been ready all my life and now its time for me to start applying all that I've prepared .

Allow me to RE-introduce myself...

My name is Stephanie Brown
On this day in history I was born TWO decades ago.

I am an artist
Photography is my medium
Nikon is my weapon
Together we make magic,
Put smiles on faces,
And Create memories on which the WORLD will one day reflect.

I am determined.
Overcome by faith.
Destined to achieve all that I believe
And I believe I can achieve all that I see.

I see the "impossible"
What you can't do is what you choose not to.
I choose to do it all.
Optimism will can and has gotten me far.

I got goals.
Things to do.
People to meet.
Business to procreate.
I work on that every day.

In the studio,
On the job,
Hearing vows,
Making people proud

I do this for me.
For Christ's sake.
I'm only in this world to praise His name.

Only two decades in
Ready to graduate
Moving fast
Destined to win.