Friends + Familiar Places + Mumford and Sons

I have quite a bit to catch up on here.
Last Thursday, I finally got to visit the Georgia Southern University campus, where my husband went to college, and see all the places I've only heard in the stories between his circle of friends. As he attended the job fair, representing his firm, I got the bright idea to walk to the campus Starbucks. The only thing is, I had a bag that probably weighed about 35 pounds and it was blazing hot outside. By the time I got there, I felt like I'd been on an episode of "The Biggest Loser" and Jillian was yelling at me. I survived, and the walk back wasn't nearly as horrible.

When on a college campus. :)

After leaving Statesboro, we headed back home for Easter weekend with our families. Pretty much the whole ride there, I played Mumford and Sons and Adele. I'm sure Christopher wanted to jump out of the moving car. Anyway, the line from, "Blank White Page",  just kept going through my mind: "Tell me now where was my fault in loving you with my whole heart?"  "Please, someone donate a ticket to the sold out show to me." is what I wanted to write in my status update, but instead just simply wrote that lyric. A few moments later, I received a text from a really good friend from college asking if I wanted to go see Mumford and Sons because she had an extra ticket. Boy, the tears went to rolling. Christopher, again, thought I was crazy, but SERIOUSLY?! I was having a heartbreaking moment like when I was 15 and Johnny Lang came to Tallahassee and my dad wouldn't let me go. And I'm sure you can't even believe how excited I am about this show! I'm going to cry-no doubt.

Saturday was amazing! I had an early morning shoot of a BEAUTIFUL little girl, and while in Valdosta, I made sure to call Nguyen, since it was her recital day at VSU, and I didn't know if we could make it or not. I at least wanted to see her! So, she was nice enough to make time in her crazy busy day to stop by Starbucks and see me!!! While inside waiting for my drink, I noticed a photo of Shaun Hopper on the bulletin board-of course, I took a photo of it! Those were the days when Shaun used to play there! That was the first time I got to see my name on his band posters. :) I spent a lot of nights sitting out on the patio there writing and listening to music. Those are some of my most peaceful memories. I couldn't help but sit there, soaking up the sun, with a huge smile on my face.

Shaun Hopper !!!!!!!

Me and Nguyen !!!!!!!

Something FUN: surprising Nguyen and showing up at her recital-after telling her I couldn't make it. I got there about two minutes before she went on stage, and took a few photos so she can always remember what she worked so hard for. I was absolutely blown away at her talent! I look forward to working on music with her again some day soon. The day kind of turned into an old ABAC college reunion. There were several people I remember from my choir days there. That was cool!
Here are a few shots from the show!

I have to say, when they played "There Will Never Be Another You", I had chills. Just amazing! And seeing her face when she realized we were there-priceless!
Nguyen, you are AMAZING, and I can't wait to see where this all takes you!

Shaun Hopper | Kids + Their Dreams

To all of you who grew up in a small town, you will get this right away: as a kid, my friends and I had nothing to do but get in trouble, or dream.
I can remember all the crazy phases of my life where I'd sit in school, and daydream about how my life would be in the years to come.
I have a very large extended family, and 90% of them are into music in some way or another. So, of course, I have a huge place for music in my life. Over the years, I dreamed I was everyone from Reba to Alanis. I always wanted to take music and voice lessons, but sadly there just wasn't anyone around who offered any.  That led me to wishing I was one of those people who could miraculously teach themselves...which leads me to this guy...
There was a guy in my neighborhood, named Shaun Hopper. We would hang out-or should I say fight-in the front yard until my dad would tell him he needed to go home, and you guessed it, I would get into trouble. Time would eventually take us down two separate roads. I kept hearing talk around town that he had gotten into playing guitar and was playing at some smaller places. I'm not really sure why, but our paths never crossed again until many years later.
I finally took a chance and tried out to be the new singer in a band that Shaun happened to be in. I'll never forget that crazy night. I sang Silverchair's "Tomorrow"...only to later be told it was Shaun who said he didn't want a female lead singer. So, there went my dream, right? Not quite. Two years, and a new direction (the path of photography) later, I ran into a friend from high school in the mall. He had a band t-shirt on and I asked him who that was because I hadn't heard of them. He told me, and he told me that Shaun was their bassist. I told him the story of that dreadful "try-out" and he is the reason everything was cleared up. I then got a call from Shaun about a week later asking if I could come check out his band because they would be needing photos for their upcoming album.
I went, and that started a great friendship, and many, many band photos.
Even though I may not be writing songs that I get to share with the world from a stage, I am very blessed to get to capture the unique things about musicians that I used to flip through all of my Guitar World and Rolling Stone magazines just wishing I could be a part of it all.
Every time I see one of my music photos published somewhere, I remember that little girl who used to dream until her heart ached, and I just smile and say, "You made it."

So, here are my latest photos of Shaun Hopper for his latest album, "lower case letters". And if you get a chance to see this guy live, you will be amazed. I promise. He's so talented that it makes me sick.

And, of course, I have to share one of his videos with you...enjoy.

Gamston Faith + Music + Good Days

I feel like I'm just a little behind on this whole blogging thing since my weekend has somehow seemed to last through my Monday. I certainly can't complain about that, though.
To start, I headed to the first day of volunteering at The Revolve Tour on Friday. I was assigned to the Grand Canyon University booth where I got to work with some amazing people!
It was so great to see all of those teen girls giggling and having a blast with their groups of friends.
And, since for some reason, I'm still a teenager at heart, I had a blast, too. The music was incredible, but there was one girl who stood out. Her name is Jamie Grace. She was fun, bubbly, she had a wonderful story to tell, and her voice completely blew me away. She seemed so comfortable up on that stage.
So, day two of volunteering was great because I had the chance to talk until I ALMOST couldn't talk any more. Imagine that. haha!
Then, Sunday felt like an extension of The Revolve Tour at our church. A guy on the worship team did an acoustic version of "Amazing Grace" and it was absolutely beautiful.

That brings us to today...
Wow! The whole message that has been thrown at me, from last Sunday's "Be Bold" to this weekend's "Dream On" really saw the light of day today. I received a phone call, from one of the sweetest ladies I know, wanting to get headshots taken of her daughter--BECAUSE SHE WAS JUST SIGNED TO SPRING FALL RECORDS!!!! I was so excited! I was excited about their excitement, and excited to be doing photos for someone I consider to be amazingly talented! Her name is Gamston Faith.

I first found out that she sang because her mom passed along this video of her singing in Nashville...and I was blown away.

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  Gamston!! (I was having a little fun with my iphone). 

  
  

As soon as Gamston and her new label choose the photos they want to use, I will get to share them with you!! I cannot even tell you how happy I am to see such a truly talented, NICE girl get to make a mark! Now, hopefully she'll let me tag along for some photos while she's recording her album. :)

Enjoy her amazing voice with her original song, "42 Cents"...

New Website/New Blog

I am MORE than excited to finally share the new Alisha McKellar Portrait Design blog with you! 

This will now be the home of new happenings, photos, and of course, a few random things here and there. 

As I spent time sorting and organizing photographs to share on the new site, it simply reminded me of the importance of photos--they tell stories you don't have to write. Going through them was like playing a movie of happy moments in time. So, I thought I would share a few of my favorites with you (which was very difficult to narrow down).

Laguna Beach, CA

First trip to Hollywood, CA.

 I watched the sunset while my feet were in the Pacific Ocean. This was the after.

 Backstage after a shoot with the amazing band, The Notion @ Smith's Olde Bar.

 I'm definitely a beach person-even though my hair does not agree with that statement. Destin, FL

The night I met my husband...he's in the white hat. I was attempting to sing "Zombie" by The Cranberries. Happiness.

Be sure to sign up to follow the blog, check out the new website- www.AlishaMcKellar.com - and as always...feel free to comment!

I absolutely love hearing what you think!

Thank you so much for all of your support!

~Alisha