dancing in the ashes of every bridge burnt @bone--white - Tumblr Blog

The pot/dispensary experience is “changing, thanks to a new breed of entrepreneur in Colorado — young, ambitious and often female — that is trying to reach a more sophisticated clientele in everything from language to packaging to social events.

“We’re weeding out the stoners,” said Olivia Mannix, the 25-year-old co-founder of a start-up called Cannabrand, an advertising agency devoted exclusively to marketing marijuana. “We want to show the world that normal, professional, successful people consume cannabis.”

Dispensaries still “look like underground abortion clinics,” Ms. Mannix said. Advertisements are full of “women with whipped cream straddling bongs,” Ms. DeFalco said. And the old stoner stereotype endures: lazy, mostly men, rolling joints in their parents’ basement, covered in Doritos crumbs.

“The average person, when you say the word ‘marijuana,’ they have a visceral reaction… There’s a reason the alcohol industry spends tens of millions of dollars to advertise and market their products. Successful branding pays off.””

Jessica Bennett: In Colorado, a Rebranding of Pot Inc.

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Chasing #realraysfordays with @maurensparrow

For more perfectly captured rays of light, follow @maurensparrow on Instagram and browse the #realraysfordays hashtag.

Little Rock Instagrammer Mauren Sparrow Kennedy (@maurensparrow) is the creative brain behind #realraysfordays. Though sunbeams are commonly enhanced in digital post-processing, Mauren spends her time both photographing and curating photographs that feature “the most beautiful, interesting, unique—and totally real—sunrays that Instagrammers could catch on their phones.” Looking at the ever-growing gallery, Mauren is excited by how the community has picked up #realraysfordays. To help create more light chasing images, she shares her top tips for capturing sunrays:

Always be on the lookout. “The sun behind certain clouds or the way it can shine through the trees gives you completely natural, absolutely real rays that are incredible.”

Be aware of your light source and the objects around it. “Shooting directly into the light with your light source slightly obscured by either a thing or person will give you some awesome sun glare.”

Practice. “Once you figure out how to shoot the rays you like, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot! See what shot works best for showing off the awesome rays you’re trying to capture. Shoot from different angles and with different exposures to make sure you’re getting your rays in the best light possible (pun intended).”