I FINALLY took the big camera out with me this weekend as Andy and I spent a lazy Saturday afternoon strolling around the Silverlake/Hollywood neighborhoods of LA.  I decided before we left that I would shoot with some intent on this venture because, I don't know about you, but I can get easily overwhelmed when I am let loose on a city to just take photos.  The task can be overwhelming to a little perfectionist like me.  Where do I even start?

In many ways portraiture is so much simpler than environmental photography (at least I think so).  When you set out to capture a personality there is a clearly delineated subject.  You can accent that subject anyway you like, but your focus is narrow and the task is clear.  Environmental photography is broad. Very, very broad.  And there is so much pressure to really see everything around you.  Add a crazy dog and frustrated husband to the mix and you've got yourself a party!

It's the off season for weddings in most parts of the country right now, particularly in Ohio where the weather turns into a big mean ugly ogre for a good 5.5 months (at least), so that means I spend the majority of my working hours designing the wedding albums that clients are just now getting around to ordering. One thing I have discovered as I've been working on page layout after page layout is that I am not so good at 'seeing' the square crop.  That probably sounds really weird to those of you who don't spend hours obsessing over these kinds of things, but I'm sure those that are acquainted with the fun-filled world of design know what I'm talking about.  I see photographs in a 35mm frame almost always.  One of the things I hate most about my job is cropping a full frame image (4x6) into the ever popular 8x10.  It's painful for me to chop those extra bits off.  Imagine the anguish I feel when faced with the task of chopping an image into a square.  It's bad.  I hem and haw, try it this way and that way, zoom it in and out until I drive myself nuts. So today I decided to combat my little problem by shooting with the square crop in mind.  Verdict: I actually started to like it.  I'm still not feeling particularly good at it, but I suppose that only comes with practice.

So with much trepidation, I present to you my Hollywood Squares.  I would love to hear what you guys think since this was an experiment meant to help me develop some skillz. Holla’ back, yo.  

(Not entirely sure why that last bit went ghetto but I’m going with it).

Add a comment

Add a comment

I have been shamefully lazy about bringing my camera with me when I go out, but taking a little break has been really nice.  Sometimes it's nice to go places and just see them. With my eyes.  With no pressure to translate what I'm seeing into a 35mm frame.  Anyone who has ever caught the photography bug will tell you, sometimes the pressure can be overwhelming.  All of the sudden everything you see is a possible photograph...a challenge to be conquered.  Most of the time I love that challenge but it's good to step away from it every once and a while and just take in the world around me. 

That said, I have been toting the little camera around when I remember to grab it and occasionally taking a few snapshots.  Below are a few that I have translated into fake Polaroids via the Poladroid-er.  This fun little piece of software allows you to take existing photos, drag them over to the Poladroid camera icon, and essentially create Polaroids of your own. FOR FREE.  It used to only be available for Mac users, but now it's available for all you PC lovers out there too. How fun, right?  It even makes the cool noise and takes its time developing the photo.  I love it.  Hopefully, I can avoid turning every photo I take into a Poladroid. Like Egg Nog, it is meant for moderation only.   It's gaining notoriety all over the web so I'm sure most have heard about it already, but I thought I'd share for those of you who don't spend 25% of the work day reading blogs :).  I first heard about it on Pia Jane Bijkerk's blog.  She's an extememly talented photographer/stylist based out of europe.  I'm absolutely in love with her images. If you get a chance, you should check her out.

Without further ado, Internet, here are a few snaps of Venice Beach Poladroid-ed :).

 

Add a comment

I know I’m later than most with my 2008 reflections, but we were preparing to transplant our lives 2500 miles away when everyone else was posting their ‘End of 2008’ posts, so I wasn’t ready.  Now that things are a bit more settled, I wanted to get something down before life is once again swept into full steam and I forget to take a moment to reflect.

The last Sunday morning before we left Ohio, the speaker at my church started the sermon with a list of why 2008 as a nation and as a global village has been a year full of crazy high highs and low lows.  Looking around it has seemed extreme, hasn’t it?  2008, for me, was a year full of really difficult, heart-wrenching leaps of faith.  The small, private kind that are hard to see from the outside looking in.  There was a lot of saying goodbye and letting go to be done and I’m still not quite sure I’ve been successful, but I guess that kind of confirmation only comes with time. 

Stepping into 2009 I feel like I’ve fallen asleep and awakened in someone else’s house.  Circumstances are less than comfortable and nothing is where I would put it if given the chance.  In many ways I feel like I have to relearn how to have confidence all over again.  However, despite the wind and the cold (well, usually it’s windy and cold where I am) I always find myself very hopeful and excited this time of year.  The days start to slowly get longer, and I feel somehow the cosmic slate has been swept clean.  I am determined to let that feeling overtake the overwhelming sense of being lost I felt on December 31st.  So far, so good.  I’m making progress.

Although, I want to avoid sounding trite, I have to say I’ve been extremely grateful this year for the people that I love.  Having known leaner, lonelier years, I know just how lucky I am to have relationships that aren’t the pretty kind…they aren’t always comfortable and they don’t always feel good.  In my experience, it is pretty easy to find people who will be nice to you, call you every once in a while to schedule a lunch date, and then go on their way attending to their own life.  It is a bit harder to find people who are brave enough to fight with you and explain to you just how full of shit you are when you deserve to be told you are full of shit.  Don’t get me wrong, I also like it when they are nice to me, and they are very, very nice to me. 

And then there is my husband who has the most beautiful spirit I have ever encountered in another human. I had my first conversation with him New Years Eve of 2004 so NYE 2008 marked four years of friendship for us. He is strong and kind, patient and understanding, loyal and painfully honest.  This year we got to know each other so much better and I feel like my love and respect for him has grown exponentially.  Who knew it would just keep getting better?  I feel like I was single long enough to know that I could make it on my own just fine, but I think that just makes me all the more glad to have him around.  There are moments when this year would have been a lot more painful if it weren’t for him.  He has my back whether I deserve it or not and I love him so much for that. 

You are wonderful, baby.  Here’s to starting our 5th year together (IN CALIFORNIA!!!) :)

Below I’ve put together a slideshow of some of my favorite photos from the year.  It was a lot of fun to look back through the 400 GB of photos I took this year and it was really hard to narrow them down to a five-minute slideshow.  Even though Project: 365 turned into Project: 200-something, I am still glad that I gave it a shot and as a result I took a lot more photos of my life.  I hope to do an even better job this year.  We’ll see…

Add a comment