Farewell 2010

My New Year's Resolution for 2011 is to become a positive person and focus on the good more than the bad.  So... I've chosen to look back and highlight the best things that happened in 2010.

Top 10 of 2010

  

My life:

Mom mom (left) and I smile for the camera after I ran in the 2010 Stockton 1/2 Marathon.  Thanks to a fellow runner for snapping the picture.

Meredith Goodrich (left) and I give our "Rock Band" pose.
 I take the drums and vocals while she rocks the guitar

1. Seeing my picture published in Newsweek Magazine
2. Running in the Stockton 1/2 Marathon
3. Singing Karaoke at a bowling ally in Sacramento
4. Dressing up like a Rock Star and taking pictures with my best friend
5. Making two dresses with my mother the day after Thanksgiving
6. Making Thanksgiving dinner (with my mother’s help)
7. Running 5 miles with my Aunt at the Asparagus Run in Stockton.
8. Going to Temecula to visit with my friend from college
9. Playing with my new timer on my camera (time-lapse)
10. Watching House with my cousin

Music (discovered):

1. Human Nature by Michael Jackson
2. Aphrodisiac by Bow Wow Wow
3. Get Back by the Beatles
4. Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin
5. Next to Normal (Broadway soundtrack)
6. Untouched by the Veronicas
7. Turn the Page By Metallica
8. This Thing Called Love by Elvis Presley
9. Her Name is Alice by Shinedown
10. Welcome to Mystery by the Plain White T’s

October

A lot of changes going on in my world these days.  I'm trying to redefine myself in the midst of the chaos.  A very talented photog friend of mine suggested we push through the world of "no's" greeting our photographic identities, and have a monthly photo chat.  So, despite working from sun-up to sun-down nearly everyday this month, I did manage to pull my camera out of the car a few times to document the holiday as it came to my home.

Here's to goblins, ghouls, pumpkin faces and orange lights!

Horses!

Nearly ever Wednesday, my friend Rami and his equestrian chums take their horses out to practice cattle sorting.  He knows I've been going through shooting withdrawal, so he graciously allowed me to tag along last night and take some snaps.  

I had so much fun!  The light was beautiful!  The horses were beautiful!  Everything was perfect!  I was just playing around - doing some long exposure shots, framing a horse with a horse, funny faces - the works. 

State Fair - Midway Lights

As a photographer, lights and shadows are pretty much my entire reason for living.  My heart beats faster when I see a sliver of light slice through a crowd of shadowed faces.  I jump up and down clapping when the sun sits 30 degrees above the horizon, casting the sweetest light with the longest shadows.  So, naturally, sunset at the midway = a very happy me.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of detail photography - trying to use light and color to transform "real life" into shapes or textures.  I kinda liked these two from the fair....

Oddly compressed image anyone?  This looks so weird to me!  I had to share.

New TL Project - Scene Scout

Soon I'll begin my next project - a time lapse sequence from the Mokelumne River. (I know! I know!  Your response is, "Gasp! I'm so surprised!  She's doing another one!"  What can I say - I like 'em!)  I made a scouting trip there on Tuesday with my camera.  I want to mix high contrast shadow/silhouette sequences with medium to close up sequences.  

Examples: 

Scene 1 - The water and sky moving through the dark trees 

Scene 2 and 3 - Medium shot of stones with water and sky movement followed by Scene 3, close detail shot of water (maybe fish??!!!) with sky reflection moving.

It will probably be at least a week before I'll get back out there.  In the mean time I'm shooting some modern cowboys (cell phones in their holsters) rounding up some cows late late Wednesday night. 

Parker Family Portrait

Images taken at Lodi Lake

“Portrait Photography Hell … a.k.a. Work as Usual”

(The image above is a baby my cousin watches from time to time - she is not one of the kids in the story)

I spent my hour lunch break crying in my car.

Why?

An old lady wearing yellow slacks and a floral print blouse told me off.

She was a customer who didn’t like the pictures of her grandkids.

Standing outside the portrait studio, she waved her hand through the air saying, “I’m really angry right now. I know you’re new…”

I interrupted with, “I’m not new.” (In my head I was counting all 8 agonizing months I spent dealing with customers who thought they could lord over anyone wearing a nametag)

Her eyes became squinty and her voice got louder, “Don’t interrupt me! You act like you’re new! You did a terrible job! It took us a long time to get the kids ready and we specifically told you we wanted blah blah blah…”

In the name of cheap retail photography, I face these women (and the occasional men – but let’s face it, it’s mostly women). We move three paces away from each other, hold our hands out in front like swords and we attack.

They open with a death blow…

“Horrible Photographer,”

I counter the attack with an equally fatal maneuver…

“Horrible Children,”

The battle continues until one of us blinks, admits defeat and awards the victor a forfeit.

I’ve given and received many battle scars.

Old ladies are my weakness.

They deliver the hardest punches.

And so I spent my lunch break crying in my car.

Big Trees

My friend, Meredith, and I drove up to Big Trees National Park last week. For years, Mere has endured the task of being my "model," posing for photographs both silly and serious. At her request, I played a bit while shooting, taking several photos while the camera was on the tripod then merging them in my computer. It's not quite my "cup of tea" but still, interesting. We've created several odd photos over the years, including a few that received awards and recognition when were in school. I think it's our combined effort that has created some of my favorite images. (can you spot all 5 Merediths?)

For this trip, I loaned her my second camera to shoot some images of her own - she shot the pic of me trying to block the path to the famous "drive-through/walk-through tree"

Senior Portrait - Vanessa

I've been doing a lot of senior portraits lately - at work and on my own. I've read that the senior portrait experience is like a modern day rite of passage for American's youth. For many, these will be the last formal photos they take until they get married.
These photos are of a very sweet girl named Vanessa - I'll be designing her announcement cards as well - it should be fun putting the images together in a way that showcases Vanessa and celebrates her achievements.

Driving to town...

It's been a while - things are basically the same, I'm still working at the portrait studio, doing freelance work on the side and somehow making enough to pay my bills each month. It's an ever-so-exciting life! :)

These are some shots I took on the way to and from town today. I kinda got in a "color" mood - white and green. I FINALLY got my sensor cleaned and took my camera out on a test time-lapse run. I can't wait to go back and play at it again. I'm going to do one that's made up of sequences captured within 1 mile of my house. Once I've mastered that, I'm takin' the show on the road and doing some time-lapse shots of Yosemite (or San Francisco, I haven't decided which trip to take).

Goin' Old Fashioned with New Lights

I spent a bit of my tax return to buy some lights and wouldn't you know it, right after, I was given the opportunity to use them! :) I went to a country carnival event to take "old-time" photos of those in attendance. I tried to get one "normal" and one "silly" shot of each group. Without a doubt, the silly ones were the most fun to capture. These are a few of my favorite shots from the evening.