Dec 25, 2014
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
As soon as I stuff my face with turkey and the food guilt starts to settle in, the chaotic energy surrounding Christmas also starts to settle, and then begins to suffocate me like a poisonous gas.
If you know me personally, you might think I’m a Scrooge without reason. I’ve never had a traumatizing Christmas. As a kid, the presents were plentiful and, even though Santa’s handwriting looked strikingly similar to my mother’s, there was bit of magic in the overnight appearance of even more presents, and the half-eaten cookies we’d discover in the morning. There are much more unfortunate people out there with better reasons to hate Christmas, you might think. Sorry, but I just can’t help but be cynical this time of year, it’s in my nature.
Maybe it’s the horrible combination of red and green everywhere you look. It might be the endless carols in every store, on every radio station, and eventually stuck on replay in every corner of my mind!!!
It’s most certainly the somewhat forced kindness and cheer people push out because “tis the season,” and season rules are in effect. There shouldn’t be a season for kindness.
It’s definitely the additional pressure every season-abiding citizen must feel to buy the best gifts, in the most crowded and time-consuming situations. And they better be effin jolly about it too!
I truly feel for the poor people working in retail, who deal with the not-so-jolly consumers. You can’t forget about the small business owners, either, who fret about having the best Black Friday sale, because they fear it’s the last chance they’ll have to sell anything until spring.
Maybe if I had kids I’d be less cynical… but probably not. In my mind, Christmas is just a day that causes way too much unnecessary stress.
A few weeks ago I was deep in stress mode, dreaming of December 26th, and thinking about how to overcome it all, when my gaze settled on this photo. Suddenly, I was transported back to Christmas 2010, the day I made it, and the best Christmas ever.
It was the first time I found myself with no obligations for Christmas. While some might find this sad, I was overjoyed about having some free, uninterrupted, time to spend doing something for me. I quickly made plans with my camera. When my friends insisted I join their families for the holiday, I called my photo plans a present to myself that I couldn’t wait to get started on. That got the point across.
As I gazed at this photo, I remembered how easily I got into the photography zone that day. Just me, my camera, and a few feathers to experiment with. I played with lights, backgrounds, and water droplets, and time passed like a bullet.
This photo is full of so many firsts: It was the first time I ever made something my confidence considered beautiful enough to be called art. It was also the first print I sold as art. It was the first photo Nick claimed as his favorite, and he soon proved it to me by making it the first of my art to hang in our apartment. It was the first Christmas I looked forward to as an adult.
As all these memories flooded my mind, the stress started to ease, and I knew what I had to do this year. It was time to take another Christmas off.
Thankfully, I’m surrounded by people who understand my introverted nature. So when I cancelled Christmas this year, nobody called me Scrooge, or tried to change my mind, they totally got it, and I could breathe a sigh of relief.
Merry Christmas, I hope the holiday was everything you wanted it to be!
Dec 19, 2014
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
My hand hovers over the blank page and my restless thumb works the pen tip in and out: click-click click-click, click-click click-click. As I stare at my latest batch of photos and wonder what to write, my eyes fix on this particular rose.
It’s pleading, drowning, and reaching for a savior. The more I look, the more the rose transforms into a figure… like a damsel in distress. Juliet? No. Rapunzel? No. Ariel?! Yes! Ariel, the red-headed mermaid, just before Ursula’s whirlpool drags her from the surface.
So am I a good witch or a bad witch? All the sparkly, shimmery magic that’s swirling around the vase glistens like Glenda from the Wizard of Oz. Of course I’m a good witch!
Then I picture the countertops that surrounded my magical set: piles of petals and bits of chopped stems were scattered across every surface. Am I a flower murderer? Was this a rose massacre? So maybe I’m a bad witch after all.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Dec 12, 2014
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
I stood hunched over the sink, at the top of a step ladder. Like a witch stirring a cauldron, I swirled the rose petal dappled water around and around. I may have even cackled a couple of times; I can’t help it, that’s just what my laugh sounds like.
It felt like I was casting a spell on the petals, urging them to flow in the most beautiful possible way. After my spatula left the pool it was out of my hands. Water, petals, and light took over. I only had to click the shutter open: one last decision.
More than 150 clicks later, all the elements came together into this perfectly composed piece. Great composition is a hard thing to find in such semi-random motion, but I think it was worth the wait. Hey, magic takes time, and a good witch has to have patience.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Dec 5, 2014 |
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
I peeked out the window and checked for the sun; this is how I get the weather report in spring and fall, and it’s often misleading.
One overcast day I bundled Gracie in her monkey sweater and found myself sweating underneath three layers. It was probably 50, but it felt more like 80 with all our ridiculous clothing.
Only a day before, though, I was hugging myself and urging her along, “come on Gracie go pee-pee, go pee-pee!” I stood shivering in my sweatshirt and felt guilty about my poor pibble; she was in nothing but her birthday suit. The sun was shinning bright that day… uselessly, I might add.
All that meteorological confusion is gone now. No more of your trickery, Sun. I don’t have to look out the window to guess how it’ll feel. It’s effin freezing out… probably from now on.
I saved this leaf for last, with the hope that all that fiery red might fool you into feeling warm the way the sun always seems to fool me.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Gracie Lou AKA Moo being extra cute in the monkey sweater her Aunt Jen bought her.
Nov 28, 2014
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
The wind grabbed at my hair so violently that even the tiniest wisps stung like little whips in their medusa-like craze. They predicted 40 MPH gusts that day and, as usual, I was underdressed for the occasion.
I could hear the wind coming, the rustling was like static all around me. When it was about to strike, the sound amplified quickly, suddenly whooshing past my ears. The cold easily cut through my clothes, stinging my skin. The few clouds rolled in and out of the sun’s path, briefly chilling me further.
When I couldn’t take it anymore I got into my car. Shielded from the wind, and baking in the sun, it was the perfect break room to warm up and scope out my next shot.
This is what I think of as the perfect storm. Enough force to intrigue me and enough sun to make all the stormy discomforts dissipate quickly.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Nov 21, 2014 |
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
Ever look in the mirror and totally shock yourself? I did earlier this week!
I was in my typical bum-wear: yoga pants and a sweatshirt from 1999. It’s a faded brown, with a few holes, and the cuffs are torn where the folds used to be. That’s one fall perk; when I take Gracie out, big, baggy sweatshirts, are the perfect way to hide the fact that I don’t feel like wearing a bra.
So if I’m typically a bum, what was the big shocker? My hair! I’m parting it differently, and sometimes pieces here and there still try regress to a former life, but this was bad! It looked like I stuck my head in a blender, and this was after my 2nd venture outside that day! I grabbed my brush and started working out the mess, only to have it get caught in a knot so big it was halfway to making dreadlock status!
This is what happens when I take a week off from the 9-5 photography to get some artsy work done. So thank you boring products that need to be photographed… you keep me looking halfway decent five days a week.
What about you? Do you ever just bum out? Ever been caught by your neighbors looking like hell? Help me feel a bit less freakish and tell me about it!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Nov 7, 2014 |
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
When the idea for these photos struck me I imagined exactly how I would do it. I daydreamt of twirling around like the lady from The Sound of Music; minus the beautiful hills and plus dodging headstones as I deathgripped my camera.
When it came time to shoot, I’m sure I looked more like a dizzy delinquent high on LSD than a blonde nanny in a musical. Luckily, though, only the dead were around to criticize and they don’t say much.
It wasn’t long before I figured out that moving my camera had to be a lot less carefree than playing ring around the rosie with myself. I settled on 1 second exposures (rather than the 4 that I started with) and panned the camera slow, steady, and straight across the horizon.
I got kind of addicted to the process and the surprise of seeing the resulting blend of color. The rainbow background above was my favorite surprise. Below is a snapshot reference of the scene before I spun it away in my camera.
What do you think?
The scene that I motion-blurred into a rainbow background for the photo above.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Oct 3, 2014
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
“Don’t forget to take your favors!” Melissa, the bride-to-be at the shower, shouted. “Here, you want a wine stopper?” She shoved it into my hand and grabbed a handful of boxes from the dainty basket that held the rest of the favors.
“Wine stopper?” I said, “why the hell would I ever want to stop the wine?” I was the the cynical bridesmaid, and I was determined to make myself laugh at every opportunity ‘til the day my friend wed. I even got a chuckle out of the waitress.
It was more than a joke though, it was a personal truth. I’m not afraid to admit I’m a lush and I certainly do love my wine. The wine stopper, although practically useless in my mind, was pretty, so I took it home.
Here it is up close. It’s just one more layer on top of my black lace and pink louffa (yes that’s what the pink tint in last week’s photo was). I look right through the wine stopper and it looks a bit like pouring a glass of wine; from white, to pink, to magenta.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Aug 22, 2014 |
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
I’d been dreaming of bokeh-ful photos for awhile before I finally created these past few images. What’s bokeh? It’s simply those out of focus orbs you see in the background of these past few photos. It’s the only photography jargon I will bother you with; I promise-I’m just so in love with it I had to tell you more about it!
Those dreamy spots can only come from hot spots in the background. I could have just put a pile of Christmas lights on my set, but the yellowy (and god forbid – multi-colored!) lights were not right for the mood I was going for.
Instead, I found these styrofoam balls covered in sequins. When I bounced my light off of them they became pastel colored lights that shone just perfectly. I filled a pie dish with them, and covered it in plastic wrap to hold them in place as I leaned the plate up against a black background. I used blue gels (they are see-through plastic sheets tinted blue). over my two flashes pointed at the background to get the color right. Wa-la! Bokeh to die for.
P.S. – I also have a wide version of this photo available in my shop
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
On the set of latest series filled with blue bokeh
Jun 13, 2014
Want this hanging on your wall? Just click the photo to buy now!
Creeping up behind my neighbor’s Fiat, I was balancing between stalker and antisocial weirdo. The car wasn’t there at 6:00 am, when I was examining the bushes for close up photo ops as Gracie sniffed out the perfect poop spot.
When I returned it was noon and, on the other side of the car, my neighbors were having a tag sale – which explained (without alleviating my frustration) why the damn thing was parked right in front of the pretty flowers.
Weekend traffic and the tag sale led to a high frequency of slow, gawking drivers. One guy stopped next to me and called out the window, “Why are you crying?” I think he was a little embarrassed when I turned around with a big, fake smile and a camera in my hand.
I wonder how many other passers-by assumed I was a weirdo crying in the bushes.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
