Saturday, August 28, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
THEM
I have been busy working on a few finals for school...in the meantime- how bout some old school Van Morrison? Back when he was in THEM. On October 9, 2010- I will be going to see VM, 5th row at the Santa Barbara Bowl!!!! CAN'T WAIT!!!!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Maternity Photography
“Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be...Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before.”
-Erich Fromm-
Life itself is a journey. My journey is taking me places least expected. When I was 10 years old, I told my parents that I wanted to be photographer. I am 32 years old now. I live on the other side of the United States from where I was raised- I am not sure if I found photography or if it found me. Regardless, I am off on my new journey looking through new lens....and I love it! I have told a few of my friends from School that I feel so happy from the inside out when I am working with my Nikon. I love it.
My most recent client asked me to shoot her Maternity Portraits. I was honored and so willing to document her process of bringing a new life into this world. For the next 6 months I will be completing portraits in different settings. First, as you can see I chose the beach. In all, I shot 945 shots!!!! I had so much fun. When I am working I am so full and extremely in the moment. My client had so much energy which made my job of capturing images much easier. It just flowed.
My portfolio is growing. I can say I enjoy the money involved in this work, but that is not what is important to me. I LOVE MY WORK with all of my heart. Love is all that matters to me. My soul has opened tremendously. That 10yr old in me that was not heard is now free to do what she loves. I feel free and I have an overall feeling endless possibilities in the horizon.
Coming Soon: Website which will have more of the portraiture that I have done with various clients as well as some of my work which is what I would consider more abstract than anything else.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Viva La Fiesta!
I am not claiming this to be my best work by any means, however I could not consider myself a Santa Barbarian without posting Fiesta Celebration which took place this past weekend. I barely made it there. I needed rest after a week of school so it was hard for me to get up the energy to spend time in crowds and deal with lines and lines of people. Just not my idea of fun. Nevertheless, I made it to the show at the SB Court House this past Saturday. I had to grab some shots, however as I had mentioned, this is not my best work at all. It was hard to really get up there without blocking the view for others. In person, it was quite a performance. I look forward to the years to come to really get out to people watch and be more involved in the festivities.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
One Step At a Time
Last month at about this time, my computer decided to break down on me. Basically, a virus entered and made it so that I could not get to my desktop. The fact was that what entered my mind was not so much about losing the papers that I had written for class rather, I felt ill with the idea that all of my photos that I have taken to build of my stock may have been lost forever.
My computer had been running slightly on the slow side the day prior. It raised suspicion however I did not see any warnings indicating that there were any viruses. Then while at Natasha's place, I turned on my computer, and instantly my screen turned blue, I froze and preceded to ask Natasha if she knew what was up with my computer. I started to hyper inside. She of course did not pick up on my nervousness and started to question me about whether I had all my files backed up on an exterior hard drive or not. What a remarkable idea to do such a thing, however of course did not- I had always thought that would be a grand idea, but never made it happen. Natasha was calm while all I wanted to do was take a hammer to my computer, which of course would have solved everything.
Natasha preceded in calling Dell Customer service (she is so good to me!) found out that there is probably a virus and that my computer needs to get looked at and adds at the end that there is a possibility that all files are gone. Thanks for stating the obvious. I spent the next few days worried to death as to whether my files would be retrievable or not.
It tore my up to think that the slide show at Pacifica that I had hoped to put on would be canceled due to me losing all my photos. In fact it made me ill to think about it. I found out that my files were retraceable and had everything backed up on an exterior hard drive immediately. Just this past week, prior to showing my slide show, I informed my classmates of how close I came to not having anything to present in my slide show. That for me would be heartbreaking to face. I am grateful that all that I had worried about had a happy ending!
The slide show was a hit. It ran an hour and a half. I was so happy with my shots and was so proud to show my work to both students and staff at Pacifica. I had a large selection of music which added more flavor to the show. I had the music reflect whatever was being showed-I had a mixture, some which was Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, Everly Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Loise Armstrong all the way to Nine Inch Nails and on and on- overall it was quite an eclectic selection.
I learned so much by this experience and loved showing my work. After the slide show was done, I took note of what I would have done differently along with what really worked. I have picked up a few clients along the way thus far, but truly it was great to hear and see the reactions first hand and hear the laughter and sighs as each photo was presented.
On to more great news. After a few weeks of searching for the right place, my friend Natasha and I found a house that we will be moving into this month on the 15th. The house is more than we could have wished for. 3 bedrooms, high ceilings, open floor plan, huge kitchen and plenty of space, 1900 square feet in all with a great front and back yard. We found a great deal with my work. My work has property all around the facility and planned on renovating the house and having it rented. My boss heard word that I was in search for an apartment and mentioned to me that the house was available. It is safe to say that Natasha and I would not ever find this kind of deal anywhere else, so we grabbed it! What makes this wonderful is that Natasha was willing to give me the third bedroom which ultimately allows me to create my own office for my photography. It will be my own studio where I can meet with clients and display my work.
Lately I have been doing a lot of portraiture- both family and individuals. I happily picked up a wedding for next year as well as worked at a graduation party and various family events. I have found my calling which gratefully is just an added bonus to my work as a Therapist. As I may have mentioned in the past, in some way I would like to see myself combine the two. Regardless, I need to work in baby steps for now. Keep things simple and take in all my experiences.
Eventually, I will have a website so I can advertise myself more effectively. In general, there are so many photographers- it seems everywhere I look someone is walking around with a Nikon shooting away, but hey, that's just the way it is. My desire is to love what I am doing, have fun and find each job as an opportunity for more growth. Right now, it is all about starting a name for myself and see what lies in store for me!
My computer had been running slightly on the slow side the day prior. It raised suspicion however I did not see any warnings indicating that there were any viruses. Then while at Natasha's place, I turned on my computer, and instantly my screen turned blue, I froze and preceded to ask Natasha if she knew what was up with my computer. I started to hyper inside. She of course did not pick up on my nervousness and started to question me about whether I had all my files backed up on an exterior hard drive or not. What a remarkable idea to do such a thing, however of course did not- I had always thought that would be a grand idea, but never made it happen. Natasha was calm while all I wanted to do was take a hammer to my computer, which of course would have solved everything.
Natasha preceded in calling Dell Customer service (she is so good to me!) found out that there is probably a virus and that my computer needs to get looked at and adds at the end that there is a possibility that all files are gone. Thanks for stating the obvious. I spent the next few days worried to death as to whether my files would be retrievable or not.
It tore my up to think that the slide show at Pacifica that I had hoped to put on would be canceled due to me losing all my photos. In fact it made me ill to think about it. I found out that my files were retraceable and had everything backed up on an exterior hard drive immediately. Just this past week, prior to showing my slide show, I informed my classmates of how close I came to not having anything to present in my slide show. That for me would be heartbreaking to face. I am grateful that all that I had worried about had a happy ending!
The slide show was a hit. It ran an hour and a half. I was so happy with my shots and was so proud to show my work to both students and staff at Pacifica. I had a large selection of music which added more flavor to the show. I had the music reflect whatever was being showed-I had a mixture, some which was Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, Everly Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Loise Armstrong all the way to Nine Inch Nails and on and on- overall it was quite an eclectic selection.
I learned so much by this experience and loved showing my work. After the slide show was done, I took note of what I would have done differently along with what really worked. I have picked up a few clients along the way thus far, but truly it was great to hear and see the reactions first hand and hear the laughter and sighs as each photo was presented.
On to more great news. After a few weeks of searching for the right place, my friend Natasha and I found a house that we will be moving into this month on the 15th. The house is more than we could have wished for. 3 bedrooms, high ceilings, open floor plan, huge kitchen and plenty of space, 1900 square feet in all with a great front and back yard. We found a great deal with my work. My work has property all around the facility and planned on renovating the house and having it rented. My boss heard word that I was in search for an apartment and mentioned to me that the house was available. It is safe to say that Natasha and I would not ever find this kind of deal anywhere else, so we grabbed it! What makes this wonderful is that Natasha was willing to give me the third bedroom which ultimately allows me to create my own office for my photography. It will be my own studio where I can meet with clients and display my work.
Lately I have been doing a lot of portraiture- both family and individuals. I happily picked up a wedding for next year as well as worked at a graduation party and various family events. I have found my calling which gratefully is just an added bonus to my work as a Therapist. As I may have mentioned in the past, in some way I would like to see myself combine the two. Regardless, I need to work in baby steps for now. Keep things simple and take in all my experiences.
Eventually, I will have a website so I can advertise myself more effectively. In general, there are so many photographers- it seems everywhere I look someone is walking around with a Nikon shooting away, but hey, that's just the way it is. My desire is to love what I am doing, have fun and find each job as an opportunity for more growth. Right now, it is all about starting a name for myself and see what lies in store for me!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Being in the now
Here I stand once again at an intersection. One road is coming to an end, while a new one lays waiting for me to journey down. But still, I look around and see all the smiling faces of my classmates here at Pacifica Graduate Institute and take everything in. We all have come a long way to meet and share our past our present and the dreams of the future.I am proud of myself as well as my friends who have come such a long way personally as well as professionally, from where they began here at Pacifica.
I am less than two days away from completed the academic portion at Pacifica. It has been filled with many long hours spent in the classroom as well of some really fun filled evenings of spending time with my friends. It has been great fun! For me, it is such a strange feeling to come to realize that next month at this time I will not be looking at a new syllabus, purchasing new text books or planning out the papers necessary for class. I have reached that marker in my academic career. No more classes!
Tomorrow night, I will be presenting to my friends/ classmates a slide show filled with a small skit staring yours truly followed by two years of photos. Here is a sample of some of my work during this last week at Pacifica. It has been amazing fun documenting the past two years as well as taking student portraits of all my classmates. Enjoy the preview!
Clothing Swap
Dance-off
Some of my classmates
Sand play items
I am less than two days away from completed the academic portion at Pacifica. It has been filled with many long hours spent in the classroom as well of some really fun filled evenings of spending time with my friends. It has been great fun! For me, it is such a strange feeling to come to realize that next month at this time I will not be looking at a new syllabus, purchasing new text books or planning out the papers necessary for class. I have reached that marker in my academic career. No more classes!
Tomorrow night, I will be presenting to my friends/ classmates a slide show filled with a small skit staring yours truly followed by two years of photos. Here is a sample of some of my work during this last week at Pacifica. It has been amazing fun documenting the past two years as well as taking student portraits of all my classmates. Enjoy the preview!
Clothing Swap
Dance-off
Some of my classmates
Sand play items
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