Holiday Warmth

This year's wrapping scheme: recycled brown bags with accents of orange and turquoise.

Step aside, Martha Stewart. There's a new craft queen in town!

I get into Christmas. Every year has a color scheme with fun bows and crafty accents. My family will come over tomorrow and we will eat, laugh, and enjoy our day together. Sweet Potato Cranberry soup is simmering on the stove, and cornbread (both gluten-free) is cooling as I write this. My sink has backed up and The Weekend Warrior is tearing things apart and trying to get everything in working order. Things are somewhat hectic, and yet the air is filled with yummy smells and happiness that can mean only one thing: Christmas is almost here!

My mantle. Books are placed by the chimney with care.

Home.

No matter where you live, what you believe, or how you celebrate, I hope you all have a holiday season filled with love, laughter, creativity, and inspiration!

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Scaling Back: a Photographic Exercise

Choppy waters just beyond the Golden Gate Bridge.

On November 4 I boarded a plane in Portland, Maine to cross the country and land in San Francisco. The family was congregating in the city that my youngest cousin now calls home, so we could all attend his wedding. I was beyond excited.

First, I was excited to finally get to see San Francisco, and that the Weekend Warrior was coming with me (knowing he would finally see the Golden Gate Bridge, which he seems to have a mild obsession with, was fueling my enthusiasm). This was the final wedding of my 2009 season, only this time I was going as a guest. No pressure on me, aside from the fact that I would be required to put some serious effort into my outfit, and (*GASP*) wear heels.

Walking around the streets of San Francisco made me really thirsty.

I thought about how I would actually sit and eat an entire meal. I would hit the dance floor and dance for hours. I would hang out with my family, laughing and talking and watching my cousin have his moment. And I would get to see another photographer in action! I love to watch people who know their craft work, so this was something I was really looking forward to.

Then it came time to pack my equipment. I wasn't responsible for a wedding or portraits or film stills, so perhaps I could really scale back. I could bring just what I'm comfortable carrying on me for hours. I could finally do something I've wanted to do for a long time: One camera body, and one lens. But not a zoom lens, that's almost cheating. A 50 mm, nothing else and see what I get.

I loved how the sun was hitting this little building, begging me to take its picture.

In my twenties, before the days of auto-focus and extra bells and whistles, I went everywhere with a Pentax K1000 and a 28mm lens. I got very used to shooting close to my subjects or making negative space work in my favor. Things are different now, to say the least, but the desire to scale down and simplify is still with me. Excessive gear doesn't mean much. The important thing is to be comfortable and skilled with the gear you do have. Bringing only a 50mm lens is an excellent exercise for any photographer. If the shot doesn't work you either find a way to make it work or you move on to the next thing that might. It's an exercise in finding new ways to see (or a reminder of how you used to see, before all the auto-focus zooms came into your life).

Down at Fisherman's Wharf, in what I called 'Crab Alley'.


The end of Larkin.

Not to mention, it's a very compact and light lens making all day excursions with a camera around your shoulder much easier, especially when renting bikes. All of the photos in this post were taken on that trip, with a 50mm f1.4 lens. I'm looking forward to the next chance I get to stretch my photo brain like that.

I love the texture and color of this. Rusty metal things do it for me.

The touristy shot. I went under on a boat and across on a bike.

This little exercise stretched my creativity and left me wanting more. This is what scaling back did for me. What do you think it could do for you?

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Witness to Happiness

This is what content looks like, in case you haven't seen it in awhile. The highlight of his whole trip, hands down, making all the work to get there totally worth it.

A chance to see San Francisco is worth it anyway, and now I get to be one of those people who walks around saying "San Francisco is such a great city!" since I have finally seen it. Pieces of it, at least. This photo will remain one of my favorite moments, and a reminder of what I love about photography: that chance to witness people's happiness over and over.

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Rules to Live By

A window in San Francisco promotes one of my life mottoes.


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Make it Happen, Maine!

I believe in Love.

I believe in Marriage.

I believe in Equal Rights.

I make my living as a photographer, which includes photographing weddings. I would love the opportunity to photograph a same sex marriage, and I'm hoping that after today I will be able to do that in Maine. I also hope to photograph a biker wedding and an Indian wedding, but those aren't items we as a people need to vote on.

If we all want to greatly impact the lives of our friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and more, then we need to get out and vote TODAY. TUESDAY NOV 3. It could prove to be life changing for all of us. Especially if it opens the doors to acceptance of those different than you.

Well said.

Places to vote in York and Cumberland County go here .

Support No on 1.

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Another Pretty Place

Pretty.

Maine is a pretty place to live. But I love finding new places with nice views, and luckily as a photographer I get chances to do that. I spent the past weekend in Pawley's Island, South Carolina. Unplugged from technology, my weekend consisted of my camera, a wedding, watching the shoreline, and talking for hours with good friends and strangers.


Not only was there no internet, but no keys for the doors. Many of the showers were outdoors. A hammock on one of the decks took turns calling out our names. The crazy rush I went through in the airports to make all my connections was erased by sitting in a rocking chair on the porch and listening to the surf with a cup of coffee in my hand. More than once I thought how similar this coast looked to Maine, and yet I felt like I was a world away. And with my camera I often feel like everywhere I photograph is just an extension of my own back yard. Another place to find pretty stuff.

Another gem to add to the 'Go Back There Someday' list.

South Carolina or Southern Maine?

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Time to Walk Away

Life as a photographer is not always glamorous, though it's ok if many of you out there want to think it is. But behind closed doors and after big shooting days, many of us photographers sit agonizing over how to get the next job and how to edit these images into things of beauty. Hours spent in front of computer monitors wrestling with the occasional lighting mishap, the technical glitch that halts all production, the endless stabs at our psyche when things don't go our way.


At times, these are the moments I get up and maybe flip laundry, take my vegie scraps out to the compost pile, or even get out of my pj's and into some real people clothes. Sometimes I turn to the internet for a distraction (not always the best choice). Other times, my camera and I head out to find pretty stuff (a very good choice). And lately I have added a new method of dealing. I simply walk away.



I walk away and grab a hula hoop. I walk away and get on the elliptical. I walk away and stretch, then go for a run. This breaks up my day and often helps my mind get out of the fog of frustration it has fallen into. Then I can either return fresh and keep going, or find a way to fix what wasn't working before the much needed break. I spend the rest of day feeling good and like I accomplished something.





This new method of coping has happened almost accidentally. It is my hope to participate in the TRI for a Cure in the summer of 2010 with some of my gal pals. Too many years of sitting in front of computer, combined with not being active enough have taken their toll. Meaning, I'm kind of out of shape. And honestly, this work requires a certain level of strength and endurance. A 10 hour wedding or a day in the desert on a film set is exhausting, but would be easier to handle with a little more muscle on the body. The TRI is the perfect motivator to make me find time to exercise, and a great way to manage some of the not so glamorous bumps in the land of photography.






Film Stills from a recent shoot I was on. More info coming soon....

Visit this guy's site for more info on his work
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The California I Saw

The blog has been sitting silent for a little while. This seems to be a common theme on many photo blogs, followed by apologies and often promises to do a better job updating. I'm not sure any apologies are needed. Sometimes life just happens and things get busy. I had hoped to update roughly once a week, but that doesn't always happen. And for the most part, that's ok.







What I have been doing is lots of photographing and some travel and general life busyness, all in the name of photo goodness. Not to mention it's FALL! The best time to be living in Northern New England. But I decided to leave my favorite place during my favorite time of year and spend a few days out west. Los Angeles, to be exact. While I was there I took a few photos...








I love that feeling of being in a new place. Seeing things for the first time makes my creative energies come alive and my photographic eye go into overdrive. I had been down some of these streets earlier this year, but still had that excitement of being in a new place. Several of these were taken on my morning walk to find coffee. Sitting and watching, while consuming the necessary caffeine doses, gave me a chance to take in what was going on around me and make some images of the California I saw.

I'm starting to believe that 4 days away is the answer to any lack of inspiration or motivation. We all hit those points, no matter what we do for work or with our lives. Disappearing for even a small amount of time is often just what we needed to get back on track /recharged / ready to start anew.

What happens to you when you go to new places?


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Pieces

of Janice and her personality....






She's fierce. And so much fun to photograph! There are many more where these came from and they will be gracing the blog soon, so keep your eyes peeled and your computer on. She is the beginning part of an ongoing project to photograph women. REAL women. Not glossed over glamazons, but the people we see and know and love everyday. All shapes, ages, beliefs, backgrounds, and personalities.

Beauty is everywhere, and we don't need to find it places where it's being force fed to us. We can all find it in our immediate lives, in our communities, at our favorite local hang outs, in our backyards. Photographing people lets me do that on a daily basis. I'm a lucky duck.

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Ever Changing Art

Somewhere out there is a sweet and tender hooligan...



who is making some great art work on Portland's walls.


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Summer Fish

Summer Love.

That's all. Nothing deep and meaningful to say. Just love this moment of my nephew's in his first summer of finally falling in love with the water. Do you remember feeling the same way?


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Avoid the Void

The Kane Family vacationing in Oqunquit, Maine turns into a photo shoot for me as well as a chance to see an old college friend.

I have some decisions to make. I have some editing to get done. There are some people I need to call and more marketing of myself to kick into gear.

I also have this fabulous pile of books around me to read. Produce to buy and chop and juice and eat. Fun to be had with friends and family both near and far. Not to mention all the photos I want to take!

Then there's the stuff to do on the house!

Summer seems to be slipping away.

Timmy busy at the beach.

As a Mainer, I (along with so many others) have always had this feeling that summer is our opportunity for a blast of fun and sun before the temperature drops, the leaves fall, and the snow flies. It's as if in my mind I know December will hit and I will hunker down. First, because I'm crazy and try to make many of my Christmas gifts, while creating some sort of color coded wrapping scheme that will include pieces of art as name tags. The cold doesn't phase me, because I have inside activities to entertain me. The image in my mind of the calendar year shows December on as a sort of gray void. This is not only because of the weather, but because in the past of working for someone else while maintaining a small photography business things in my photo world would be wrapped up by then. As in, weddings and family portraits done and everyone had their images and the phone rings less as we all move into the gray hibernation months. This is not always how it goes, but it seems to be how I think it will go. So, my mind sees a gray void coming my way as I start to think about the coming months.

Yesterday I went to a networking lunch meeting and realized (finally!) that I need to rid myself and my mind of that mentality. I am self-employed now and I need to make sure the work is steady as ever come January. This was not a scary realization, oddly enough. The groundwork is being set, and things are rolling along. And I thought to myself "I can't wait to be working in January!"

Though I have been working in photography for years, January 2009 marked my first month of my freelance career. I'm suddenly looking forward to January 2010 so I can see what a difference a year does make! This does not mean that I am ready for summer to end. In fact, just the opposite. There is still so much work to get done and just as much fun to be had. Lucky for me, there are times when those two things share the same camp. Working and photographing and having fun go hand in hand.

Now to get back to making some of those decisions...

Love this.

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A Bowl of Cherries for Breakfast

Sometimes life really is like a bowl of cherries. And I decided yesterday to enjoy my food and my camera while getting some sun. I know! It's crazy... Maine had a sun-filled day yesterday! My delicious Rainier cherries and my new 18-50 mm lens with MACRO hung out on the deck, thoroughly enjoying each other's company.




A little macro work and a bunch of fruit eaten. Plus a few rays of sun caught... not a bad way to spend a warm Saturday in July. The image below was fun to shoot since it was also challenging to get the stem in focus and the composition I was happy with. Often in photography fun=challenging, and the other way around.



I pretty much never use a Macro lens, nor was I in the market for one when I went shopping recently for my newest lens. I was, however, in the market for a wedding workhorse as my former favorite (24-120) seems to have seen its best days. Sad, but true. I have been getting a lot of use out my prime lenses the last few years and really enjoying the results, but there are times when I need to work fast and not change lenses too often. So, I happily purchased the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 and have been putting it to work ever since. I think we are gonna have some good times together! And realizing (after I purchased it) that it had a Macro function was simply an added bonus.


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