Quick day trip to Astoria while it was raining yielded some really lovely photos.

I’ve been spending more time in Tehachapi, volunteering for Ari Bhod. Here are some recent photos.

Finishing up our Canadian Tour… I can’t believe it has been almost three weeks. Here are some photos i took today while walking around the small town of Moncton, New Brunswick. I found myself walking along the Petitcodiac River and was instantly inspired to take photos. I don’t care what country I am in, if there is a river near by, you’ll find me there. This one, was no exception.

Biking Along The River

Purple Flowers

Church

I just came across this cool site in Japan that wrote about my Burlesque photography. How neat is that! Take a look here! I should mention that you might not want to view around kids.

This photo is of the

Aerial Goddesses of the Velvet Hammer.

I just love this.

On my recent trip to Ari Bhod, I brought my new little camera to see what it could do!  So much fun I can’t even handle it.  Enjoy people, enjoy.

Tehachapi

Hello New York!  I can’t believe that I have not been back to New York in almost TWO years.  That is just craziness to me.  I’ve been totally fortunate that it has only rained once since I have been here and that was for only a few hours.  I haven’t walked this much since… well, since I was here last.  I love me some Los Angeles, don’t get me wrong… but you know what I can’t do there?? Eat perogies at Veselka at two in the morning.  The other thing that L.A. is missing is B&H.  If you’ve never been there, it’s basically porn shop for photographers.  I mean that have a full blown audio/video department as well, but I just beeline it straight to the photo dept and try not drool too much.  Here’s why they are so super great.  You can walk into any department, ask a miriad of annoying questions and they will gladly answer your questions and guide you to the exact right thing you need.  I LOVE IT!  I went in, I asked tons of questions, I took a bunch of notes on what I want to purchase later so I don’t have to schlep a bunch of stuff on the plane, and then headed over to the digital point and shoot camera section.  What did I buy you ask? Nothing fancy, but there is a Zeiss lens involved, I won’t lie.

Pictures

Here’s what this neat lil camera can do.  Be amazed with my super arty photos I took down by the river in Williamsburg.

One of my favorite teachers at Santa Monica College, Ronn Davis, once told our class that everything you do is a self-portrait.  I have a habit of taking things literally and was relieved when he said this.  While not all of my pieces are photos or paintings of me, there is a hefty portion that are.  Below, is a piece I showed at the Mountain Bar in Chinatown entitled “Come Home”. This type of mixed media portrait is what I offer my clients when they are looking for a different take on a portrait for themselves.

I was on tour with the Akron/Family and woke up one morning in a small town and went out with my camera while everyone was still sleeping.  It was drizzling outside while I took these and I had to fight to keep my camera clean, but it was well worth it.  I watched these two horses for a short while and they slowy moved to their heads towards each other and I snapped this photo, right after they moved away.  Timing was definitely everything when it came to this image. 

I walked down the way a bit and found these three horses and was so moved by the perfect stillness and beauty while they grazed in the rain.

Being an artist has its perks.  One of them being, meeting other artists.  Mei-Ling  is a crazy talented artist.  She went to Cooper Union in NY and at the time I was the Studio Manager for a photographer in Chelsea, NY.  I had her come over one afternoon to take some photos of her.  I have been lucky enough to photograph her on more than one occasion and we even swapped places before and she photographed me as well.  Her talents bleed into any avenue she focuses on, so never limited to one medium, of course when Mei-Ling decided to focus on photography as well, the results were stunning.

There are occasions, where I have an idea of what a perfect image should look like.  Or, as I’m surveying magazines and online portfolios, I look at certain images and are taken by how simple and pristine their compositions are.  To be able to focus inward and see that in your own work, well, at least for me, at times can be a bit more difficult.  Always striving to become better, I can usually focus on the negative more than the fact that a job was well done.

This photograph was done traditionally with film, so there was that waiting period that doesn’t exist in digital that came with this shoot.  When I processed my negatives and created my proof sheet (I had access to a darkroom at that time) I was overwhelmed by the results of this particular image.  I loved the flocked, damask wallpaper in back and how the repetition of the design fills up the negative space in the composition and worked with the patterned couch she was sitting on.