empty your cup

You are not seeing double. Above are two slightly different processing techniques on the image. I cannot decide which one I like more (and I'd of course love any input you guys have). It is a cup in the office of a midwife I know. She told me about her philosophy that you can't go around with your cup full all the time. You need to allow others to fill it, to take the good they want to offer and have a place to put it within yourself. Its a beautiful sentiment. BUT WHAT IMAGE CONVEYS THAT, EH?

doing some trade work

....and I get to be surrounded by and introduced to parents who understand that sometimes, dragon costumes are a necessary piece of clothing. LOVE.THIS.PICTURE.

i've been sewing

so is it wrong that I desire beautiful things made by other people to continue to inspire me? Check out the quilts at gracie lane. LOVELY!

Last Night

... thought the title is a GREAT song by the Strokes, I actually AM writing about last night.

I saw the meteor shower. With Kiera. I was at her house showing her the images below, and the meteor lit up the entire living room. It was blue and orange and absolutely breathtaking. Proof positive that God "gets" (and designed) color wheels.

The images are a few (more to come) of the large format portraits I did of her family. We did a mix of group/individual, some of which were out of the studio (remember that elated post?). There will be more to come from that shoot, but I must say, I just LOVE these... I sat scanning them and kept saying "I Don't Suck!" (is that a surprise?!) I'm very happy with them! I know that I captured intimate details of relationships as well as fun elements of personalities. Hope you enjoy!

Two Things:

Today I wished I could take my own family photos (though we've always gotten fantastic ones from the people who have done them... I just REALLY dig the ones I did this weekend)...



and I thought everyone should know that my friends are SO PRETTY when they are pregnant. I've realized I'm the common factor... so if you wanna be pretty when you're pregnant, you might wanna be friends with me ;O)


You can see more of this family shoot HERE and HERE. You can also schedule some of your own if you're so inclined. Studio shots do not have to be LAME like JCP. Just sayin'.

POST 200

200? really? i'm flattered and I don't know what to say! In roughly the last year I've shot enough that I have had 200 things to share. Hooray for that. Its nice to see that I am in a photographic groove! So far, all of November I have been in the studio at least 4 times a week. After my bout with pneumonia (and the resulting busted ribs that still are healing), I'm running full pregnant speed towards my photographic goals! (Julie, that's for you. I'm not actually running... its pregnant speed. DON'T WORRY!)

I feel like I should do something more fantastic for this post, but instead I'll just share two favorites from what I just finished up. It was from the summer, and this is the LAST summer job that I needed to finish up. Everything else is done (has been for awhile, eek!), but this one, maybe it was just because I miss the subjects so much, I just didn't want to finish it in some ways. But, well, I have.





You can see more on my commercial blog (or schedule some of your very own), or on the proofing site.

MATTER: Ben

meet my nephew. Winner of the best "osstreeech" ever prize.
Willing to do anything and has the best comedic endurance I've ever seen.

This was shot with a large format camera and film.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

I was getting ready for a shoot today and I was planning on doing at least one shot with Polaroid Type 55. You can see some lovely-ish examples of this film here here here and here (well, the last one is the only one I'd really consider lovely, to be honest).

The film is no longer produced. AT ALL. So when I opened up my box today to see how many exposures I had, I pleasantly learned it was an UNUSED BOX! eeek! JOY! That is enough happiness to fill up an entire year's Christmas!

As it so happens, I didn't actually use any of it today (ISO rating was not conducive to the shots and the available light during that set of the shoot), but the fact that I know it is there, and I know how to use it (because of the amazing world wide web and friends Matt and Travis who are willing to let me pick their brains!)... oh my! SO EXCITED!

Additionally, I took my 4x5 (large format) out of doors to shoot. I.DON'T.DO.THAT..... EVER. The last image I took outside with a 4x5 was the first image I ever took. It was right outside the Brimhall door (where the photo dept was housed at the time... and note to self, there are NO good pictures of this building online!), and I did some zone system test shots. Every other shot I have EVER taken with large format was been INSIDE THE STUDIO.

I don't know why. The images I created today outside were amazing. (well, I'M sure they're amazing, but since its film, the rest of you will have to wait and see!)

shot while doing the Bishop Homestead

Looking forward to making applesauce this month....

shot while doing the Bishop Homestead

and i learned how to can these this year. Huzzah for learning "womanly ways."

grumpy clouds

I'm shooting images from a family property for a client. She wants to create a book of images that evoke memories her husband had growing up here in Utah. The weather was GORGEOUS (to a photographer) and foreboding and just magic.

i love fall leaves

grape leaves

what i'm working on

this is a large format image (meaning, shot with film and a large format camera) of one my nephews. I shot it with Delta 100 (an ilford film). To get images like these onto the computer, I use a scanner, like an Imacon (which merged with Hasselblad in 2004), which scans the film at a high-resolution rate. Shooting with a large format camera is the rough equivalent of a 150 megapixel camera. However, because of the beauty film gives in its output, even if there were a large format equivalent in the digital world (there is, digital backs for these types, etc etc), I still love the film. It gives me the look I want EVERY TIME. I love his skin tone in this image and the sheen of his hair. He actually reminds me a lot of my brother when he was the same age.

oh, but I digress.

Because I scan the film, dust is introduced into the file as white spots. Fingerprints, etc, are a common ailment of large format photographers, and by scanning the film I am able to remove the dust, scratches, and processing issues from the file SO when I print, I get a gorgeous image every time. The above image has no touch-ups yet, its just what I'll be cleaning up this week.