Angie

I like her face. 

friend

click to enlarge

oh film. your latitude. i love love.

found some good light pockets. i like them. totally diggin' xp2. favorite.

happy happy with the results of this little ten minute naptime shoot with my friend, Christopher. I will remember how his glasses kept getting darker because it was sunny outside. I will remember how strange it was to try to photograph someone taller than me with Mami. 

I have been wanting to create something real of him for years. Its ridiculous how backburner things can become. 

Take something off the backburner this month, ok, peeps? Get something photographed that matters to you.

i like

friends that come over for me to do this:

but spend most of their time doing this:

Seriously. Christopher was a friend in college, but we've only become closer since and Todd and I both consider him a worthwhile friend of our family. W & E adore him. He has a good heart. So grateful for him.

Matter: the Lamberts

Let me tell you a story. About my shaping.

When I was 13, my friend was living with his aunt and uncle for a few months, who lived within walking distance from my house. I'd gone over there a few times.

Fast forward to me being 16. His aunt, Linda (pictured above), called me and said she would like me to come work for her. She and her husband had a metal works company. They did high end metal, duct work, kitchen stuff, for hotels, county clubs, etc. I worked in the office with Linda a few days a week (most days in the summer), and learned about invoicing, quotes, business phone etiquette, and so many other things. It was a family business and they welcomed me with open arms. They even took pictures of me and my date before prom. I worked for them into some of my college years (she wrote a letter of recommendation for me), they were at my wedding, and they are a presence in my children's lives. They absolutely are family.

I watched them run their lives and business with monetary prudence. I learned things about car maintenance, plants, food and diet, organization, all from them. She was a strong beacon of love for God while I grew. They decided to invite me to their lives, the office was part of their home, and I had keys, codes, all those things. Looking back, and specifically looking at teenagers in my own life, I am so grateful they thought I was worth investing in.

Having the Lamberts in my life was such a complement to my own parents. I had other adults who so very much agreed with my parents and knew what was right, but still could be a sounding board while I figured out that my parents were right. I'm so grateful.

Who influenced you as a young adult? Do you have pictures to aid in your reminiscence to your own kids?

from the trip

our first few days we stayed with my friend, amy. she is an artist and had already scoped out a sweet light spot in her home for me to photograph in.

she matters to me. deeply.

MATTER: Tyler

For real conversations

fun play with your cousins

and a heartfelt welcome to me

as family.

We spent last weekend up in Rexburg, ID where T's nephew is attending BYU-I. I hadn't met Tyler before, so it was pretty cool to spend time with him. He is great to talk to, and it made me nostalgic for college days, walking around the campus, talking about his classes, and seeing how excited he was to go out with a good girl. Also, this is great because I used a different camera this time, and I am really happy with the results. The camera was a gift from T's father before we got married. I find such value and USE out of older 35mm cameras. Readers, I bet your parents have one. Ask them for it. Contact me and let's have lunch. I'll explain the basics. Things that matter deserve a closer look.

MATTER: Briana

briana

she's so beautiful, inside and out.

so thankful I was commissioned to do images of her.

she's a midwife for homebirth.

she was at E's, support of two, i had.

you should be a fan of her.

MATTER: jacob

For ready laughs, being a fabulous actor, for looking forward and up towards your siblings. For striving for educational heights.

MATTER: Spencer

for being present. for becoming the glitter in the eyes of both of my kids, but especially E. For being my partner in adventures more than a decade ago. For coming back to the family.

MATTER: grandpa

For teaching me through knocks on the table instead of frustrated explanations. For fluid love that made me not know "solitaire" is a one person game until later in life. For singing. For never scolding. For shooting BBguns with us rascally kids. For Escobar, for funny stories, and for NEVER bringing reality into the silly dreams all of us had as children. For the men you raised my father and uncle to be. For marrying my grandmother. For being present.

MATTER: Carolyn

for regular epiphanies, amongst many other things.

MATTER: my mom

The third visit from my mom this year. Everytime and every phone call I collect a new gem. I give her anecdotes and advice on parenting more than I ever give my own opinion. She has a phD in parenting. And has since the beginning of time. I love her. I love the personal epiphanies she has, and the truths she taught me by many campfires. I love that, upon viewing my pictures by Katrina for At Mother's Breast, my mom said, "it is really interesting seeing you become the earthy mother I was." That is a compliment I will NEVER forget. Thank you, mom.



so i did 3 frames of my mom before driving her to the airport. It was similar to the five minute portrait of my dad. I like this one the most because of the glare on her glasses. It was intentional. Her eyes are full of light, always pointed towards the good. This project is all about capturing photographs that will show my kids WHO mattered, but also WHY. I feel I have accomplished that in this one especially.

outside the western nut co downtown. the dark chocolate chiptole almonds were truly awful, but the sweet onion marmalade has changed my life!

MATTER: Adrianne

adrianne has been my best friend since before high school. she's an achiever. a realist, sometimes my polar opposite but always there. steady, reliable, loyal.

inspiration

When I ask to photograph someone, it is because I love the way they look.....
What I’m saying is, I want to take you home with me and look at you for the rest of my life.
--Amy Arbus



Read this gem this morning on the good report. Couldn't think of any better way to describe the MATTER project I've been working on. I think I need to get back into the studio and do some more of that.

MATTER: large format of my sister

Remember awhile back when I said I had my sister and her husband in the studio? You can see the one of just her husband HERE.

These are the two I did of just her. Click on the bottom image to see larger. I focused on the tear in her jeans and I LOVE the quality it gives to the rest of the image, having that part be so sharply in focus.

MATTER: Nick

for loving my sister so obviously that an observer once said, "I just want, one day, for the man I marry to love me as much as he loves Linda." and for playing with W without tire, for continuing silly nicknames to the next generation, and for treating me like the big sister you didn't have... but maybe always wanted....? :) Truly Truly part of the family, Nick-Nack.


As an aside, when I was scanning this image, a cute girl in the room asked me, "oh my, who is that man?" I asked her why... then pre-empted it with, "Because he's attractive, right?" She could only respond with a shy nod. I personally LOVE this image. I am so glad I'm doing this project so that I am getting images like this, ones that I am happy to show and promote, that are of people I respect and admire and love. Wahoo for MATTER.

MATTER: Kiera

Kiera
favorite new friend of 2009.
open and honest and freely expressive
in pursuit of learning and personal creative expansion.
marvelous
and then some!

MATTER: When Life Gives You Lemons

You may remember back in the summer we had a lot of T's family in town and I took them into the studio to photograph. Some of the images I LOVE, some, weellll, not so much my favorites, but I'm glad to have them anyway for the history value. Additionally, that was the time when the lab I was using at the time RUINED 4 sheets and fogged 3 more. The image below is one of the ones that was fogged. It's my nephew. He is at that awesome boy stage where legs and arms are LONG LONG LONG. I manipulated the back standard (film plane) slightly to elongate the legs and help with the feel of his age.


However, because of the fog (in this image it is better than in the others that were also damaged), I wanted to do something different with the image. Hence, the crop to the below view.
I am not an advocate of cropping. John Telford, one of my college professors, would make us give him the name of a famous photographer who cropped if we chose to. (I always picked Alfred Steiglitz). I think that you should do it right the FIRST time, not in manipulation after. I will say, I feel justified in cropping this image, however. I love it the way it is full, but NOT with the fog. Thus, the below crop.

Dimick

For being willing to dress up in crazy costumes
and go to the grocery store
for the sheer pleasure of making strangers laugh.

I did post a different image of Dimick previously. I like them both.

MATTER: Rachel

Meet my sister, Rachel. She's pretty much the bomb. It has been very cool to be around while she has started (and is currently conquering) college at BYU. I can't decide on the image of her for the project, however. (the writing about WHY she matters to me can come later. THIS issue is more pressing!)

I do like the above one quite a bit. Shows what a babe she is. However, these below ones also show a side of her that I'm glad I captured. So, the question is this, don't choose between the top and the bottom, but between the two on the bottom (the black and white ones). Internet kinda sucks sometimes, I will mention that the top image does have plenty of detail in the face, though it kinda looks blown out here, it ISN'T, I promise. The focus quality manipulation is good in both, but do I want the leg outline the top one has, or is the bottom image's fade into black more pleasing? HELP HELP dear READERS!

MATTER: Kathy

Kathy
for thinking of others without even thinking about it.

as an aside, i think a lot of us WANT to think of others, but trying to schedule it into our lives stresses us out a little bit, or feeling like we are adequate enough to be a blessing in their lives. Well, I learned from this wonderful woman, by seeing it in practice, that it IS possible to just have it be a part of your life, no stress, but a regular well for others to feel filled. I know that she thinks highly of me and that she thinks highly of EVERYONE. No comparisons, just straight, complete love for all those around her. Kathy, you MATTER to me.