Flowers

Chris bought me some beautiful flowers today at the farmers market- the color is a wonderful vibrant yellow, and I thought it would be a good time to test out the new lights and play a little bit. Here are a few shots I took.

Time to Play

In the last week I sold my 4x5, bought strobes, AND got the little studio in the back yard set up for shooting (finally). Now I can play with lights whenever I want- I have a lot to learn about lighting, I think this will be the best way for me to figure it out. Here are a couple shots from the last few days-

Venice Canals

I knew they existed yet I had never seen them. With good company and my camera I went in search for the canals, and there they were- beautiful. Was I really still in Venice? The sun was shining high in the sky with clouds scattered all around- A wonderful day, a wonderful memory.

El Matador

A truly magical place, El Matador is a beautiful beach hidden away in Malibu. Never too crowded, and never lacking interesting people. One of my favorite spots in all of Southern California. On this particularly windy day a very blond haired little boy was having a blast flying his kite, his father watching from below.

Style

For a photoshop assignment I had to come up with a style and apply it to different images- This style was supposed to give a certain feeling or mood to the image in some way. I played for awhile and this is what I came up with- Going for an older look with the colors and grain. I think it works better with the landscapes but gave it a try on some people shots as well. Thoughts?

Reminder

Just a reminder that you can click on the image to see it larger

Marionette Doll

Im not sure where this came from exactly- It was one of those moments when I was suddenly hit with an idea- I wanted to make a person into a Marionette doll... I wasn't sure how I would execute it but I thought I would play around. My good friend Sarah was extremely patient with me as I rigged up the ropes and tried to get the scene to look like what I was imagining. Unfortunately when I finally finished setting up, the light I was using started to burn out leaving me with a short window of time to shoot- about 5 minutes, ha! Here is what I came up with...expect to see more marionette people soon!

A Road Trip

Have you ever heard of Marfa Texas? No? No! Im not surprised- neither had I before I took this short little 16 hour road trip to check it out with a now friend (we didn't know eachother before) in the media design department at Art Center. Why would I drive over 25 hours in the course of 3 days just to go to Marfa Texas you may ask- Well there is a simple answer... Prada Marfa. Check it out for yourself- http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasArt/Prada-Marfa.htm - and of course just for the amazing story I would have to tell people. It ended up being an amazing trip- Worth every minute of sitting in the car. Here are just a FEW pictures from the trip.

Ava May

This was a birthday party never to forget- Ava May Whitney (my beautiful niece) turned 3! I was lucky enough to be back east at the time and got to attend the wild party of kids, cake, and ice cream of course. It was a perfect Vermont day and nothing could have made me happier than being able to photograph it for all to remember! Here are a few shots from the day-

The Marshmallow Runner

The Marshmallow Runner is one of the top marathon runners in the world. She races at least four times a month and is sponsored not only by converse and Nike, but also by Kraft, Jet Puffed Marshmallows. You may wonder why a marathon runner would be sponsored by a marshmallow brand, but it all makes perfect sense. The Marshmallow Runner believes that if she eats marshmallows while she is running, her speed and endurance are increased. Her strategy is to eat a bag of marshmallows before the race begins to warm-up. Once the race has started she eats 5 marshmallows every mile, which comes to around 130 marshmallows a race. She has a team of people spaced throughout the course waiting to refill her marshmallow bag that she holds tightly in her left hand. "I have to hold my mallows in my left hand- It's bad luck if I don't, and on top of that I have perfected the motion of digging into the bag with my right hand and grabbing exactly 5 mallows". Many people have tried this strategy of eating marshmallows before and during a race but have only ended up by being extremely ill and having to drop out of the race. Some think she is crazy, some think she has a super power, but the Marshmallow Runner is just another normal human being like you and I. "I love marshmallows, that’s it. They make me happy, but best of all...They make me run fast". The Marshmallow Runner will be competing in the Big Sur Marathon 3 weeks from today, August 29. To see her in action and to get your own signed bag of marshmallows make sure to show up early.

Ruby

Meet Ruby- You saw her character a few posts ago, she was sitting looking at herself in a mirror. She is a character I made up and finally named- She has an interesting sense of style and her life is full of adventures which you will soon see more of. I fell in love with this room and the light coming from the window and of course... the red outfit!

The Small Cut

A few weeks ago I was given an interesting assignment. I had to make a photograph entitled "The Small Cut". This photograph was meant to be a psychological/theatrical portrait and the only restriction (other then the title) was to make it vertical. So the small cut...hmm cut cut cut- Scissors, Band-Aids, stitches, hospital, C Section... I began by writing down words related to cut. I found that there were a few different directions I could go. Some ideas were too obvious, and some were too out there. After knocking ideas back and forth with a friend The Small Cut was discovered. If it were a movie, it would fall into the genre of Dark Comedy. Try to find the humor in it. Im sure you all remember Lorena Bobbit, well here she is as the inspiration to The Small Cut.

Viva la Vida

Im a tea drinker. I've always been a tea drinker and what I would call a fake coffee drinker. How can I be a fake coffee drinker? Well when I go to a cafe and order a coffee drink I order whatever can cover up the taste of the coffee. "I will have a sugar free vanilla soy latte please"- I know, I sound ridiculous right? Lately I have been enjoying coffee more, and trying to break away from the comfort of my SFVS latte. Even though Im drinking more coffee lately, I am still, and will always be, a tea drinker, period. Just my thoughts!

Here are some more shots from the Hassleblad- Sometimes the film has trouble advancing and the pictures overlap on the negative giving a double exposure. Sometimes I really enjoy the result!

Im Back!

You are probably wondering why it has been so long since I have posted, and to tell you the truth... I don't know! Every time I sat down to type or post pictures I got stuck. I didn't know what I wanted to say, or what pictures I wanted to post. It's kind of where I am in life right now...I just don't know! Anyway I could go on and on about this, so Im going to cut myself off.

I am back in California after an incredible trip to Italy and then back home to Massachusetts. It was filled with laughter, love, amazing people and good food- I couldn't have asked for anything more. At some point I will post pictures from Italy so hang with me here. School is in full swing and summer has arrived- The beach has been calling my name, but I haven't had a chance to pay it a good visit yet. Soon!

This week was the first time I have ever shot with a medium format camera. I was shooting with the famous Hasselblad camera. This old camera (company established in 1841), is still widely used by professional and serious amateur photographers because of the superior image quality of 6x6cm size rollfilm over smaller film and digital sensor formats. It was uncomfortable and tricky at first, but after i got the feel for it I started to adjust- I'm excited to play some more. We are also shooting color film this term which is a good changed from black and white, even though I do love b&w. Here are a few shots from the Hasselblad.

A day at the Beach

I LOVE my friends- I couldn't have gotten through this term without them!

Polaroids by Christie Hemm

Back in Action

So its been awhile since the last post and I apologize for that. Life as you all know can throw you some curve balls when you least expect them- Everything has finally calmed down and is well on its way to getting back to normal. I leave for Italy tomorrow! Two weeks right outside Siena in the Tuscan country side with some of the people who mean the world to me. Good food, good wine, and good company. What more could you ask for? Im bringing my 4x5 field camera which should be an adventure- For all the photographs I have shot in Italy I have never shot film. Im really looking forward to it. Of course Im still bringing a small digital so hopefully I will update the blog along the way.


On another note- Here is a small series I did for my fine art final- Looking Through the Ground Glass. Its a technique discovered by a genius friend of mine one day at the beach. It's using a combination of the 4x5 camera and a digital SLR. The image is composed and set up through the 4x5 ground glass (which looks upside down and backwards) and then captured with the SLR by actually shooting through the glass (hence the name). I tried many variations and ways of doing it, but in the end I was into this style.

More Wings

Why the continued angel theme you are probably wondering? Honestly Im not quite sure- For some reason I just got pretty attached to these wings... There is so much you can do with them whether it be silly or serious. So why not? I recommend going out and buying your own pair of wings and seeing what you come up with, then let me know how it goes. After class yesterday Alyse and I hiked out angeles canyon with the 4x5 and digital cameras. The wings were tied to the back of Alyses backpack offering a good laugh to any passing hikers. Two guys tromped by with there fishing poles in hand, caught site of us and chuckled "nice wings". We found a beautiful spot up the stream to shoot some photos- to get there we had to walk through the water in our bare feet. It sounded like a fun idea, but as soon as we stepped into the water we realized it was icy cold and our feet soon went numb as we carefully made our way to the riverbank. Once we made it we dropped our packs, angelfied Alyse (yes I just made up that word), and shot some pictures! It was a great afternoon, poison oak and all (don't ask).

Angels

In some of my past posts I've talked about the large format 4x5 camera that I have been shooting with recently. Well... yesterday I got the chance to shoot with an 8x10 camera- which means the negative is actually 8 inches by 10 inches. Pretty damn amazing, and intimidating. This kind of camera is worth about $20000 so the fear of doing anything to hurt it was great. Once it was set up the fun began. Sarah brought a garbage bag full of costumes that we could use while shooting. Right away the angel wings were the object of choice and we decided to have a constant theme with all of our images. Alyse was my model and I ended up making two images to show the angel vs. bad ass. Enjoy!

I love fashion... Some people could care less about it, but I really do appreciate it. Im not exactly a fashionista, although sometimes I try, but I do enjoy a good outfit when I see one. Where am I going with this? Well I love combining fashion with photography...Yes, some people would call that Fashion Photography, ha. Im not sure if thats where I want to end up going with my work, but Im definitely interested in it. Part of the thrill for me is putting it all together- The outfits, hair, makeup, I like to do it all. Am I good at it all? Well not particularly, but again I try! Over winter break I had an idea for a shoot and luckily had 3 amazing and beautiful girls at my disposal. Teased hair, intense makeup, and some good outfits... Here are a few shots I came away with.

Pirates

The best part about having visitors, other then their wonderful company, is that it is a new face to photograph. I have been photographing Jenna for years and she is extremely patient with me. This afternoon we headed to long beach to play on a pirate ship (Sarah was shooting an environmental portrait of her cousin who lives on a big sailboat, you know pirate ship, same thing). It was an amazing afternoon and a beautiful day for pirate ships and pictures- Here are a few I came away with.