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.