i want to expand my portfolio and maybe become a teency eency bit more commercial. basically i just want to shoot subjects with a little more variety - fashions, bands, headshots, what-have-you... and just mix it up with some cool people.

SO, if you or someone you may know (in the central florida area) wants to get involved with a curly haired photo taker send em' my way! we could just hang, grab a tea, take some photos, and bask in the coolness that is conversing with a total stranger.

in other news... i'm excited about a few new opportunities to show my art. i am submitting some polaroids into an art exhibition in witchita (yea witchita) ha! i will post more information when i figure out if my art was chosen :)

until then keep your fingers crossed for me.


Polaroid Sx-70 Alpha. 600 Film.

i've been on an over exposure kick lately. i can't get enough of those light bursts, give me big heaping rays, streaming in from every angle. light can fade out all the details as far as i care, so long as i feel that warm hazy glow - bringing heat even in the dead of winter. i will be posting more polaroids in the next couple of days.

Polaroid Sx 70 Alpha. ATZ Film.

today i ditched work early, came home, took a good look around and decided to get a few shots of the light in our living room. self portraits are tricky for me, mainly because i am a bit of a control freak. i hate having my photo taken by anyone else, generally because i have no control of what it will end up looking like. this doesn't mean i don't let anyone take my photo, i just usually don't ever like any of them.

after i got my macbook a few years ago, i jokingly started taking self portraits of myself with the photobooth application. it was never meant to be serious, i was just sort of playing with the timer and experimenting with different types of light sources, and positions. after a few shots i was really surprised by the end results. the low-fi pixelated affect mixed with natural or low light created a very interesting vintage look. then i began trying out direct lighting with on focal point. i worked in the black & white application and i started to do some post editing, but only enough to slightly adjust the colors and exposures. the idea was to keep it looking exactly like what it is: a simple, low tech, self portrait - easy, fun, and interesting.

i have probably done over 400 self portraits with the photobooth application, experimenting in all sorts of ways; shooting both indoors and outdoors, with natural light and various types of bulbs and lamps, with facial and figural self portraits, with heavy ps work to no ps work at all... in the end i am left with not only 400 self portraits of myself ... but also a valuable learning lesson: photography is fun and it doesn't always have to be taken so seriously. also, you don't need to have a fancy DSLR or a hasselblad to take interesting photos.

it helps to remember that the machine taking the photo is only the means to an end; the end being your vision and your distinct way of seeing life as it is to you.

Photobooth Mac Isight Camera. Self Portraits.

someone once told me that vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness.

this tore down an entire structure of thought in my head and made me realize the importance of making mistakes first before you can create that idea you had first envisioned.

mistakes are necessary in life... and art.

Polaroid Sx 70. ATZ Film. No ND Filter.

6 months

today is a special one for me... it's b and my 6th month anniversary!

i can not believe how the time has flown by. it seems like yesterday that we first met at his store, him kindly helping me hang my art and sneaking stares from across the room, me trying to play it cool and wondering "will i see him again ?"...

but i did see him again - downtown with his friends having drinks. we chatted fondly over the blasting music, finding ways to make subtle body contact. he walked me back to my car and we hugged good night...

from that night on, my anticipation grew like wildfire to see him again. i wanted to spend more time with him, to know him more, and to see what we could learn from each other.

our first date was at the enzian dinner theater. we saw "tell no one" a french love story slash thriller flick. we shared a few glasses of wine and mustered up enough courage to cuddle closer together. he drove me home and we sat up till 3:30 am talking about the world together on my back pourch...

it was a night to remember.

since then we've shared countless moments that i have filed away into my heart as all time favorites - escaping to st. augustine for the weekend, gloriously drinking wine like it was going out of style, smoking cigars and sneaking into haunted graveyards, or the long walk we took in colorado, playing in the streets as the snow slowly fell down on us from the sky, i took 100 pictures of him, and of course there are our simple moments lying together, laughing at each other, telling stories, thinking out loud, and just sharing our lives with each other... 

but more than anything i cherish what is to be. there is so much more that lies a head of us - 1,000's of adventures waiting to be explored, life lessons longing to be learned, bridges built to be crossed, wounds dying to be healed, and beautiful photos ready to be taken :) our love, the realest kind of them all, imperfect but unrelenting, misshapen but beautiful for it's genuine uniqueness, is something that i believe can transcend the tolls of time.

time doesn't need to be the enemy as we grow to learn and love more each day, it is our ally. so here's to another 6 months to come! 

Polaroid Sx 70 Alpha. 600 Film. No Filter.