Kathy and Mike were guests at Evelyn’s wedding, and they tracked me down to shoot their engagement photos!

My first couple of the year! I was so excited! But Mother Nature wasn’t on our side the times we set up to meet…

We finally woke up to a sunny (but 23-degree) morning, and it happened to be Martin Luther King Day! We started off at the Lincoln Memorial and ended at the Monument (which NONE of us had ever been inside of–I’ve been at the steps of the Lincoln, to reflect, though. Okay, fellow Washingtonians, pelt me with your stones…).

I even coined a new term: Numb-Butt. It’s what happens when you sit on cold marble. Repeatedly.

Here’s some of my favorite shots:

Kathy + Mike have never been shot by a photographer, so I was really really really happy to be chosen to be their first!

Thanks for being such troopers, Kathy and Mike! I can’t wait until the wedding!

Take a peek @ the slideshow:

Where have I been?

a) busy

b) chillin

c) running around withOUT my camera

All of the above. It’s proven to be a tougher challenge than I originally thought to take a photo each day. I’m still going to try though. I have to take my GREs which will either make or break my financial situation for a grad school I have in mind, so that’s been occupying the mental shelf space that I had reserved for photographing something each day…

Anywho, I did shoot a few photos today. I visited my friend Melanie, whose maternity photos I shot some time ago. We went to visit a verrrrryyyyyyyyy talented artist by the name of Chinedu Felix Osuchukwu [check some info on him here] is using one of the photos I shot as an inspiration for a series of paintings he’s working on. We got to see the work in progress today and I was blown away! I’ve never had an artist use something I shot as a means for their art, so it gave me the warm fuzzies something serious. I don’t want to show the entire work just yet, I want him to be good and finished before it’s revealed, but I did get a couple shots in his studio:

This is Langston, who was inside Melanie’s belly for 9 long months

When we shot her maternity photos [in a sweltering AC-less room on a summer afternoon], I shined a light on Melanie’s stomach to get the desired effect, and Langston responded soooo strongly! It was amazing. He’s a great baby, very chill.

Felix’s studio:

Melanie, being inspired by the work, and writing. She’s currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at Lesley University and is a phenomenal writer. She read two pieces that she wrote off being in Felix’s studio:

If you stand away from the computer screen, approximately 2 feet away and hop up and down and make a noise like an ostrich, you can see a glimpse of Felix’s ‘BellyProject’:

Hard @ work:

Felix is soooo talented! I wish I could paint 1% as good as he does!

Once he’s finished with the project I’ll be sure to post some pics of it.

—-

So…the other day, in my quest to become a better photographer, and try out different formats before I begin my MFA, I saw an old Twin Lens Reflex sitting on a shelf at Penn. I made an offer for $20 and it was mine. I did some research [after doing an extensive cleaning; I hope I didn't inhale mold and/or powdered syphilis while scrubbing and air can puffing ], and learned it was made in the 1950s!

And, as my dear hubby so eloquently put it, it’s a ‘Bobo.’ Kinda like when you’re not able to buy Nikes, so you buy Bikes instead.

[Admittedly, instead of Nikes, I had L.A. Gears and Pro Wings, so I can completely relate to this]

It’s called Wardflex, and was manufactured for Montgomery Ward.

I planned ahead. I found and printed out the instruction manual:

And the catalog it appeared in during the 1950s:

And even bought film.

But something wasn’t right.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t rig the little switch to adjust the aperture. I was sad. I really planned on using Wardy, The Old School Camera in my mission to photograph more often. Especially now that I have darkroom time with my large format class.

I decided to return it Friday. I saw another one on Ebay and was going to make a bid today. I found one with a nice case and everything! In working condition! I was soooooo excited! And no one bid on it! Oh joy of joys. Wardy, The Old School Camera Jr. Esquire, was going to be mine and we’d build a legacy of 2 x 3 photos that would last a lifetime.

And then…I fell asleep. And missed the auction by 10 minutes.

I want to kick myself.

I’m just hoping they put it up for auction again soon.

Someday, my TLR will come.

Today was a perfect day to head to some museums. When it’s cold, but not freezing, and the sun is covered by clouds, I long to be within the walls of these magical buildings that hold so many creations of people here now and wayyyy before me.

Okay…any day for me is a great museum day, but being a museum visitor doesn’t exactly pay bills, sooo…

anyway, on overcast days where it seems like the sky is holding fistfuls of rain in its cloud-hands, I’m usually in the mood for chili.

It definitely hit the spot today.

Disclaimer: As you can see, I need to perfect my food photography skills

P.S. I can’t find the lens cap to my nifty fifty lens anyone know where I can find a replacement?

Yeah, number 11 is missing. It was either run back in the house, grab my camera off the couch, then drive in to work and spend $14 on parking, or spend significantly less on the bus ride to the Metro (but please don’t think I didn’t seriously consider running back up the hill to my house

I did make up for it, however:

Mr. Hammy. Today he was extraordinarily ecstatic, I’m sure it was because Grandma fed him some mashed potatoes before I started shooting (which everyone knows, is possibly the best food in the whole wide world. I’m talking nirvana, even.). His top teeth are slowly growing in, and as if to confirm what I already suspected, he gave my hand a nice little nibble. You know, just to show off his new wares

I think the world would be a much better place if babies existed everywhere. Can you imagine? They’d just entertain everyone, doing baby things. Like, flicking the door stopper (I have yet to get a photo of this, because the minute he notices the camera he either wants to ham or try to taste my flash unit. I’m going to have to go on stealth mode and shoot from around the corner with the telephoto). The BOOOOIIINNNNG keeps him enthralled for hours.

Okay, not really hours, because he has such a short attention span, but at least a good five minutes which is like a decade in baby time.

Offices would be cheerier places, if a) babies existed in every cubicle b) they had door stoppers to play with, and c) guilt-free, non-fat mashed potatoes were served in vats. The economy would be stable. People would rediscover the value of a smile. World leaders would just hug it out, because you can’t be angry at each other when you’ve just seen a baby BOIIIIINNNNNNG a door stopper.

Babies, world peace, and…mashed potatoes. The possibilities are endless.

U Street DC

Mirror Abstraction

Toying w/my nifty fifty.

* looks sheepish *

I missed a day!

I stayed on the edge of my couch watching the results of the NH primary…this is going to be a BIG election year!

this was shot at Threads (an eyebrow threading spot) downtown while accompanying one of my friends; Saviors of my brows, heroines of my expression

(which reminds me, I need a touch-up. New growth!)

I FINALLY got to the Corcoran to see the Leibovitz exhibit (which closes the 13th! If you can get there, it’s totally worth it; I waited in line foreeeever, and I’m so glad I got there early, because when I left, the line to get in was wrapped around the back of the building), and WOOOOWW I was inspired. If I can sneak away on break from work this week, I think I might go back during the day, because it was sooo crowded and I guess I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to museums, because I prefer it to be sort of empty. I think I may be asking for too much in this situation though, since Annie Leibovitz is such a major name in photography.

Annie Leibovitz is one of my faaaaavooorite photographers! Her pictures moved me so much I left in tears at the end. The order of the exhibition makes you do so, I think. It begins with a photo of a dominatrix-like figure clad in patent leather, followed by photograph of Cindy Crawford nude with a serpent wrapped around her in a dark gloomy forest, features some of her best editorial work and ends with photos of her father’s final days as well as her ‘everything’ Susan Sontag’s final days, up to her death. She really inspires me as an intimate photographer more than editorial, or portrait photographer because her work shows this great connection with her subjects. I think there are moments where I’m still people-shy and my biggest goal (photographically speaking) this year is to overcome that.

Ansel Adams’ work was also inspiring, I wish that I could have the patience to take landscape portraits, but the bug hasn’t hit me just yet. The texture in his black and white photography was definitely something that kept me lingering at each frame for too long, particularly one that had a burnt tree stump behind some new grass growth.

I’m really excited because in a week I’m beginning a large format photography class, and I realllly miss darkroom, and this class is a semester long, so look out for some images!

When I can’t fathom eating chicken (which besides fish occasionally is really the only animal I eat—I’m not a big fan of red meat or pork, neither is my stomach), my Bee’s Knees is: Green Beans.

I have an unhealthy fascination with Szechuan style, and once I figure out a healthy recipe, I’m going to stop paying $13 and ordering take out (which is what I did tonight, when I couldn’t grasp sitting down to grilled chicken for the 4th time this week)…

and…okay, most people (or just maybe dear hubby) might be grossed out, but I’ll PUNISH a can of:

These. Cold, sometimes.

Hubby think they’re waxy and doesn’t understand how I can devour them.

I think he’s missing out on the best veggie in the world.

I forgot my camera on Friday when I was leaving to work, so here’s my ‘photo of the day’ (Originally shot 12/28) in Occoquan.

More to come…I’m sifting through my Photo Field Trip as I type. Well not really, because I can’t type and sift at the same time.

History in the making.