reflections on myself

I've had the chance to spend a lot of time with myself lately (I hope that conveys both the weirdness and the wonderfulness of alone time). And I feel like I've discovered some things about myself.

I like having things to do. I'm happiest when I'm busy. I'm also saddest when I'm stressed; so my life is basically trying to balance on a tetter totter.

I love learning. I'm not quite ready to go back to school, and I'm not sure I ever will be but I love learning new things and miss the outside stimulus that school provides in that way.

It's hard for me to feel like it's Christmas without cold weather and snow. We just got our tree up a few days ago and Christmas is in less than a week! I think California is great but because I've lived most of my life in a land where it snows it hasn't set in my mind that the holiday season is right now.

a day with milah

I got to spend some time with this little girl yesterday. Her mom is about to have their second baby any day now and wanted to run some errands and get everything ready and so Milah and I hung out. I had a blast playing peekaboo naming body parts (nose, ears, nose, eyes, nose) and watching her feed her baby. My little brothers and sisters haven't been babies for many years, in fact they're all taller than I am now and I had forgotten how much fun it is to just watch how curious and sweet little children are. 

hey shawty what it is

The main reason for this post is that I really wanted to use the title "hey shawty what it is" once the idea popped into my head.

*I've never photographed a nude shoot, (and no, this isn't a call for submissions) but you wouldn't guess that looking at some of my pictures of that cute husband of mine.

**He just looks so good without his shirt on.

the weather outside

So it's finally starting to look and feel like fall around here. It's been cold for awhile at night and in the early morning, but mid 70s by early afternoon, but now the leaves have changed colors and are strewing themselves all over. Particularly in the pool that we never have used. I kind of love it. I also kind of hate it because it starts getting dark around 4:30 and I know it's only going to get darker earlier and earlier until the winter solstice. I've been doing a lot of photography lately, cause that's kind of my job and all. I kind of love it. Sometimes it's very hard though. The end. (I can't believe I made this about the weather. Snooze fest.)

proof of life

This is my proof of life.

Also, proof of a fun, newish camera. (Polaroid 203 multishot; typically used for passports and other government documents but works great for a best friend's wedding reception photo booth.)

Also, proof that Nick doesn't hear too good. (Why am I the only one zoolandering in that second shot?!)

Why don't I just marry them?

 

Have I mentioned how much I love polaroid film? (If not, and if you have a few hours to spare ask me how much I love them.) Tomorrow I get to do an entire shoot about polaroids too! This is the life.

These two are a few from a couple of weeks ago. I love how the colors turned out, but please forgive the dust in the second--I think it happened during scanning.

Do not shake your polaroid pictures!

These are some polaroids that I took with my sweet new-to-me medium format camera. Lately, I've heard multiple people say that photographers shouldn't get caught up in the hype of what camera/lens/etc they use or others have because the tech isn't the end result. That being said, I love my Mamiya RZ 67 Pro II. I've had to reorder my list of top five things to save in a fire to include it. 

We had a polaroid camera when I was growing up. I remember thinking how cool it was to watch the picture appear from the darkened square. These pictures are from the last two weeks and there was a definite learning curve to using the polaroid back with the Mamiya, but I love it. Polaroids combine the look and feel of film with the instantaneous availability of digital and include their own color and contrast quirks as well. 

1. Expired Polaroid 667 B/W Film, 2. My first polaroid with Sylvia's Polaroid 215, 3. Nick took this one of me on Sunday, 4. One of my first shots with the Mamiya (turned out a little wonky but I think the colors are cool), 5. Double exposure: My silhouette and Nick's face, 6. This one got an accidental dunk in ice cold water before it was ready, 7. Another happy accident of exposing film