Green grass in our front yard.
Or toddlers playing in the sink.
Because California is experiencing a very serious drought right now.
(This is what the hill behind our house looked like last year.)
(This is what the same hill looks like this year.)
So it is time for all of us to start finding ways to conserve what little water we have…
And hopefully we will see…
Farm animals happily munching on green hills and toddlers defiantly standing in puddles again soon.
This film photo was not taken today, but with the weather we’re having, it could have been.
Instead, I took the day off from photographing today and I’m posting this photo for my Monday To-Do list. And as a reminder that when your two-year old is standing in the bay with a giant leopard shark three feet away from him… you should probably go and get your child out of the water. That’s what my husband told me I should have done, instead of just standing frozen at the water’s edge calling, “Harper, come here. There’s a shark!” And even though I don’t think leopard sharks are a threat to humans, I still think that’s probably a good rule of thumb for future shark encounters.
If you have ever visited any of the places I have lived over the past decade then you have met the extra long crushed velvet couch, and you probably have a story associated with it.
This couch was the first piece of furniture I acquired as “an adult.” It lived in the office where I worked when I first moved to California. I had zero furniture in my Presidio townhouse. So when my managers mentioned it was up for grabs, I fought with my elbows out for that couch and it has been with me ever since. Consequently, it has seen more in the last 10 years than most couches get to see in a lifetime.
It moved with me from the townhouse full of Tool loving teenage boys in San Francisco, to the house of infrequently showering naturalists in West Marin, to the mice infested sheep barn in Chileno Valley, to the fancy horse ranch on Spring Hill and to the retired chicken ranch of Western Ave.
Now it sits prominently in our little Hill home where it frequently serves as the dance party stage for toddlers, grown men and superheros.
Big Red has not aged well… it has ink stains, blue gaffer tape covering holes, busted zippers and fraying ends. I look at it with a touch of guilt and remorse because I am not sure how much longer I can stand to keep it as the central furniture piece of my home.
But then when we have nights that end like this…
I know it isn’t going to go anywhere for awhile. And I hope to always have a couch in my life that is perfect for impromptu dance parties.
(ps: this is clearly my first time playing with gif’s so I apologize for my overzealous posting and I promise it won’t happen again.)
At night I toss and turn for hours and hours thinking of all the things I HAVE to do.
But when morning comes, I can’t think of a single reason why I should get out of bed.
I just submitted the final edits for the Banh Mi Handbook, a lovely book project I photographed last September for the wonderful folks at 10 Speed Press. As Andrea Nguyen, the animated author and chef extraordinaire, said in this fun blog post about our photo shoot (which includes behind the scenes photos,) photographing a cook book is truly a collaborative effort.
These photos could not have been created without the incredibly talented people we had on our team: superb editors Betsy Stromberg and Melissa Moore; Karen Shinto, the food magician; super stylish Tessa Watson; handy Morgan Bellinger and Elysa Weitala, the creative light mover.
Look for it this spring at a bookstore near you, or buy it here.
A neighborhood butcher shop, serving ethically raised and locally sourced meats… 
Brought to our little town by these two rad Petaluman women…
Is coming soon. 
(ps: They are going to have homemade biscuits too, which means I can hardly wait.)
Arann has always had an interest in family bands. Looks like he may at least get a back-up singer out of this one.
In case you don’t know by now… I love film.
And I am determined to use my film cameras even more this year.
So I decided I need to ‘Show & Tell’ a little more.
Digital photography is an amazing tool.
With the invention of the ultra fast…
Incredibly versatile…
And instantaneously gratifying digital cameras…
You can now have over 5,000 photos of your wedding.
Photos that capture every single moment (and pore) flawlessly and beautifully.
But photographs taken with good old-fashioned…
Incredibly slow…
Frustratingly unpredictable…
Most likely grainy and potentially blurry film cameras…
Will hopefully give you at least one or two photos…
That you’ll want to hold on to…
…forever.
And no fancy Photoshop actions required.
Because photographing with film is about more than just using a tool to document.
It is about turning a moment in to art.
It is about quality…
Not quantity.
And once you fall in love with film…
You just may become a film pusher too.
(All of these photos were taken with my medium format film cameras.)
These were the last photos my beloved Rolleiflex took before it broke on Christmas morning. 
These photos remind me how much I love that camera.
And I hope it comes back very soon.
So even though these photos were not actually taken today, because they are film, I think they are allowed to break the rules.
I realized on the first leg of my three+ hour commute to South San Francisco that today was my second to last photo shoot with the Studio Choo ladies. After two years working together, I am going to miss bundling up in extra layers, eating burritos with green salsa, trying to bounce light off the dark clouds, blowing dirt around with the rocket and catching up on the latest developments of our very fascinating lives. But I am excited to share our new collaboration that is coming out in the fall of 2014… and here is a teeny tiny sneak peek…
somewhere between a handshake and two kisses 