field

Expecting….

July 18, 2008

I wasn’t able to make it to my friend Tauni’s baby shower a couple of months ago, but earlier she had mentioned she wanted some pregnancy photos, so as a present, I promised we would make it happen. And tonight, three weeks away from her due date, we had our pregnancy photo session with her beautiful belly and her husband Dan.

We spent the first hour playing in their home, and we took some really intimately beautiful photos. But on my way to their house, I thought about my favorite field, as Arann calls it “Paige’s studio,” and I suggested that I would love to go up there later in the evening when the light was better. They were psyched about that idea, despite the rapidly approaching cold Pacific fog.

So I have just returned home and after quickly looking over my photos of the night, these are my immediate favorites. I just adore their expressions of complete happiness and love with each other and with the new human they are creating. What a lucky kid to have such a wonderful environment to come in to.

And a fun fact I learned tonight: Tauni and Dan don’t know if they are having a boy or a girl. Yet, Tauni says the most popular interactions she has had while being pregnant are with complete strangers who confidently predict the sex of her child based on the way her belly looks. She had a guy in Home Depot come up to her and say, “You’re having a boy. My daughter looked like you every time she was pregnant and she had all boys.”

Well, three weeks to go, and we’ll see if he was right.

Oh, and a sad fact, the developers have started to move their bulldozing equipment into my field, so “Paige’s studio” will soon be 6 new houses. Aren’t we in the middle of a recession? Why are they still building new houses when so many are being foreclosed and abandoned? Well, if I go missing for awhile, you may be able to find me in my field and tied to a tree in silent peaceful protest.

Which would make you want to pick it up?

June 6, 2008

So, it is cover time for Jonah’s book. They want color, veggies, something different, something to show the bounty of the farms and something to compliment the title, which is: Field Days.

This was my first attempt… any thoughts?

The one above would probably have some cropping. I don’t know if it is cover potential, but I am proud of it.

Then there is this field photo, or the one that I posted long ago…. click here.

Thanks for voting!!

The Rollei Makes it Better….

June 6, 2008

You know how you just know that a shot is going to be good… well this is the one I was hoping would make me feel better about the eggs in a field craziness last week. The minute I took it, I had all my fingers and toes crossed that it would come out the way I wanted it to… and it is pretty darn close.

Too many cooks, not enough eggs….

May 30, 2008

My friend Kelly saw that I needed an idea for Jude and Paige’s Adventures in Stock project, so she called me up with her vision: bathtub, full of eggs, with her, cowboy boots and a bird’s nest in her hair. I said, “Perfect! I’ll get the tub and eggs.”

I have been wanting a tub in a field shot for a long time….but the eggs part was all Kelly. So I spent the day running around, gathering and hard boiling. I quickly realized that the 3 cartons of 5 dozen eggs (180 eggs), although it sounds like a lot, is not much when you want to fill a bathtub. So I put in the call for Kelly to buy more eggs.

So she bought 3 more cartons of 5 dozen eggs, which we didn’t have time to hard boil, but even filling the tub with blankets and covers, 360 eggs were still not enough.

Another problem was that we had two very different and competing visions… one wanted wild and mysteriously arty, and the other wanted tame stock…. so 360 eggs later, I am disappointed to say that I don’t think either of the visions felt very satisfied with the results.

But as always, we learned lots of lessons: more eggs, one vision, less cooks and try and mark the hard boiled ones because trying to find out which ones are raw, by spinning and shaking, is very time consuming…. and can lead to broken eggs in your ear if you shake too hard.

Cabaret in Color… good idea for parties

May 14, 2008

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I loved my Cabaret on the Bay Portrait Station and it has me thinking about offering Portrait Stations as part of my photo business. It would be so great to have this at weddings and other events, so the guests who want photos of themselves at the event will be sure to have them, instead of me running around and guessing who to photograph… well running around will still be a part of my event coverage, of course, but this would be a fun addition.

Two Brains are Better than One

May 11, 2008

This is another ‘Paige and Jude Adventure in Stock Photography‘ photo shoot. Although once again, I have to give her credit for everything, the bed in a field idea, all the logistics, the models, and the props… well all the props except for the monkey mask and flower. Those were my genius ideas and they are sure to be a favorite for all the banks and insurance companies that are looking for generic photographs for their brochures.