lifestyle

Farm Photo Work(play)shop 2016…

May 6, 2016

As photographers, we spend so much time working hard all by ourselves.

paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0466 So I wanted to create a space where photographers can create, share, learn and play together.

And in 2013 we hosted our first Farm Photo Workshop. paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0160 After two successful years of providing space for other people to play and learn, paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0307 I realized that I wasn’t creating space for myself to play and learn as well, because I was too busy hosting.

This year I wanted to play and learn too. paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0287 So I changed it up.

paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0415 Instead of hosting a workshop… I hosted a playshop.

Instead of one person teaching: we were all teaching and we were all learning. paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0198 It was tricky hosting and photographing, there are definitely things I would do better next year. paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0364 But it was really fun.

And I am more inspired than ever to try new things… paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0407 To collaborate… paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0359 And to play.

I hope I always make time to play. paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0476

BIG love and HUGE thanks to:

Mimi Luebbermann for creating and generously sharing her inspiring Windrush Farm.

Laura Schneider for her endless drive and motivation (without Laura this Farm Photo (Play)shop absolutely would not have happened.)

Mike Byrne, Blake Farrington (of Samy’s,) Mike Fischer, Adrian Hallauer and Hubert Kang for sharing their lighting wisdom and resources.

Alysia Andriola, Alexis Scarborough and Eliza Mauer for sharing their enviable style and bountiful props.

Arann Harris for holding up the fort and the dough.

All of our beautiful models and their family members who drove them.

Della Fattoria, Thistle and Petaluma Coffee for donating locally made delicious sustenance.

The Opera House for donating lovely locally made props.

And all of the talented photographers who came to create, share, learn and play.

paigegreenFarmPhoto01162012-0211

who wants to play next…

March 22, 2016

The Sonoma County Economic Board hired me to document the different businesses within Sonoma County for their new website. It was like a three day scavenger hunt for good food and people… and getting paid for it.

sonomacountys

I definitely finished the week feeling very lucky to live in such a cool place and to have such a fun job… now which county wants to play next?

Raise your hand if you don’t own an iron…

March 17, 2016

I love getting inquiries from new companies, especially from industries that I haven’t worked in very often. Today I was asked about my experience photographing textiles. At first I kind of stumbled to think of examples, but after our phone call I went digging in the laundry (hard drives) and realized that I do have a lot more experience with textiles than I thought… which I owe largely to my five years of photographing the talented artisans of Fibershed.

So here is me, putting my best wrinkle forward…

Lucky for me owning an iron isn’t a job requirement for photographing textiles… but being friends with talented stylists who do own such devices is. And from this day forward, I vow to never leave home without my stylist when photographing textiles again.

thoughts from a house full of boys…

March 16, 2016

Once upon a time I believed gender was a social construct… but along came my two very adorable and completely truck, mud, ball and wrestling obsessed little boys. And I quickly learned that girls and boys are indeed different creatures, without any help from society.

After four years of living in my boy centered world, I find myself standing next to my sons, also staring at little girls like they are from another planet. A planet that I once belonged to and will happily jump at the opportunity to visit any chance I get…

The Opera House…

June 24, 2015

If you ask me what kind of photography I like best… this photo shoot for The Opera House is my answer…

It was a tad bit crazy, thanks to the Petaluma winds and a slight miscalculation of how much time it would take to transfer an entire store of amazing props to a field.

But we managed to pull it off… And once the kids finally arrived, it was so fun to see them grab costumes and scatter into the fields and up the trees. I loved being able to turn in any direction and see kids having fun just being kids… the hardest part was deciding which cute kids to follow.

HUGE thanks: to Kelly Collins Geiser for inviting us to play under the glorious oak trees of her future home; to all our lovely models for coming to play with us; to Terra Livingston and Amber Driscoll, of The Opera House, for providing such a lovely collection of things to photograph; and to Debbie Wilson and her super star helpers, Henry and Lola, for all their hard work.

To learn more about The Opera House and the lovely handmade art they sell, visit them in Petaluma on Kentucky Street, or online here: http://www.operahousecollective.com/

January is the new July…

January 29, 2015

And the best photo shoots…

…are the ones you couldn’t even have planned if you tried.

Happy Weekend.

it is all about people…

November 10, 2012

I may photograph food, products, events, and flowers… but for me, it is all about the people. So I get excited when family portrait season comes around and families invite me in to their homes for an hour, or even better, for an afternoon, and I get to play…

I enjoy it so much that every time I am at a family photo shoot I usually have to remind myself that it is time to put down the camera and go home. And when I do eventually leave, I feel honored to have been invited in to the homes of these families and to document what their lives are like at this moment… and I can’t believe that I am lucky enough to call this my job.

In my perfect world…

June 30, 2011

…I would live on a street where all of my best friends lived in the houses around me…

…and we would get to do all of this…

… all of the time.

But until my wish comes true…

…I am so grateful for airplanes that bring me to my favorite people who live too far away…

…And guess I’ll settle for a perfect vacation instead.

Thank you Nici, Andy, Margot, Ruby, Alice, Olive and my favorite black cat, Sam. We had an amazing adventure and we can not wait to do it again soon.

My Best Tip-Toe Forward…

February 17, 2011

Last week I received a phone call from a well-known company asking to see my portfolio. They wanted to see still life, food and some people (because they don’t usually do much photography of people.)

While that phone call was very exciting, the problem was that no one had ever asked me to send in an actual printed portfolio before… so I didn’t have a portfolio to send.

Inspired, I started enthusiastically dragging out the hard drives and digging though the archives. Eventually I came up with a portfolio containing my most favorite 137 photos.

Luckily my talented graphic designer and trusty adviser, Tyler Young, said 137 photos might be a tad too many. So reluctantly, I whittled the portfolio down and here it is… my best (abridged) attempt to tip-toe further into the commercial world of still-life and food… with just a few people.

Leslie and Sophia… and Andy Warhol

February 5, 2011

Last week I got this email:

Good afternoon Paige,

I recently moved to the city with my 3 year old daughter and we would like to capture our love for life, SF and each other. We live near Baker Beach and spend hours there each week so the sand, ocean and bridge are symbols of our life. I have browsed your site and I’m all in! Are you available and taking on new clients? I look forward to your reply, Leslie

I said, “Yes, please! I would never pass up a day at the beach and I am always accepting new clients.”

So we made a date and in her final email she said,“You will go bizerk over my 3.5 year old daughter…Stunning and a personality that lights up the world.”