making new photografriends

I like to think that two people with a passion for photography is always better than one. There's something magical that happens whenever I meet a like-minded soul with similar interests: I get excited. And not just excited in the "Oh-cool-you're-a-photgrapher-I-like-photography-too!" way. But excited in that I remember all the reasons why I started shooting in the first place. I get inspired all over again, and being able to share that energy and excitement with another photographer is fantastic.

Such an occurrence happened a few weeks ago when I met up with Kristina. I started following her work earlier this year, and was stoked to know that she lives in San Diego (since I knew I was about to move there). She's a photographer who shoots for West Coaster magazine, she recently was a part of Phoot Camp this past summer, and she's an all-around lovely person. That's her above!

She invited me to help her with a self-portrait idea she wanted to do, as well as just walk around her neighborhood of Pacific Beach to shoot, talk, and whatever else inspired us. You don't have to ask me twice. I'm pretty much always game.

The nice thing about hanging out with a fellow shooter (and we talked about this very fact that day) is that when you want to photograph something and need the other person to stand in the frame, you never feel bad/awkward/silly for asking. It's like ingrained in our photographic DNA to be totally fine with not only posing wherever they need us to stand, but to do what the average citizen might find downright insane just to get a photo. Oh, you need me to stand in a shallow lake fully clothed? What the heck, we've got towels in the car! Oh, you need me to throw leaves and a scarf simultaneously in the air twenty times for the perfect shot? Let's do it! No instruction is too weird.

{shot by Kristina, with my camera}

Kristina doesn't mess around; she brought her flash setup complete with umbrella onto the beach. Which is awesome. And also makes me feel like a chump for not being as ambitious. Just kidding. Sorta.

Whilst on the beach, she photographed a couple of surfers that were out and about, and then wanted to try something else. So we approached these two gentlemen and asked if they wouldn't mind being an impromptu model. They obliged. Kristina photographed the gentleman on the right with her fancy strobe setup, and I photographed the two of them with good 'ole natural light. Thanks dudes!

These are some snaps with my iPhone from that day. I'm finding that mobile photography is getting more and more addictive, but I'll save that for a future post :]

So here's to making new friends and photo adventures! And both in the same day is pretty darn sweet.

Merry Christmas! (and a look back!)

I guess I ended up doing a holiday portrait with the hubby after all. I call this the Ugly-Sweaters-Faux-Facial-Hair-And-Disgruntled-Cat holiday edition! How ridiculous are we. And kitty's face makes me laugh so hard. She couldn't have timed that any better.

This year has been phenomenal. Here are some of my favorite events/trips/moments that I was fortunate enough to experience this year.

My first photography fashion shoot in London.

An alternative Easter Sunday.

Photographing a beautiful family in a wheat field.

Wandering the Juderia in Córdoba, Spain.

Coffee dates and beach days with a fellow photografriend.

An ode to summer. And good friends.

And of course, sharing it all with the man you see above, wearing his fake beard and fake mustache, and holding a cranky cat. He is my rock.

Happy Holidays everyone! (actually, more like 'Happy Holidays to the two people who read this blog!') Let's get excited for 2012, shall we?

plants on the brain

 Now that I'm getting a little bit more settled in my new home, I desperately want to spruce up the interior with some greenery. Greenery that won't die within a few weeks, which has been a common theme in my house in years past. But I recently read this great article on how to buy houseplants, and I'm inspired to get it right this time. Not to mention the fact that I now live in a climate where plants like succulents and cacti practically thrive on neglect. Just one more reason I love living here :]

{all images via pinterest}

photoshoot // remember that time you were pregnant?

I don't consider myself a maternity photographer by any means, but when it comes to dear friends who are pregnant and in need of some documenting, I've gladly accepted the challenge. Here is the lovely Heidi looking all glowy and beautiful, like being pregnant is no big thing. Dang, I hope I look this good when I'm preggo one day.

This was a very impromptu shoot. Which is my favorite kind really. We shot outside of her home, and I remember Heidi poking fun at the fact that I wanted to shoot her in front of an overturned truck bed, but she graciously indulged me. Call me cuckoo crazy, but the texture of that thing was fantastic.

Pretty woods. Pretty Heidi.

These images were taken a few months ago, so she has since given birth to a baby boy. Heidi, thank you for letting me photograph you.

this time last year...

...the mister and I were taking silly-holiday-portraits-with-santa-hats-and-fake-snow. So much fun. So worth all the fake snow we kept finding around the house for the next two months.

I'm a little bummed this year though, because I really, really meant to do another Christmas-y portrait with the hubby. And not only that, but my goal was to have them done, say, by mid-November, so I could make Christmas cards out of them and mail them out. Crap. So not gonna happen this year.

But Christmas 2012, you better watch out. I'm gonna be all over it.

local gem // the neighborhood

Dear Neighborhood, you are a pleasure to live in. Your tree-lined streets and historic, pre-1940 structures are a treat. Cookie-cutter neighborhoods and homes are for the birds. Every time I take a walk, I discover something new. I love hearing the sound of the trolley in the distance. I love seeing my neighbors taking their dogs for a walk. Today, while I was taking a short walk, I heard someone practicing an instrument inside their home. From another house, I heard deep bellows of laughter. I came across one of the neighborhood cats on my walk, a black and white tuxedo cat like my own, but way more friendly and social to strangers. It's the little things really.

 

 

 

I know it looks like we're in the middle of nowhere in these photos, but we were actually quite close to civilization. The mister and I drove just outside of Las Vegas to visit some family for Thanksgiving, and we are literally in their backyard in these images.

It kind of blew my mind. The landscape there is so very different than anything I've ever seen before. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Do I love it? No. Do I hate it? No. Do I want to capture it on camera? Ohhh yes.

local gem // old town & dias de los muertos

Project Paint Four Rooms is almost over. Thank goodness. My upper extremities and the top of my head have been sprinkled with paint for the last three days, our fridge is temporarily in the living room, and my cat is really, really confused. 

Annnd our painting will be done at the perfect time, because we just found out our household goods and furniture have arrived from Spain! *insert celebratory dance* I'm so freaking excited to get our stuff delivered. Our house will start to feel like a home. Also, I will probably lie on my bed for a good twelve hours straight to let it know how much I've missed it.

So while I am waiting for the mister to come home from watching a football game to help me paint the kitchen and be done with it, I think I will share some photos I took a few weeks ago. We were in Old Town, and the Dias De Los Muertos activities were going on, which, if you're not familiar with it, is a traditional Mexican holiday that honors the memories of deceased loved ones every year from November first to second.

  

What a seriously great tradition! So much history and yet creativity involved. And I do love me a colorful sugar skull.

We also meandered into tons of little shops along the way. Touristy? Sure. But since I still kinda feel like a tourist in this city, why not.

 

 

 

 

 So much typographic goodness going on. I love it. And how awesome is that cowboy boot as a planter? I just might have to steal that idea.

painting is the opposite of fun. but new music isn't.

 Today marked the beginning of Project Paint Four Rooms. One room down, three to go. The mister and I are doing it ourselves, even though we were pretty tempted to hire some fellows that hang out around the Home Depot. Just kidding. Sorta. We hate painting. It sucks. It's messy, and well, it's work. But on the other hand, I'm pretty stoked that we're allowed to paint at all, considering we live in a rental.

So we blasted some music and got to work. And we didn't kill each other (home DIY projects have never been our strong suit, but I'm hoping to change this). So all in all, a pretty swell day.

So I am rewarding myself with some new music that I have recently discovered, by sharing their videos below.

Grouplove - Tongue Tied

Frightened Rabbit - The Loneliness & The Scream

WU LYF - We Bros

finding home

So the Mister and I have been in our new home in California for a little over a month, and I still can't believe how much we lucked out in finding this sweet rental that we get to call "home." Although I wouldn't say luck was the only factor....before we had even left Spain, we were scouring online rental listings in the San Diego area for a solid two months, trying to make sense of all the different neighborhoods and what they had to offer. Oh we did our homework. We researched online. We talked to friends who had lived there.

I will say this: God bless Craigslist.

We were cooped up at the Red Roof Inn for a little over a week after we arrived here. When we weren't visiting open houses, we were in that tiny hotel room with a pissed off cat, using my old laptop and the hotel's Wi-Fi to keep tabs on the rental listings we had bookmarked, and to search for new ones. We looked at a few houses that were nice, particularly in the University Heights area (where we wanted to be), but either the rent prices made us balk, or it didn't have enough outdoor yard space. We like to entertain friends outdoors, so that was important to us while we were looking. We looked at another house in a different neighborhood that had a great open layout and gorgeous backyard space, but I got a sketchy vibe from the area that I couldn't shake. 

And then it happened. On a day when we were feeling particularly frustrated, I looked up rental listings in the La Mesa area to further expand our search. I found one that boasted a newly landscaped yard, multiple fruit trees, two garages, more than reasonable rent, and located right by the Village shops. Once we saw the home in person (as well as the neighborhood), it was too good to pass up; we signed the lease two days later.

Here's a photo I snapped with my iPhone right before we moved in. The landscaping wasn't quite done yet, as evidenced by the dirt on both sides of the walkway.

That archway! Plus, I love that the exterior has a Spanish feel to it...it's like I get to bring a little bit of Spain with me to California, complete with private fenced-in yard.

We're still waiting on our household goods to arrive from Spain (good lord I miss sleeping on my own bed!), so I'll hold off on interior photos until I've done my fair share of nesting. But here's a few I've taken of the outside.

A previous tenant or owner must have painted the mailbox. It's not something I would have done, but I kind of like it.

Dear aloe vera, I am glad you are part of my front yard. Sincerely, Me.

I'm not sure what type of plant this is, but it's pretty. I like pretty.

Free lemonade. Free drink garnishes. Free lemon meringue pie. It's the tree that keeps on giving.

I have plans to re-pot these as soon as we get the rest of our things. 

pretty bougainvillea from one of our trees. I seriously can't get enough of this yard.

I took this self-portrait a few weeks ago as part of my 52 weeks project.

I will leave you with one photo of the interior that I took shortly after we moved in. This is what a cat looks like after she's traveled 6000 miles, kept in a kennel for two weeks, stuck in a hotel room, and then cooped up in a new house before she can explore that glorious front yard.

Her eyes pretty much say it all: "Let me out or I will sleep on your face and suffocate you." She's so dramatic.