Daily Dose: inspiration

The Party...

She and Him: Natalie and JJ

She: Firecracker with a Madonna gap
Him: Adores her and stops to admire woodland flowers

Feel the love people... these two are set to get married May 30th, 2009 in the Northampton Child's Park. I cant wait to photograph the event! For their engagement session I really wanted to pick a special spot out just for them and have it be a 'photo adventure'. They're moving to San Fransisco after the wedding so I thought I'd send them off with some pictures of the fairytale like wooded area around here (Northampton) that you just cant find out in California.

Speacial Guest Lecturer...ME

Who knew I loved to talk about me sooooo much!!! That's me in the middle giving some photographers tips on picking high end product to shoot and how to present it. I had a full day of presenting to around 220 photographers all about my career as a stylist and how to get involved with the high end product photography world. I absolutely loved every minute of it (especially the microphone). My audience asked very intelligent questions and we has some great discussions. It also was so wonderful to be surrounded by such enthusiasm and energy. Thank you Hallmark Institute of Photography for inviting me to be a presenter!!!!

Balloons.....all are not created equal

Ahhhh yes....one of the new trendiest props for 2009. But don't think you can buy just any old balloons and get people swooning. These ones are so much more tasteful and interesting than the ones you find at your local Partyland . They make me reminisce of children's stories like The Red Balloon....which I would read over and over again as a little girl, picturing myself floating over Paris hanging from a 100 or so of these balloons. These jumbo sized, perfectly round ones are indeed a rare find. But I found them (of course) with A LOT of internet searching. So if you want to know where to find them, ask nicely and I might reveal my secret source.
My sweet baby's 2nd birthday is coming up May 1st and we'll definitely have these floating around the backyard...will make for some great photos!

My tulips are coming up!

Pet projects

Here's my second photo shoot for Dames et Chiens. I finally found my scanner buried in the moving boxes and it is hooked up! Yay!
Kayo and Dre are such a adorable pair....Kayo and her boyfriend Kevin Knight(he's a great photographer) just showed up in Idaho one day driving and old Mercedes with an enormous teacup hitched to the back of the car (planned to open a latte chalet with it). They moved in this house that looked like a Jetson's with lots of vintage paint by number paintings (my favorite were the tree and dog paintings) and always threw fun parties. Here's a link to Kayo's blog that she co-writes with Dr. Dre...very creative little family.
http://doctor-dre.blogspot.com/

and here's a link to Kevin's photography:
http://kevinknightphotography.com/

Little Goldmines #1: The Claw Foot Tub

What did you do this weekend? I was bored so I went exploring. Look what I found....

Living in Massachusetts it's hard to find places I like to shop in after being spoiled by all the Brooklyn and NYC shops. The antique stores are great, but I'm not always in the mood for something 100 years old and I don't have the luxury of hunting for good finds with my 2 year old in tow. So this is the first of a series of shops I'm featuring that I think are 'little goldmines' that really deliver big style, great design, good customer service, goods that are priced affordably, and make it easy to find a gift for a friend (or me!). I saw this shop out my car window while taking a wrong turn down a side street and asked my hubby to pull over so I could take a peek....what a gem.
Store owner Mary Moore Cathcart greeted me warmly, asked if needed any help, and then let me wander around a bit.

The Gardener

Wedding bells for Steven and Jules....

Custom Save the Dates for Jules and Steven....(my hand is still twitching from carving your names in the wood!!!) Thank you Marjan for your help..you're so smart :). Looking forward to the party at the farm....Julie, will guys be riding the horse off into the sunset?

Why do you let me stay here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtlO0RXktlo

Statue in Philadelphia

Somewhere in Connecticut.....

I was working on this movie and the Prop Master and I were lodging at this sculptor's guest cabin....we got in so late at night to the cabin, that it wasn't until morning that I noticed the GIANT cameo heads dotting the meadow beside the cabin. On the way to set in the wee hours of the morning I snapped this shot of my friend Jory wandering around the heads....for some reason she appears as a ghostly white figure in the picture. I have always been a huge Edward Gorey fan and I've collected all of his books plus read all of the John Bellairs mysteries that he has illustrated. This looks like something that he would be into drawing. I would love to find this place again and take some other shots her...what a fabulous location for a fashion editorial.....

Shandy's backyard....

The Mitchells....Keaton, McKenzie, and Shandy.....such a gorgeous family. Originally from Kuaii, they brought with them such a laid back vibe, I always loved being in their company. It seems that people from the islands do all of their family portraits in the water like this.....they could totally be mermaid folk...

A lil bit o country....

This is Jenna. She is a friend of ours from back in Idaho and she has just written this book to remind us that making things for ourselves is very satisfying and we don't need to run to the Gap every time we want a new denim skirt. She has sheep, geese, chickens, roosters, bunnies, and huskies....and is a bad ass on the dog sled. Check out her new book called Made from Scratch.
http://www.amazon.com/Made-Scratch-Discovering-Pleasures-Handmade/dp/160342086X

Me and my better half....

Lately my better half and I have been collaborating on a few photo projects and it's been fun to do something creative together. He takes the photos and I make up concepts and art direct. We are going to have to find some other people to shoot though other than me...there's a girl who works at the local burrito shop that I think would be interesting to shoot...she kind of looks like a english doll with and afro. Anyway, the above photo is an concept called Things I Hold Dear To Me and the idea is to photograph peoples hands with three things in their palm that they hold dear to them, are important to them, or hold close to their hearts. My hand held a tiny gold horse with wings to represent my love for anything whimsical and imaginative, my grandmother's cameo that she left me, and a simple white flower to represent my appreciation for natures beauty. I think Braden took a great shot. Wouldn't it be a lovely display to shoot 100 peoples hands and have a whole wall of framed hands? Braden can shoot it for his projects for school, and I can style the objects.





Above is another shoot we worked on. There was this really cool wall by our house and I really loved the graphic quality of the lines.....The light was amazing and I love the distortion Braden captured in the shadows. And I love my red bike. And I love my french bulldog.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

....and that makes me long for the Idaho summer weather again. I am not loving the dreary weather lately, but there is one ray of sunshine and it's that I get to wear my Tory Burch trench coat. Anyhow, I reminisce on the days of summer and think about warmer weather and sunshine as I hibernate under my blankets.

Winter light.....

Study #1: Marjan / Bleubird