K. {Oregon Portrait Photography}

in ,

this shoot is from may - i haven't had much inclination for personal photography outside of work because we're in the middle of senior season and i have been doing quite a bit of that during the day hours for the studio. it's hard to get excited about sitting in front of the computer at night too! but i'm feeling more motivated lately to do personal projects, so i thought i would share.

We went to this graveyard in Monmouth, and even though it turned out to be rather manicured and less spooky than I hoped, Kate is beautiful enough to make things interesting anyway. That hair! Gets me every time.

pretty good year |film|

in ,

i generally carry all three of my cameras - the 50d, point & shoot, and a twin-lens film camera (the seagull). unfortunately, the film photographs usually take several months to ever see the light of day, so i end up with batches of images that i barely remember taking. or maybe fortunately? sometimes that's more fun. [caption id="attachment_624" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="south corvallis, winter"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_625" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="batman-mama kitty // jamaica & miriam"][/caption]

i think differently when i photograph using the seagull. it feels more natural, more like an extension of my eyes than my digital camera. and i know that it isn't technically the best kind, so i let go of that need for a perfect image and just try to capture a bit of what i'm seeing. there's a loss of control, when you can't see what you've made and you end up with light leaks and dust spots, that i always love. my printmaking teacher says, "happy accidents".

[caption id="attachment_626" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="thrillville, winter"][/caption]

i've been thinking a lot about that - capturing a piece of life, a slice of beauty, a tiny smidge of reality. so many of those attempts are futile - it seems impossible to truly catch that flickering smile, or the look in someone's eyes as they gaze at their lover. even the way a flower looks! to really and truly capture that is so hard. and there's that sense i get of spending my energy trying to render life onto film instead of being in the moment myself and actually experiencing it in my body and my heart.

[caption id="attachment_627" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="bellingham, spring"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_628" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="my savta pressed the shutter for these // me and silly maddie & happy accident on the right"][/caption]

but there are times when there's a balance. and i live for those times. when i am experiencing deeply through my camera, when it is almost a tool for meditation. when it gets me closer to the forces in our world that we can't always see, but that are in all of us.

[caption id="attachment_629" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="corvallis, late spring"][/caption]

so i guess that's a little obscure, and i'm sure that you won't see that way when you look at these seemingly random images. but when i look at them i remember how i was feeling at that place, and what i was thinking about, and dreaming about, and that's all i need.

[caption id="attachment_631" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="seattle, summer"][/caption]

these may be some of the last pictures i have from this beloved camera, since it broke going through security at an airport in texas. hopefully it can be fixed! it wasn't very expensive but it's made well and i was totally shocked when i got it home and something was rattling around in it. to me it feels a little like if someone had lit one of my journals on fire.

[caption id="attachment_639" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="texas, summer"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_640" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="sister-girl. she belongs in a tree house"][/caption]

thank you for reading, if you are. i have a couple personal projects planned, a few trips, and a new lens to play with, so by extension i hope to blog more often. have a lovely week!

alphabet land with b (*)

in ,

a few weekends ago i went to portland to visit my friend brie - we had been planning a shoot based around my tattoos for quite some time. (to see a few of the resulting images, visit http://briemullin.com/blog/ ) i wanted to photograph as well, but i didn't really have a theme in mind and after prancing around half naked downtown for awhile (very cold, also embarrassing when cars would drive by) i was a little tired. but i did manage to capture a few of brie at this church near her house. <3

End of 2nd Haiti Auction <3

in ,

We raised $545 with our second Haiti Auction! I'll be contacting the winners by email by the end of the week. Congratulations to those who won (myself included, I can't wait to hang up my new painting)! The total raised for Haiti Relief with both auctions was $1545. Not bad! Though our auction is finally over, there is still work to be done. This is by no means the end of my efforts to do something for those less fortunate - Tyler and I have discussed plans for a fundraiser for a cure for Lupus, for later in the year. I plan to start volunteering at the local soup kitchen beginning in the next few weeks. And next year? Maybe teaching English in Thailand? Peace Corps?And photography, always.

I want to encourage everyone to do whatever they can to help anyone who needs it. When you find yourself getting sad or depressed, help someone else! It's the best way that I know to remember what life is really about and it is proven to get your mind off your own problems.

Internalizing how lucky I am has made me want to give back, and also made me appreciate every single aspect of my life. I think you miss out on the best parts of life if you don't truly grasp how fortunate you are being born in this time, in this place. Even with all the horrible things that the elected officials made us go through during the past 8 years, and the horrible things they did in our name to people in other countries, and all the crime and pain and pollution and hate that is still around everywhere, there are great things happening everywhere you look. Government aid made it possible for me to go to college. I have enough to eat, and even though I work full time, I have time to create art. Our president just made it possible for me to get health insurance again. And there are people out there trying their hardest to make this world something to be proud of. And that makes me proud.

Reading over that, I realize that I sound like an annoyingly self-righteous do-gooder and I promise, I don't think I'm a saint, and I am a human being, not a witlessly happy robot. Maybe it's the fact that it's the first sun after a week of straight rain, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of optimism, right? :)

Now that my blog is mine again (I kind of stopped posting personal stuff while the auction was going on, so that it wouldn't be so much about me) I am looking forward to sharing some of the recent photography that I've done, so if you want, come back and check it out... <3

prett-t

in ,

today i have finished the last of the month's photo shoots. this relief is dampened slightly by the fact that there's still loads to do for the auction and for the exhibit on saturday! so i am feeling more than a little frazzled, and i know i'm not being as patient or good to myself (or people around me) as i should be. and sure proof that you get what you need, when you need it... this song just came on my last.fm radio: "i am not a robot" by marina & the diamonds.

you've been hanging with the unloved kids, who you never really liked and you never trusted, but you are so magnetic, you pick up all the pins, never committing to anything you don't pick up the phone when it ring, ring, rings, don't be so pathetic,

just open up and sing i'm vulnerable, i'm vulnerable I am not a robot

so! in the spirit of taking myself less seriously, i will now take a deep breath and share these model shots i took of thihi. i photographed her friend faith last year, and hopefully i'll be able to do a shoot with both of them sometime this spring. i took these on one of the nicer days a few weeks ago. she's beautiful and very nice, and has an envy-worthy wardrobe.

[caption id="attachment_248" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="the white walls in studios offend my color-loving sensibilities. i've been super into tinting lately.          weird i guess"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_249" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="her hat reminds me of TLC haha"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_251" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="i knew when i took the one on the right that this was going to be my favorite"][/caption]

and now i will take a justly deserved break from editing on the computer. i do it every day at work, and when i make work outside of work, it is a bad bad situation. time to catch up on my reading, cooking, and film photography! thanks for reading (if you are), and please don't forget to check out our Help Haiti Benefit Auction! Exhibit on Saturday, auction open till March 9.

m+d {ageless beauty}

in ,

megan has been my most constant model for years now - and it wasn't always fun: i once had to photograph her every single day for a month. the term 'photograph' became 'pester'. our collaborations have really improved since then, but the reasons she's a great model haven't changed: gorgeous blue eyes, fierce expressions, and glowy skin. this is one of my favorite shoots from this winter, mostly because i think the clothing and makeup work really well with the gloomy weather. we had to work fast before it began to rain profusely, and we were using the self-timer on my camera (which is always fun - you get to scurry back and forth and strike a pose before 10 seconds are up, especially good times in heels).

[caption id="attachment_120" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption=""...you can see it from the surface...""][/caption]

it was fun to play dress up. we felt like two little kids, prancing around in dresses and heels in drizzling, overcast weather. and, since the dress i wore belongs to megan's mother, we kind of were! we tried to go to a different location at first and were politely told that we were trespassing, but i used to run by our plan b property a few times a week and i wish it was mine! it has a beautiful little orchard and greenhouse.

[caption id="attachment_121" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption=""oceans won't freeze, so loosen your heart...""][/caption]

the song ageless beauty by stars came into my head while i was editing these and i couldn't get it out. i feel that the lyrics describe the concept we were working with: an audrey hepburn-style sort of elegance. ageless beauty embodies patience and contentedness. it is selfless love, the light that is so obvious, that "you can see it from the surface."

[caption id="attachment_122" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption=""we will always be a light""][/caption]

after we got rained out, we decided to use the window light in my kitchen, since we were all dressed up. it was rather cramped, but worth it.

[caption id="attachment_124" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption=""time will hold its promise""][/caption]

the way meg wrapped the scarf around her head reminds me of vermeer. all she needs is a pearl earring.

fin. <3

b. {in carnival-land}

in ,

originally, i wanted to photograph brie as alice in wonderland. we went to an abandoned amusement park, and the whole alice-in-wonderland concept didn't really pan out, visually. but thematically, it works for me - alice is about being displaced, confused, and lost - all the while retaining this childlike solemnity and practicality and i think brie's expressions really lend themselves to that. and i still like the eerie, decrepit feel of the torn-down rides and, because it was drizzling pretty much the entire time we were there, the misty quality of the light.

there were obviously no seats on the "tilt-a-whirl"; brie was perched very precariously on metal.

[caption id="attachment_96" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption=""It would be so nice if something made sense for a change...""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_97" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption=""Well, when one's lost, i suppose it's good advice to stay where you are until someone finds you. But-but who'd ever think to look for me here?""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_99" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption=""I want to go home! But I can't find my way." / "Naturally. That's because you have no way. All ways here are the queen's way.""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_100" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption=""Then it really doesn't matter which way you go.""][/caption]

there are film shots of this adventure as well - i'm excited to see how they turn out.

[caption id="attachment_101" align="alignnone" width="510" caption=""Twas brillig, and the slithy toves, did gyre and gimble in the wabe...""][/caption]

i think this last one is my favorite (of course, as it was the last set of the day):

[caption id="attachment_105" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption=""I was just giving myself some good advice...""][/caption]

alice in wonderland is my favorite movie of all time. i used to watch it every night before i went to bed, and i could probably write a thesis on why i relate so powerfully to the symbolism and themes of the story. but i won't bore you with that. i'll just say that anybody who's been lost knows just how good it feels to wake up from your bad dreams and be told, 'it's time for tea.' <3