MOMMA...

Mother's Day is hurling towards us. Haven't gotten your favorite Momma something yet? Please consider purchasing one of these beautiful prints (one of which is mine) and sending your Mom a link to this site so she can see what good her gift will do for others. I don't love to buy into commercial holidays but I have such a great respect to the utter selflessness it is to be a Mother. What an awesome responsibility! Cheers to all you amazing Moms (like mine!)!

The photo in this little post was taken with The Impossible Project's PX680 Color film when it was in beta testing. The First Flush of this film is now for sale on their website.  I would highly encourage you to buy a pack or two and start shooting away with confidence. This color film is beautiful and has some welcomed unique qualities! Grab a pack- you won't be sorry you did! Not convinced? Take a peek at some more PX680 photos on Emily's blog or Patrick's blog (and thank you guys for including some of my photos!)  Photographed here is a little felted heart that my friend Juli so lovingly sent me along with some fun polaroid peel apart film! Pay her Flickr a visit I'm sure you'll enjoy her Polaroids as much as I do! If you are a fan of felted goods please peep her super cute wares on Etsy.

I got home from DC & New York today and am exhausted but also excited to share some photos!

XO

WORDS TO SHOOT BY // HABIT

These three photos are the one's I shot for Words To Shoot By. This week the word was "habit". These are pretty true to myself. I can't resist shoes (and purses, but really shoes get me so much more often), photography and my addiction to the internetz. It was kind of hard to decide on what to shoot for habit because I kept thinking of bad habits but they wouldn't have been pleasant to shoot by any means. Cuticle picking, chewing dry skin off my lips, and constant cleaning. EW. What are some of your habits? 

I leave for DC this week. I'm heading over to The Lamont Bishop Gallery to see my photos in the Polaroid Retrospective exhibit. I am so excited to see this, my first gallery! I'm going there by train and am very excited to have my first long distance train trip. Photos are bound to happen now it's just a matter of which cameras to bring?! After DC I am going to hop over to NYC for a few days to work on a little project for later in the year. I am so stoked on visiting these two places and what's more is that my train tickets are less expensive than a one way plane ticket I recently purchased. If this experience is a good one I fully intend on heading to the West Coast after July. Yes, please!

I am in a bit of Easter goodies coma at the moment so I'll sign off before I fall asleep on my computer. I hope everyone is enjoying their days. Say a little prayer to the weather Gods that we can have some freaking Spring already! 

XO

TOO MUCH?

While watching a video of the Foo-Fighters playing in a guys basement I realized that half of the tiny crowd was trying to steady their phones, Flip cams and DSLR's while recording this precious event. It made me wonder if our generation is too obsessed with documenting life as it's happening. People literally stream their lives online. I can see what some of my best friends are doing minute by minute thanks to Instagram. It leaves little room for conversation sometimes. You go to tell someone something exciting you saw and because it was already shared online they say "Oh yeah I saw you posted that". Is it all too much?

I think if I would have been at this show, I would have felt conflicted. Wanting to document to remember it but also wanting to just watch and not through an LCD screen!

In some ways this is why I prefer to shoot film. You have to compose the shot just the same but there isn't that constant looking at the picture and retaking it. You really have to think about what you're shooting. Compose it well. Choose what you're shooting carefully because you only have 36 frames.  If you want to share it, that's an extra effort (at least for me. I love developing film and shooting instant films but I truly LOATHE scanning. Especially scanning negatives.)

Watching this video made me think of a photographer I admired for years that I had forgotten about. Her name is Robin Laananen. I remember frequenting her site always hoping to see new photos. She went on such adventures and she was photographing some of my favorite musicians at the time. I revisited her site and it made me think of the part of my life I spent photographing music...

What seems like many years ago I was very active in the music community where I grew up. I can't think of many shows I attended and didn't snap at least one photo of. It was really fun for a long while but when my brother passed and I realized I had hundreds of photos of bands and hardly any photos of friends and family I resented the art of live music photography and kind quit taking pictures at shows almost entirely. It was a big change for me as I had always done it either as a hobby or as a job. It was so much funner just to sit back and enjoy everything without having to think of the next frame or if I would have enough film for the entire set (yes, I'm dating myself I said FILM). I still have a hard time photographing those I love over objects and tiny moments or situated things that just make me smile or make my heart leap but I am trying to work on it. I feel a project coming. One long over due.

Portraits are so intimidating but I find myself drawn to them more and more. I am hoping to take a portrait a month. I know that's not a very big aspiration but trust me, it's going to be difficult for me. I mostly enjoy capturing life as it happens instead of sitting someone down and asking them to look dead into this fake glass eye of mine. Wish me luck on my journey! If everything slows down I also hope to scan in some of my favorite band photography negatives and put them online somewhere. That should be insane to look at now at least five years later.

XO

TIME, PLEASE SLOW DOWN

Life happens so quickly sometimes. Funny how some days drag on and others fly by and leave you standing there watching everything happen around you in a blink of an eye. I've wanted to be consistent with doing monthly wrap ups but already it's the middle of April (already?!) and I can barely touch on the things that occurred in March. I need to be more faithful to you dear little blog.

March..
- was still cold.
- brought some worry that was pretty needless.
- found me preparing polaroids for my first 2 exhibitions ever! (Bonjour Pola for you Frenchies and Polaroid Retrospective for you DC folks.)
- brought to my door my polaroids printed in Elle Girl Korea!
- took Christopher, Trevor and I to the East Coast again were many familiar faces were seen.
- was the month that I experienced The Impossible Project's new COLOR film in beta testing- the lovely PX680.
- a busy month filled with photo shoots.
- the sun started peeking out of the doom every now and then so more photos were made.
- the month when I acquired both a Mamiya Universal for film pictures and a Canon 60D for motion pictures (!!)
- brought a new little guy to our rabbit family- Seymour Pig. He is a lovely little gentlemen rabbit.

April has been lovely so far. I went to Florida for Tiffany's wedding and spent a week in sunshine, amongst good friends and rejuvenating. It was a much much needed little vacation. I came home feeling refreshed and inspired. Sometimes you just have to walk away from everything familiar to get some motivation. I feel wonderful. Such a breath of fresh air and a lovely time catching up with literally all of my girlfriends from every part of America. Daniela- you were missed!

I am excited about April. I have new cards in the shop. The weather is finally more spring like here in Chicago so I am anxious to get out camera in hand and take the city by photographic storm. I'm looking forward to days spent at the zoo with Christopher, the prospects of friends visiting and just sunny days and all the glory they bring.

What are you excited about?

XO

C O L O R S

Y'all. The Impossible Project has struck instant film gold with their newest stuff- PX 680. Get your freaking hands on some if you can because it is the goods. You can see a few more that I've taken here. I have two more packs and will be working on more images this week so long as the sunshine continues to shine in Chicago. Please and thank you.

I found out yesterday that a few Polaroids I took will be exhibiting in Paris, FRANCE! Oh how I wish I could go see them there. I am so elated. If you live in France or will be there on a trip - stop by and send me some pictures of my stuff hanging out!

Although this weekend has been very productive it's also been laid back and relaxing. Don't you love those kind of weekends? I hope you are all having wonderful days. Enjoying some sunshine and maybe a bunny or two.

XO

MARCH

Blog. I've been a stranger. Life happened all of a sudden and the minutes to sit and contemplate all that is happening have been few. I am making some right now because I am overwhelmed with goodness. Today I received in the mail an issue of Elle Girl Korea that three of my polaroids were published in. It was a feast for my eyes. I was very flattered to be among other photographers that I admire -Whitney Johnson and Amanda Gilligan! If you haven't seen their work, get on it, your eyes will thank you later.

I just wrapped up some framed Polaroids to ship off to an exhibit in DC called Exposed: The Polaroid Retrospective. (One thing to mark off of my 30 before 30 list!) If you're in the area in April you should stop by and check it out! I am so thrilled to be exhibiting with other wonderful Polaroid photographers. I just wish I could be there on the opening night. Instead I will be preparing to celebrate the nuptials of one of my best friends in sunny Florida. A little vacation that I am entirely looking forward to. I need the sun, the spanish moss but most importantly - my girlfriends. We are coming from all corners of the US for this occasion and I am thrilled to see my gals.

Chicago isn't quite experiencing the burst of Spring that is happening everywhere else but I am still thankful for jacket instead of coat weather and that I can give my Hunter boots a little break. They are cute but you get tired of wearing rubber boots everyday. I can't wait for flats season to really be here!

Oh! I haven't posted since we got back from tour. Tour was pretty fun. A whirlwind of a few days but really great times. I enjoyed making friends with the gentlemen in Marksmen. Seeing blossoms and friends in Georgia. Meeting a wonderful pair of moms in Ohio. Seeing some friends and some wonderous housewares in New York as well as a wonderful visit to The Impossible Project space. Driving on the highway (there's something romantic about the road isn't there?) Meeting new friends and enjoying their juicer. I love traveling this way. Meeting new people. Seeing new and old places and friends. Enjoying the hospitality of strangers. Already I can't wait for the next round of dates. Hopefully this time music will take us to the West Coast!

As usual there is too much on my mind so I'm going to go into list format in three, two...

- Have you seen this photographer/musicians blog? He has an affinity for instant films and quirky iphone videos that win me over. He seems to have a compulsion for peel apart photo making that is to be reckoned with.
- Look at this picture and tell me it's not magic.
- Did you see what everyone came up with last week at Words To Shoot By?
- If you're tired of eating cereal for 2 meals a day, like I am, you might fall in love with this blog too.

More soon. What have you wonderful folks been up to these days?

FEBRUARY // GONE

A scatter brained post from the road. I am glad that I came out on tour with Christopher. I am the merch person and part time driver. I love driving. I don't do it enough in Chicago so I get my fill when we go out on tour. See also: Chik Fil A, Cracker Barrel, ALL KINDS OF SWEET TEA, friends near and far, SUNSHINE, picture taking and a lot of listening to Sunny Day and Ryan Adams. Don't judge me. Please.

Being "on the road" (I hate the way that sounds but it is what it is) is inspiring. Seeing new things. Meeting new people. Seeing how strange and different each town is. It makes me keep my camera in hand and I like that. It is also amazing to partake in the hospitality of strangers. It is hope inspiring.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can make it out West this year. I've been up and down the East coast several times but have barely touched on the West side of the States.

February, gone already. February was a strange month. The things that ring out in my mind is the loss of Peter and a sigh of relief when my mom was able to move ever closer to us. Both things happened on the same day actually.

I have high hopes for March. A visit with some friends on this tour, a quick trip to The Impossible Project, an exciting new purchase/investment (I'll tell ya once I have it!), meeting some internet friends and warmth. Please weather gods, send down your spring time angels!

Does anyone know of a way to read my blogger blogroll on an iphone? I can't seem to access all of the blogs I follow via my blogger dashboard on my phone and would like to keep up and post while I'm out. While you're at it, do you know if a portable polaroid scanner exists? I need this to get out of my dreams and into my car. Please and thank you.