Photo Final

I went shooting in San Francisco after the Thanksgiving holiday with my mom. I shot a whole roll of 35mm Illford XP2 in the same lighting. What a difference that makes when it comes to printing (or editing) batches of photos. Considering how I usually shoot, I will have roughly 2-3 different types of lighting on one roll of film. Printing went by so quickly that I was able to get 3 decent prints in one night. Typically that would take me 2 nights of classes to accomplish. At the final I got some wonderful compliments. My classmate Doug said my printing had improved noticeably!

This semester I got wonderful feedback from my classmates and professor so I wasn't as nervous. My final was this past Wednesday and things went well. Check out my flickr to see more.

The Darkroom

Taking a semester off from Black & White photography was a difficult thing for me this past spring. Color Photography caught my interest again and so I shot loads of color film. I enjoy color but I find that it distracts your eyes from the lighting. The best kind of photo remains strong, even when you de-saturate the color from it.

Being back in the dark room printing in black & white made me realize that is my happy spot. I enjoy the smell of fixer, the sound of the water, the low light, and watching a photo develop right in front of my eyes. It slows the photographer down. Especially when you spend 8 minutes fixing a photo so it will last a hundred years.

We had our midterm tonight. I spent the past several Wednesday's preparing to show some of my strongest pieces. I will admit, I always get nervous when it comes time to put my work out there for critique. My classmates have a potluck and that makes it easier. Tonight was a wonderful class for me and I'm very happy with my final prints. Hope you enjoy!

Right Now

10 Things I like right now...

1. Lemonade with mint leaves
2. Gelato
3. Driving with my windows down
4. Dresses
5. Reading before bed
6. Blasting music during my commute
7. Watching Arrested Development
8. Running on the beach
9. Dreaming about where to travel next
10. Stretching

What are you into right now?

Go Giants!

The San Francisco Giants made it to the play offs and I was lucky enough to go to the first game with some friends. We took the train into San Francisco, grabbed some snacks, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Here is the view from the pier behind the ballpark:

 

Can you believe how amazing the seats were? We had first row seats. I haven't sat in the bleachers in a long time and the atmosphere was incredibly energetic! We talked to so many people and gave out high fives to everyone. It was the best game I have EVER gone to.  

I love this photo of the four of us. The usher and people in our section were very friendly and took lots of photos for me.

The characters sitting in our section photo bombed us a couple of times. :) I laughed so hard at some of the surprise memories captured.

We saw several people we knew at the game and had a few visitors since our seats were so great. The best part was that our team won! After that we headed to Tres Agaves to celebrate with a bunch of fans. We made a lot of friends, including on the train ride home. What a night!

26 Things

Before 27...

Here is my list of things that I'd like to do or try before I hit 27!

1. Make home made gelato
2. Learn Spanish
3. Sew something
4. Finish a mini album
5. Take self portraits
6. Bake more
7. Exercise
8. Pay off my car
9. Take a road trip
10. Visit Michelle in Canada :D
11. Go on a tour of Alcatraz
12. Find a different photo booth location
13. Enter in a photo contest
14. Get photo website together
15. Eat healthier
16. Spend lots of time on the beach
17. Sleep
18. Read my library books
19. Get a massage (maybe several)
20. See the Pixar Art show in Oakland
21. Save for my dream camera (currently Nikon D700)
22. Make a new friend
23. Visit the De Young Museum
24. Avoid buying any external/internal hard drives
25. Go on an adventure
26. Be more spontaneous

Tunes Tuesday

Music has always been a big part of my life and I've been collecting it more now than ever. This song by Far East Movement has been stuck in my head for at LEAST two weeks. The lyrics are silly and the video is entertaining.

I am thrilled that Invented by Jimmy Eat World is finally out! They released their newest album last week and shared the whole album on their website before hand. I adore their single, My Best Theory, but my favorite is Movielike (probably because I like to make movies?). The whole album is filled with great songs and can be played all the way through. Check it out!

I've been listening to Sean Paul's Imperial Blaze & The Trinity while running on the beach. Sean Paul's music is perfect motivation for exercise. I especially enjoy looking up the lyrics since his Jamaican accent is hard to decipher. My two favorite songs are Evening Ride and So Fine.

I have love the exposure of the free single of the week that iTunes offers. Here are a few songs/artists that are musts for me: I Am Not a Robot by Mariana & the Diamonds, American Slang by The Gaslight Anthem, 1977 by Ana Tijoux, and Bien o Mal by Juliete Venegas. I am enjoying a lot of Latin music lately. Check out the Bien o Mal music video, but be warned that its a weird one...

If you have a minute, check out this video. Watch it a few times and it will get funnier. Jenna is convinced that Darwin Deez is her soul mate. What music are you listening to right now?

21+5

Yesterday I celebrated my 26th birthday. I am so very privileged that it was my first birthday that I had to work. And even more privileged that I have amazing co-workers who went to lunch with me and surprised me with ice cream cup cakes and a hand made card in the afternoon.

Its crazy how much facebook has changed things in the past couple of years. My inbox exploded with birthday wishes and I had a lot of laughs over the unique and silly ways that people express themselves. I think my favorites were "Happy Michelle Day," and "HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (insert Gus Gus voice from Cinderella please.)"

My family and I went to High Tide restaurant (owned by the same family who owns The Crepevine) in Pacifica and then we had a few people over for dessert. It was a great day and a wonderful way to end the night.

Mileage Check

I'll be celebrating 26 years in less than a month. I'll be the first to admit that I had forgotten about the list. Let's take a look to see what I still have to do!

25 Things Before 26

1. Travel yep!
2. brush up on my Spanish
3. design something cool yep!
4. learn to cook one meal
5. wear my glasses more yep!
6. continue to do less yep!
7. exercise heck yeah!
8. take a bookbinding class
9. save money yep!
10. take more pictures yep!
11. use my large format camera
12. finish sewing my portfolio
13. make glass beads
14. do more night photography yep!
15. sew something pretty
16. enter in a photo contest
17. simplify yep!
18. read yep!
19. give up soda sorta (cut back drastically)
20. go to the beach more often heck yeah!
21. get a website up with my portfolio
22. find a great gelataria on the peninsula yep!
23. be more carefree heck yeah!
24. eat lots of fruit yep!
25. buy a used car yep!

I still have about 35% of my list to blow through in the next 2.5 weeks. I think I can do it! Mostly ;) Have a great night.

Senator Barbara Boxer visits SolarCity!

Monday was a very exciting day for us at SolarCity. Senator Barbara Boxer visited our Foster City warehouse. I was asked to help take photos and I was thrilled! Here is a photo before the Senator arrived:

There was a demonstration of an installation of a photovoltaic panel:

Senator Boxer spoke about energy efficiency in California and growing job opportunities that clean energy companies have created (SolarCity included).

I was really excited for my co-workers/friends got to share the stage with her. There was a lot of energy in the warehouse!

The best part was getting a group photo after the campaign speech. This was the main photo that was requested and I got it! I had so much fun taking photos at work.

 Check out a brief article here.

Computer problems

I'm still here but I'm battling a dying graphics card. I will be back to my regular blogging schedule once I have the computer problems worked out. Hope you are enjoying this beautiful month of June!

Weekend recap

Last weekend was pretty spontaneous. Here's what I did:

• Grabbed cupcakes from Safeway for a quick surprise birthday celebration.
• Hung out with co-workers/new friends.
• Got my credit approved.
• Bought a car.

• Learned some funny things that my cousin and I have in common.
• Went to a bar in Alameda
• Had the most impromptu photo booth fun.

• Took photos in a bathroom that had colorful graffiti.

 

• Enjoyed burgers at Jeffrey's diner for lunch.

• Met Eric in Palo Alto for dinner.

 I have come out from under my research rock now that I have purchased my car. YAY! Hope your weekend was wonderful!

Sarah & Dave at The Carneros Inn

Shooting at The Carneros Inn in Napa was such a treat. Working with Sarah & Dave was so special. I am always touched when people welcome me into their special day. I was Terra Tabbytosavit's second shooter and learned a lot from this talented photographer!

I spent the afternoon photographing the groomsmen as they prepared for the wedding. Here is a photo of the groom Dave, with his future nephew:

 

Putting on the cuff links:

 

Grandma and all her adorable grandchildren.

A special moment between group photos:

 

The bride & groom before the ceremony:

 

I'm excited to be shooting another wedding with Terra today. :D

Going Green

I've gone green. I started working for SolarCity on Monday, and I'm excited to be learning about making decisions to make our environment a better place. Or as some might say, I'm becoming a hippie. ;) Sorry for the lack of photos right now. Internet has been really touchy tonight. I'll be back later in the week.

Happy Easter!

Hope you are having a great time if you are celebrating Easter. I'm enjoying my chocolate bunny while I share some eggs that we dyed yesterday. I have so much fun playing with Hambly silk screen rub ons. We used the mustaches & frames this time. Don't you just love super vibrant colored eggs? 

 

I'll leave you with these cute cupcakes that were at the party yesterday. Hoppy Easter!

Everything Scrapp'n

Hey! I have a few creations to share that I made using product that you can find at Everything Scrapp'n. Heather had an incredible sale at the end of January and I went a little crazy over Cosmo Cricket's line The Boyfriend.

We celebrated a co-worker's birthday on Thursday and I found the cute camera journal block very fitting since we're all photographers at my company. Here is a fun card I made for the occasion:
Products used: Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend Drivers Ed pp, Tube Socks pp, Homework pp, Ready-Set-Chip chipboard, Elements journaling block pp, Jenni Bowlin Reverse black alpha stickers, TwoGirlzStuff Licorice scallop label, & Staz On Ink-Timber brown.

The chipboard shapes create great depth and are fun to layer.Last year I spent a lot of time at the beach. I plan to again but I want to remember my experiences at each beach. Dan, Lisa, Sarah, and I met up at Ocean Beach in San Francisco to search for sea treasures. It was lightly raining but that didn't stop us. We had a great time hanging out and we even saw full sand dollars!
Products used: Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend Study Hall pp, Tube Socks pp, Art Appreciation pp, Ready-Set-Chip chipboard, Elements journaling block pp, stickers, Studio Calico diecut stickers, American Crafts fabric thickers Dolce-white, Doodlebug Designs loopy lou alpha stickers- Lily white, CatslifePress date stamp, & Staz On Ink-Timber brown.

The elements journaling sheet is great to layer. Not only do I use them for journaling, I double them up as sub titles and embellishments as well!
Teresa has a great challenge for the month of March. Please check out the details here. I had fun with my layout loosely based on the March challenge.

  

Hope you have a relaxing Sunday! Please check out the rest of the DT's work too. Ilene is the next stop. :D

The Catwalk!

Amy Tangerine totally made my day this morning by picking my scrapbook pages for the catwalk over at SIStv! Congrats to Melissa and her super cute layout for making it with me. Weeeeeee! Off to work. :)

Spring is here!

I'm so happy that this past week we had glorious weather. I've been able to bring out my tank tops and enjoy the sun during my lunch breaks. I love seeing all of the blossoms on the trees on my walk.
My friends know that I don't go shopping for clothing very often. I asked for a gift card to Express for Christmas so I could find some cute, well fitting jeans. And I did just that!
I fell in love with them so much that I got a second pair. Great jeans are so hard to find. I went a little wild at our local H&M store in San Francisco and bought several dress shirts, a cute jacket, dress, and two pencil skirts. I can't find pictures of them from their website so I'll just have to snap a few photos when I'm wearing them. ;)

Right now I want to:

Scrapbook like a whirlwind. Catch up on my unfinished mini albums. Finish reading two books I'm 1/2 through. Spring clean. Collect my favorite photos for a portfolio review. Post them to flickr and facebook. Take lots of photos with a few different cameras. Film & Digital. Find a car. Blog more. Go for a run daily. Back up all my data. Go to the beach. List inspired by Michelle Clement.

Chosen!

We got the phone call this evening that the Pacifica Garden Club has selected our garden to be in their annual Pacifica Garden Club Tour that is held in May! Our whole family is very excited. Congrats to my Mom, the proud gardener!The potting shed where all the magic happens:
I will share my documentation through out this coming spring. Photos shown above were taken last May.

Everything Scrapp'n March Blog Hop!

I'm excited to share that we have Ilene as a Guest DT this month, so please welcome her! If you are coming here by way of Jana, then you are almost done! If not, please start the hop at Everything Scrappn's blog. If you leave a comment with each member, you will be entered in a chance to win a surprise pick of 3 stickles! I can't get enough of those. :)
I have been over winter and this cold weather for at least a month now. I'd much rather fast forward to spring/summer so I thought why not scrap with brighter colors? I love the brights in Prima's Tropics line. I enjoy matching my photos to paper so I couldn't help using these photos from Amy's Social Squitten (get together she organizes) from last March. Don't you just love her colorful shirt?Products used: Prima Tropics Turtle Dove pp, Rainy Breeze/Mango Cherries pp, Miss Macaw/Sweet Apple pp, Hambly ATC patchwork limited edition-Lagoon Blue metallic pp, Doodlebug Designs Beetle Black loopy Lou alphas, American Crafts Fabric Thickers Patchwork-ladybug, Maya Road Sheers calendar, American Crafts Flair-Craft Fair DIY, Zva Long flourish rhinestone 2-black, Elle's Studio Chic note tag-brights, Sassafrass Serendipity Happy Place sweet treats sticker, acrylic paint, Staz On Ink-Jet black & Making Memories Distressor.

I enjoy using these Hambly ATC sheets all the time because you get so much use out of them. I have made ATC's with them but they are also great for small journaling tags, embellishments and all sorts of other cool things!
I made this birthday card for someone special celebrating her birthday on Monday. I really like how these thickers are nice and small. They fit perfectly on the card!Products used: Prima Tropics Tree Frog/Waterfall pp, Miss Macaw/Sweet Apple pp, American Crafts Fabric Thickers Delight-black, Sassafrass Serendipity Happy Place sweet treats sticker, Staz On Ink-Jet black, Fiskars Apron lace border punch & black pen.

Prima's line caught my eye because of the gorgeous colors. I got a lot of mileage out of their Miss Macaw/Sweet Apple strip paper and I think that is really important these days. Use up as much of the paper as you can!
Well thanks for stopping by. Please continue on to Suz's blog to complete the blog hop. She'll have her creations up this coming Tuesday since she's dealing with a new home. :) I have lots of photos to edit and share very very soon! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.