self-portrait in a rear view mirror of a parked car, SF
walking in the Berkeley Marina
portrait of me, taken by Laurie Wagner
Heart cappuccino at Guerilla Cafe
Nico at the pediatrician in his radical tube socks
When words fail you, it’s so great to have a camera with you to help you tell your story.
My latest portrait session was with Chelsea… isn’t she beautiful? We had SO much fun and transformed a small park into an enormous wonderland with the magic of the camera. I love how she wanted professional shots (and we got those) but we also had a chance to capture so many other aspects of her personality. We made magic together!
I’m headed to Hawaii tomorrow for my 40th birthday trip! and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Matt and my friends and family conspired to send me… I’m feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. Thank you Matt and thank you friends!!
Ben is a "karate guy"
Nico, at one of the many block parties we attended this weekend
all the colrs in the rainbow, cafe tables and chairs at Flora Grubb in SF
white cranes in the alameda shipyard against the blue sky, shot from the ferry to SF
magenta bouganvilla petals, it almost looks like a tree
my friend Melita who has the best kids band called Octopretzel
The Pickle Family, shot with my Canon S95
Good things:
1. Finding an entire family of pickles when I cut up Ben’s snack tonight. We were both very excited.
2. This quote from Rachel Naomi Remen (taken from a longer piece that is worth reading as well):
“Helping incurs debt. When you help someone they owe you one. But serving, like healing, is mutual. There is no debt. I am as served as the person I am serving. When I help I have a feeling of satisfaction. When I serve I have a feeling of gratitude. These are very different things.”
3. Listening to Danielle LaPorte’s interview (and so many other great ones) on the World’s Biggest Summit. By the way, it’s free! And you can still sign up and listen to all of the interviews in the summit so far. Mine is on Day #5.
4. Looking at the fantastic photos from my students in the fall session of Superhero Photo.
5. Finding my favorite bra again after forgetting what the name of it was. Also discovering it was only 20 dollars!
6. This fantastic Radio Lab episode where Paul Auster talks about what he calls rhyming events. Fascinating!
7. Discovering there is a new book by Marisa De Los Santos. I love everything she’s written.
8. Nico.
9. Bought my ticket to Hana, Maui to celebrate my 40th birthday in early November. Will miss my men, but very excited for this solo mission! Anything I have to do/see while I’m there?
10. Dreaming up a new Superhero Photo class for early 2012 and an in person workshop here in the Bay area. Anyone interested in joining me?
edge of a metal sculpture that surprisingly made a heart in my viewfinder, with bokeh
Bokeh is that magical effect you get in the blurred background of your photograph when you are using shallow depth of field. Those hexagonal spots of light that create that dreamy light. Since I don’t know exactly how it happens, it always feels like magic.
To further blow the mind of we camera geeks, check out this article about how you can create heart shaped bokeh.
honey for all of the guests, shot with Canon S95
I love this shot because it makes the whole day seem like a magical memory, shot with Canon S95
We went to the most beautiful wedding this weekend at Campovida in Hopland, Ca. I was excited to shoot lots of special photographs at the wedding as part of the gift I was planning to give the bride and groom. After several hours of driving I realized that my fully charged camera and gear was still on my dining table at home. It took me a good hour or two to let go of this (ask Matt). It was a particular kind of torture to see photo after photo I would have taken, and then with a sigh pull out my point and shoot and hope for the best.
Don't you love the crocheted donuts for the kiddos? Shot with Canon S95
There was a gift of course in setting down my role of photographer– a different kind of presence. I could hold the jam jar of fresh lemonade during the ceremony, I could cry without looking through a viewfinder, I could have a glass of wine without wondering if we were losing the light.
I had to consider what I was really attached to. The gift I wanted to give them? My compulsion to capture beauty? My desire to be useful? Something to do with my hands if I didn’t feel like small talk? Maybe it was all of that. But I do wonder sometimes what I am missing when I have my camera. It is a balance I am very curious about and try to stay conscious of– how much (and when) does my camera bring me deeper into the moment and when does it pull me farther away? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this wise readers.
I think my favorite moment of the entire night though was when the DJ played Don’t Stop Believing. I think at least 30 of us rose up and gathered in a circle with our fists in the air, singing along at the top of our lungs. Oh, if I had only had my camera, any camera, for that one. 
Been waiting for the words to come and not finding them these days! So I offer a photo today, of my dear friend and writing teacher Laurie Wagner. It’s a been a week of little sleep, overwhelm and spontaneous tears. The kind when if anyone asks you sincerely, “How are you doing, really?” you break down.
And so I landed at Laurie’s doorstep yesterday morning, ready for us to have a workday together and instead cried and drank tea. Thank god for good friends.
waffle, the first sighting
The first sighting of the waffle. It elicited oooohhhs and aaahhhs and screeches of varying volumes.
oh god please give me that waffle
Nico then resorted to begging. This approach seemed to work fairly well.
See? See how it's done?
After taking his first few steps last week, Nico seemed to have forgotten all about walking. But inspired by his good luck with the waffle, he walked away, straight for the Zbars! his next conquest.
nico headed for Clif bars
When that didn’t work, he resorted to the telephone. An old favorite.
old faithful, the phone. Delicious.
If you’re wondering who dressed him, it was either Ben or Matt. I take no credit for the psychedelic shorts and tie dye onesie combo.
mattresses on Fell St., SF, CA
Driving in SF the other day I had to pull my car over to a screeching halt when I saw this abandoned furniture on the side of the road. Something about the way it glowed in the sun made my photographer’s heart palpitate. Just as I wondered if I was crazy, if maybe I had lived in the suburbs of Berkeley for too long and discarded furniture was starting to look exotic, I saw another photographer shooting the same decrepit old chair. I grinned to myself and as I stuck my head out of the window saw that it was one of my favorite photographer pals– cookbook author Heidi Swanson and her husband.
“Heidi!” I shouted and pulled over to say hello, waving my hands wildly.
“I was photographing that too!”
I said this in a very uncool and extremely excited away. Clearly I don’t get out much.
But this is the joy, the thrill of seeing something that delights your eye, your photographer’s heart. And the feeling that other people might share in that joy as well? Priceless.
discarded chair on Fell St. taken with my point and shoot
One of my favorite parts of the Superhero Photo class (next session begins this Monday, September 19th) are the treasure hunts. We download a PDF to print out with fortune cookie sized photo prompts (or treasures) to find. As we go about our days we look for “the mess” or the “riot of color” or the “peeling paint on a wall.” It’s a bit like bird watching, a field guide of sorts.
Discarded furniture? Check.
self portrait in the leaves, taken with my point and shoot
Do you want to capture more beautiful photos for your blog?
Take better portraits of your kids?
Learn to really use that camera?
Create a new way into joy?
Join me for this fall’s session of Superhero Photo!
