these shots are from my dad's mamiya that i've been playing with off and on. it's a beautiful medium format slr and in many ways functions similar to my 35mm pentax, but the shots have so much more information on them. it's very heavy to carry around and it makes me sad to take 16 shots and be done with a roll. i've been spoiled off of 36 shots. at any rate, i am lucky to have a completely different camera to play with when i want to.

tomorrow is election day here in the states and it's a big race for washington state. our successful and wonderful u.s. senator of long tenure is opposed by someone with a lot of money backing them. the race is close and i'm hoping that washington state knows the importance of health care, schools, women's rights, veterans rights, small businesses and protected land for wildlife. it's scary out there. vote vote vote!

take a look at this beautiful video: i remember, so i'm voting

summer is rushing along

 

sometimes it is hard for me to come back to this space after the weekend. during the week it is a place of regeneration and inspiration, but then i take a few days away and forget how to come back. i find i just have to hold my breath and dive in.

today is a black and white sort of day. i am reflective and quiet and thinking about mid-summer. i get so nervous for summer to fly by without me taking full advantage of it. but i will, and i have. my party on friday was everything i hoped it would be. lots of ladies hanging out in my back patio with good drinks (the leland palmer and hard limeade) and good fresh food. this weekend we had a day trip and a big family gathering.

i have to share with you these words i read by my friend, shari. this is just how i've been thinking lately...

summer is rushing along like the creek that runs through the center of my village. i keep meaning to stop and photograph it. the creek, that is. if only we could photograph the rushing of time.

cafe flickr group

hi friends! i'm just stopping in today to say--inspired by the great response to my cafe series--i have started a flickr group called the best kinds of cafes. i hope you will join me in sharing your coffee photos there. anything coffee shop related goes: coffee, cafe interiors, yummy baked goods, sandwiches, pastries...
i know you've got some good ones!
i'll see you over there.
hope you have a wonderful weekend.

and right now...

"And right now in this country, magazines, newspapers, and bookstores are drowning polar bears. And if people can't see that or don't want to talk about it, I don't understand them at all." 

-sherman alexie in an interview with mother jones 

today i had the pleasure of hearing sherman alexie speak. ever since i saw his segment on the colbert report where he disparaged the disconnect between those who want to eat local but don't think about shopping locally, or the "local value of a book," i've been tracking his work and reading through a lot of his books.

sherman alexie is one of the few authors who has made the choice to not allow his books to be published in digital format. i realize most authors don't even get a choice on this matter and that makes sherman's choice all the more powerful. he is an author with a long career and many many awards, he uses his clout and sway and he chooses to defend the importance of books and therefore all the jobs and infrastructure that surround them. thank you, sherman.

beyond being publicly bold and brave, he is also an amazing thinker and storyteller who, in his fiction, embraces contradictions, is unafraid to talk about real hard issues, is unafraid to to be honest. i just finished his new book, war dances and his national book award winning the absolutely true diary of a part-time indian. next is another short story collection of his, ten little indians. a list of all his publications is here, as well as more about who sherman alexie is.

black and white yashica: 3

 

the end of black and white week! and we are ending with my favorite--the top photo.

this weekend i am going to:

sleep in

hang pictures on my wall

walk a lot

have a second dinner club with friends

take pictures

show you my new camera

add more items to my shop

think about gifts for the holidays.

 ***

and, to leave you with lots of prettiness, some gifts i've already started thinking about:

sandra's cupcakes for the friend with a sweet tooth

typography notecards for the font loving friends

cut and paste poster for crafty folks. (shop here)

a beautiful recipe card as a small classy gift

a hostess gift

and an awesome polaroid drawing for me!

black and white yashica: 2

more from my accidental black and white roll. these ones seemed to me like they are from another time. (except for the cars in the first photo. i tell you it is hard not to get everyday cars in my shots, i may have to start embracing them).

i went to my grandma's house last night--she has the neatest stuff that i keep re-noticing with my adult eyes. i will have to go over there with my camera sometime and photograph all the little tidbits. and speaking of camera...well, there may be a surprise addition coming soon! stay tuned.

black & white yashica: 1

i'm a little embarrassed. i shot a whole roll of film in my yashica, thinking it was color. i went to the park, took pictures of the auburn and orange and yellow leaves, shot a great vintage car with a rich green color...all for me to show up at my friendly photo lab and hear them say "did you say color? we are 99% sure this is black and white film." hah!

so an adventure in black and white it is. i showed you some of my holga black and white experiments, but i hadn't yet breached the 35mm b&w realm...at least i hadn't knowingly taken that step. but here i am with 36 developped b&w images. and, you know, some of them are quite good. i think i'll have to show you them throughout the week.

and hey---aren't unexpected moments like these part of the reason i shoot film, anyway?

october 30

i'm so happy it is friday! the other night i made caramel apples with a friend. we stirred up a deep, dark caramel and dipped the apples in them. once the caramel was set, we decorated the apples with anything and everything from dark chocolate, toasted almonds, coconut, chocolate nibs, white chocolate, more caramel, cocoa nibs, milk chocolate shavings, sea salt and orange sprinkles (for that halloween flare). delicious.

i have no big plans for the weekend, but if i do end up celebrating halloween i think i will be her. i do, however, have big plans for next week and updated news on my photo shop. until then, or before if i feel the inspiration...

a list for the evening

hello there. i don't feel like i have much to say recently. i hope that's okay. instead, maybe i'll make a list.

1. wendell berry has a new book of poems out, called leavings. i have yet to open it, but i'm quite excited.

2. i'm reading this right now and having a hard time with it. while i'd rather disagree with the new york times' bad review and more agree with the stranger's view, i still can't seem to sit through the book. at any rate, i'm hosting an author event with jonathan lethem at the sunset tavern and can't wait. who cares if i don't like the book, he's still an american literary fiction icon.

3. i would put this up in my house.

4. i may have started tweeting...maybe...you can find out here. yikes.

5. listening to a conversation on the state of publishing.

hope you are well

my first black and white roll

hello there. just stopping in while i have a chance. i am cleaning out my old house and taking advantage of the free internet while i do so. these photos are crazy, right? so my first black and white roll that i put into the holga was also the first roll where my holga started to break down. if any of you out there know about medium format plastic camera photography, you will understand when i say--i saw the foam roll by in the advancing window. and when i was done with the roll, the foam (you know, that backs the spool where you put the 120 film?) from both sides of the camera was rolled up into the film! my lovely local professional photography lab, panda lab, saved the day and unwound my film in a light sealed space to retrieve the foam. surprisingly, this is the worst of what came out. it could have been completly exposed to light. oh, how i love you film.

beyond the weird light leaks, i don't quite know what to say about this roll. i have to admit, that i know nothing about black and white photography. my dad would look at the tonalities and i know that the tones are pretty dull and there isn't much contrast, but i thought it is best to post them as is. as a diary of my first black and white roll.

enjoy...

p.s. thanks for all the comments on "a nice day," i am so excited to meet some of you new people and to see people who haven't commented here before.