workshop!

workshop! in the mission! while I'm in san francisco for the show! graciously hosted by victoria of sfgirlbybay! and there's just no controlling my exclamation point usage! this is how excited I am! I've lost all control over rational punctuation!

moving on:

shooting through the viewfinder of a vintage camera with a digital camera is where old school brilliantly intersects with new. I first started experimenting with ttv technique back in 2006, wrote a little bit about it on ye olde blog in 2008 and taught my first through the viewfinder workshop at squam in 2009. serious fun, friends-- whether you're brand new to photography or not. in this workshop, we'll use old twin lens reflex cameras and digital cameras together to produce dreamy images with an authentic vintage aesthetic and lo-fi feel. once we've constructed the light-blocking contraptions this technique requires, we'll take our army of cameras out for a little photo walk. a photo walk in the mission, people. which is so perfect I can't even talk about it. but if you want, I can talk about it. I can talk about the color and the people and the murals and the buildings. I can talk about how in all my travels, the mission neighborhood has been one of my absolute favorite places to shoot. through the viewfinder photography plus the mission= special brand of magic.

so if you're interested in taking the workshop, here are the vitals:

date: sunday, october 24th

time: 11am-5pm

location: ferney art studios, 766 valencia street, second floor, san francisco, CA

you will need to bring:
a vintage twin lens reflex camera (i.e. kodak duaflex, argus seventy-five)

a digital camera (DSLR with 18-55mm standard kit lens or macro lens OR digital point and shoot with macro setting)

pen and paper (totally optional)

note: if you do not have a vintage twin lens reflex camera, do not freak out. they are easier to find than you might think. also, I'll have a variety of extra twin lens reflex cameras on hand for use.

cost: $75
to register, email me at hula70 [at] comcast [dot] net. I'll bill you via paypal and once I've received payment, your registration will be complete and your spot in the workshop secured. space is limited to 12 participants so if you want in on the fun, do not wait.

(extra special thanks to victoria of sfgirlbybay for organizing and hosting and to jordan ferney of oh happy day for the space-- thank you, thank you, thank you)

show!

dear people, I'm having a show. in san francisco. and I AM STOKED. built like this opens october 22nd at arkay workshop (a terrific shop in the mission) and will run through december 31st. if you're in the san francisco area, I'd love to see you at the opening! I'll be there! maybe with bells on. the wearing of bells is entirely possible given how excited I am. special thanks to mati rose for helping to make this happen and to rachel of arkay workshop for hosting. girls, I really sort of love you.

also, I'll be teaching a one day through the viewfinder photography workshop in the mission on sunday, october 24th. details to be announced here tomorrow, peeps. again, my excitement level. it is dangerously high.

self

is the word over at words to shoot by. stop by and say hello, if you like.

part three

and the last of the vacation polaroids. for a little while, anyway.

part two

wigwam village inn! our roadside stop halfway between illinois and georgia. and maybe one of the best things we did all summer long.

part one

so not the right thing to post on the first day of fall. but the parade of summer vacation polaroids, she has begun. and I'll not stand in her way.

this story begins in the middle

when I get home from a big trip, I like to let things sit for a while. I like to let things float around in my head while I settle back into the business of everyday. I put the images away and let the proverbial dust settle. I am slow to process, so slow. but I think this is because when I'm traveling, I am all the way in it. up to my elbows, up to my eyeballs, up to my everything in whatever is happening around me. and I love when I'm in it, I live for the times when I'm in it but one day mushrooms into the next and I am too close to what's happening. I can't see it, not really. it's only when I pull back that the whole thing finally comes roaring into focus.

this summer, we took a trip back home. when we do this, it's big. it's three weeks and a few different states, it's a trip that starts in the midwest, somersaults into the south and then loops back to the midwest again. it's three weeks of family and friends and home-cooked meals and hours on the road. it's spectacular thrifting and fleamarket sundays and sticky, sweaty skin. it's mosquito bites and too many cherry slushies and maybe a few arguments and definitely a few meltdowns. it's humidity so thick it can be carved, it's grandparents and swimming pools and movie nights and cousins and cornfields for days. it's backyard croquet and the sound of cicadas at dusk and overwhelming waves of nostalgia. it's everything a trip back home should be.

dear people, I'm done processing said trip home. expect a parade of images this week. starting here and now with the ladies lounge in the old chattanooga choo choo hotel. chandeliers and checkered bathroom floors, I am a sucker for such things. tennessee fell somewhere near the middle of the end of this epic trip but it feels like the perfect place to begin.

list twenty-seven: things I collect

in no particular order:

1. letters and numbers

2. more specifically, the number seven

3. found photographs

4. but especially vintage photobooth frames

5. world globes

6. souvenir pennants

7. any kind of vintage travel memorabilia, really

8. little christmas trees

9. enamel floral brooches

10. snippets of vintage wallpaper

11. wood and metal type

12. found paper scraps

13. old cigar boxes

14. vintage cameras

15. silver souvenir charms

16. suitcases from my childhood

17. and more recently, pictures of the sun

I will admit to collecting more than what is listed here. also, I would like to apologize for my overuse of the word 'vintage'. it could not be helped.

street

is the word over at words to shoot by. take a peek, if you like.

girls with cameras

I'm over at miss frecklewonder's place with a little something about girls with cameras. in case there was ever any doubt, I am a big fan of girls with cameras.

she is

awesome, that is. and I'm glad she knows it, that she's not afraid to say it. about a month ago, I gave her a plain pair of white keds and a box of fabric markers. well, and that was that. it was quickly decided that these would be the shoes she'd wear on the first day of school. a declaration of confidence, if you will. the shoelaces are from the tiny shoelace factory that lives inside city museum and I'd like to think she looks down at her feet and remembers the terrific day we spent zipping down monster slides and watching the fine people at the little shoelace factory work their magic with the spinning machines and bright-colored thread. I'd like to think she looks down at her feet when she's feeling a little unsure of herself and is instantly reminded just how awesome she really is.

unofficially official

day before school starts plus the unofficial last day of summer= so bittersweet.

list twenty-six: records I'm playing

ward came upstairs yesterday with the nina simone record album that I thought was lost forever and I wanted to lay down on the floor and cry like a baby. am wearing out the record player and this can only mean great things. currently listening to/planning on listening to:

1. nina simone/here comes the sun

2. stevie wonder/talking book

3. john coltrane/a love supreme

4. sara vaughan/tenderly

5. michael jackson/off the wall

6. xanadu/the soundtrack

7. prince/more prince records than I can even name here

list twenty-five: the best snacks in the world

I am never tired of:

1. smushed avocado on toasted sourdough

2. baby spoonfuls of lemon curd

3. frozen dark cherries

4. the white cheddar cheetos they try to call 'natural'

5. I repeat: baby spoonfuls of lemon curd