Laurie

What do you say to someone who has loved, really loved your child for the last three years? How, exactly do you thank them?

LoLo, we left a few pieces of our hearts beneath your oak tree this week. I think that they just might stay there forever…

 

I’m in Love!

…with etsy, that is. It blows me away every time I peruse it…I can’t believe the talent. I have a long list of favorite shops that I’ve been bookmarking and I promise to share it soon. Until then, though…if you love pottery half as much as I do, you must check out Utile Mud, an amazing female potter from St. Paul, Minnesota. Gorgeous wheel-thrown art with amazingly brilliant glazes and interesting color combinations. Did I mention that her work is beautifully photographed? Not that I care about such things…

My favorite part of Utile Mud’s shop is her fabulous profile, where she quotes the great Vincent Van Gogh:

“Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do…with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling”

gone fishin’…

**EDITED TO ADD: I received my first two pieces from Utile Mud in the mail on Wednesday…a red dinner plate and matching salad plate…they are even more lovely in real life!

 

Light and Fast Seminar w/ John Mireles and Jules Bianchi

I did another really cool thing while I was in L.A. last week. Two top wedding photographers from Southern California, John Mireles and Jules Bianchi, teamed up and put on the Light and Fast seminar on Thursday, which focused on off camera lighting. I loved this seminar and learned so much. Check out these two photographers, they are truly awesome.

Here is John doing an outdoor lighting demo. He was showing us how to use off-camera lighting to soften the harsh mid day sun.

There was this really cool graffiti wall just outside of the classroom.

Some students were modeling while others were holding reflectors and lights. I on the other hand, was photographing the whole scene and was no help at all!

John does quite a bit of commercial work and shared some great lighting secrets with us.

I love watching other photographers work, I learn so much and get really inspired.

And here is Jules having fun during John’s demo. She was so kind and super-cute! She reminded me so much of my fabulous pal Steph!

Jules had a really great off-camera lighting set-up that I think I’m going to try. Here she is demonstrating how to set it all up.

And then we all crowded around and looked at the results, this is why I love digital!

John and Jules, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experiences with all of us. I’ll admit that I was pretty intimidated by the concept of lighting off-camera, but you both really broke things down and made it seem doable. I loved picking your brains and asking endless questions…you guys are awesome!

 

A day of firsts

I finally did it! I took our almost 4 year old to get a proper haircut on Friday.

Pat has been pleading with me for months, saying that a once peaceful bath time has been reduced to a wrestling match. Because Pat is usually in charge of the bath routine, I scoffed at the notion that Konstandino’s hair was too long and blamed Pat’s Irish heritage. I mean, people with pin-straight hair just don’t understand the essence of curly hair and how to comb it properly…

And then I gave him a bath last week for the first time in a few months. It had been 24 hours since his last bath and dreadlocks were already forming. Note to self: never try to comb out dreadlocks. Chaos ensued and the very next day I found myself begging my hair stylist, Mary for an appointment.

Mary at Azhar Hair design in downtown Santa Cruz is so awesome. I had an art show at Azhar a few years ago and we traded a photograph for a cut. I’ve been hooked ever since. As everyone out there with curly hair knows, someone who can cut it well is a total find! So, given that Kosta has inherited my Greek curly hair, I knew that Mary was our gal. Of course, I had to bring my camera along in order to document the occasion!

This shot cracks me up! I cannot even count the times that I’ve sat in a chair not unlike this one with this exact expression on my face.

Thanks to Mary, my expressions are more like this one now.

The fabulous Mary working her magic.

Another satisfied customer.

I was worried that with the haircut, the curls would be lost forever, but apparently I was mistaken. The haircut is awesome! It is still curly and a bit wild and shaggy, but much more manageable. Pat did the bath time honors for the first time last night and said that Mary deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.

If any of my brides (or any brides, or anyone else for that matter) are looking for an awesome hair stylist for their wedding day, or just a great everyday cut, give Mary at Azhar a call: (831) 426-6334.

After the haircut, we walked over to Marini’s on Pacific Ave. and celebrated with an icecream cone. This was his first icecream cone ever!

I could not resist a cone either, so I was shooting these one-handed, cone in one hand and camera in the other. (Photographers: these last two images were post-processed with some of Jesh De Rox’s fine art textures, which I love!)

As always, thanks for checking in! I wish you all a wonderful weekend.

 

Aza at Cayuga Vault

I’m still catching up on my blogging, and definitely could not skip this one, I absolutely love these guys!

After Kim and Steve’s wedding in Aptos a few weeks ago, I stopped home to eat dinner and switch some lenses, and then headed to Santa Cruz to photograph Fattah and Mohamed’s performance at the Cayuga Vault. As always, they did not disappoint, leaving the audience completely mesmerized.

Mohamed

Fattah

The show took place at the fabulous Cayuga Vault in Santa Cruz. I love it when a venue perfectly compliments the music. Cayuga Vault offered a warm and intimate setting for this traditional and heartfelt show.

The captive audience. I love the woman dancing on the left.

Both Fattah and Mohamed donned traditional Amazigh clothing and played music from their latest album. Part of their ongoing efforts as musicians is to raise awareness of their native Amazigh (Indigenous people of Northern Africa) culture.

I was going for a vintage feel on these. There is something about this image that I absolutely love.

Fattah and Mohamed invited their Aza bandmates onto the stage for the last few songs. I have photographed these guys a few times before and it was really nice to see and hear them again.

Pete on bass:

Kevin the percussionist:

A fisheye view of so much amazing talent on one stage.

Fattah weaves humor, history, and personal stories into his song introductions. His amazing rapport with the audience is always obvious.

This image of Mohamed was shot at a nice slow shutter speed. I love action blur.

For me, this image captures the pure joy of making music. As a photographer, there is no greater gift or honor than the opportunity to capture people being themselves and doing what they love.

To learn more about Aza, check out their schedule of upcoming performances, or to purchase one of their CD’s, visit their website: azamusic.com.

Fattah, Muhamad, Aza, and Diane: Thank you for having me. Words cannot express how much I loved being present for this awesome performance. You guys are just amazing! Thank you also to the wonderful staff at Cayuga Vault for their warm welcome.

 

Steph’s Etsy Page

I was thinking about something the other day and had an epiphany…

Although it sounds like something that should have occurred to me years ago, it strangely just hit me. I was thinking about the individuals who make up my close circle of friends, both nearby and far away, and I realized that this circle is virtually entirely made up of artists. Obvoiusly, this was not intentional. I mean, I’ve never used being an artist as criteria for friendship. It just seems to have evolved this way. For whatever reason, my community of friends includes painters, actors, comedians, potters, writers, musicians, and other photographers. I’m constantly inspired by these pals and their work, and watching them has definitely helped me to push myself as an artist, to see the world differently, and to take risks with my artwork and in my life.

With all of this said, I’ve decided to feature one of my incredibly talented friends here on my blog each month. I love the idea of this blog being a resource for artists. A place for us all to learn about and to share our work with one another.

So, I’ll kick the month of March off with my friend Steph. As college roommates, Steph and I both detested what we were studying. Together, we sought solace in late night art projects…perhaps nothing worthy of museum walls, but art projects none the less…When Steph scrapped her business major and started taking drawing classes through the art and design college, I was insanely jealous and inspired at the same time. Since her graduation, most of her jobs have involved creativity in some capacity, although she never quite got over painting, her very first love.

I am so happy and proud that Steph has picked up the paint again, the world is a better place with her paintings and color palette in it! Here are a few samples of her work. I snagged these images from her web page (with her permission, of course!)

“Standout” Acrylic on canvas. She has been having fun with abstract work lately…

“Sweet Ocean” Acrylic on canvas.

“Circleville” Acrylic on canvas. One thing that you can always count on in Steph’s work: lots of color!

“Today” Acrylic on canvas. My absolute favorite of her current body of work. I am completely in love with the texture in this painting…

Beautiful work Steph, I love it!
To see more of Steph’s work, check out her web page: enjoythesunshine.etsy.com