1400

Today is my fourteen hundredth photo-of-the-day and I wrote in my journal "1400 and I couldn't be bothered. It's 10:30 PM and I am off to bed."

To put 1400 into a little perspective, that's 3.84 years worth of days (in 4 years plus 2 months). Shown here is the 5 year journal that I got for Christmas where you write just a little line or two every day for five years so that at the end, on each page, you'll know what you were doing each year before. Only I'd still have 425 more rectangles to write in at this point in the journal.

By the way, this was probably my favorite Christmas gift. It comes from Levenger and I highly recommend it. I will be almost 37 when I finish it so you get your money's worth.

Untitled

Inside Joke

Rant

A very odd day of running nearly-unsuccessful-errands. The first was to go to the camera store to see about a softbox. I don't really like the camera store here. I was going to say hate, but that seems a bit too strong. I really really miss B&H in NY. Here, they have this really strange way of always trying to upsell you (which I understand from a business perspective) while trying to act like they care as little as possible about you, what you're looking for, or your business. I am looking for a small softbox with the following requirements in order of importance: small, easy to put together/setup, under $500. There should be tons of options. The guy kept insisting what I wanted was an Elinchrome 39" octabox. While it meets 2 out of 3 of my requirements, it doesn't mean the first and most important one: small. How many times can you tell someone "small" or "that's too big" or "I need it really small" or "I work in small rooms" or "It needs to fit in my car" or "I already have a bunch of 3x4' softboxes that I would be using in this situation if I wanted to use a 3x4' softboxes" before they get it through their heads? I repeatedly kept asking about the 29" one they had hanging from the ceiling and he acted as if I had just asked if I could perhaps use a piece of cheese or create one out of string. It was like he couldn't understand at all why I would want a 29" one that was open and on display when I could have the 39" one that was in a box where I couldn't see it! There, that's my rant...there was also an amusing visit to an actual physical (but soon to be extinct) pro photo lab here in town to get some prints made for my sister. But, I only have energy for one rant today.

Blur

These days have been a bit on the you-know-your-desperate-for-a-photo-when side...but sometimes that's ok. I am proud of myself for at least trying to keep it up every day even if it means something crap gets posted.

Blah

I bought a couch off craigslist today from a guy who lived in this building. I took this while I was waiting. I thought I had taken other photographs today but apparently I didn't. Camera phone to the rescue for the first time!

The Photographer's Dilemma II

Needless to say, this isn't it EITHER. This is what J could achieve under my direction (and that I photoshopped into some resemblance of being cool). This is nothing like the portrait I envisioned in my mind, which will never come into existence.

The Photographer's Dilemma

We were getting ready to go out on a long walk and I put my hat on in the mirror. Instantly, I saw a portrait. I could see it in my mind exactly the way I wanted it to look. Alas...

Needless to say, this isn't it, since I couldn't shoot it myself.

I am realizing I need a better self-portrait solution...

Here we are again

Well, here we are again. or still I should say. Back in December I was hoping that it a month later, there would be progess. There is none and now perhaps there's even some regression. There's been a lot more cat-toilet-related photographs than I ever thought I would take but that's representative of what life has been like around here for the past month. Things are not going well. Mushroom is rebelling and I don't know why. Fergus is clearly retarded.

Toilet Face

I had an explanation for this, but now I think I will just let it be.

Kale Salad

Tonight's effort consisted of putting the bowl of our dinner on the floor, standing over it, and shooting. Wow. Recipe: - 1 cup uncooked organic wild rice - 1/2 cup olive oil - 1/2 cup lemon juice - 1 teaspoon minced garlic - 1 teaspoon salt - 1 teaspoon black pepper - 1/2 bunch organic kale - 1/2 bunch organic chard - 1/2 diced red bell pepper - 1/2 diced yellow bell pepper - 1/2 thinly sliced fennel bulb - 1 bunch green onion, chopped - 1/2 cup chopped parsley Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Salt the water (if desired) and add rice. Bring back to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 60 to 65 minutes. When the water is absorbed, remove from heat and let cool. Meanwhile, make the dressing by whisking together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. When the rice is cool, toss with dressing. Remove tough stems and ribs from greens and chiffonade. Combine with peppers, fennel and green onion. Just before serving, toss veggies with dressed rice.

Secret Beach

About a year ago, after we moved to the new place, I heard about a secret little beach that's hidden away. Only neighborhood locals know it's there. Why it has taken me an entire year to track down a reliable and enticing lead like that, I can't say!?! Today, with a little bit of afternoon sunshine, we went. It is hidden, small, and just lovely if your top goals are basking in the sun and listening to the waves. I loved this very obviously hurried and unplanned shot so much that I didn't even change the in-camera crop.

20mm

So, I know that close up portraits with a wide angle lens aren't exactly flattering (for humans) but sometimes the life of a photographer's spouse involves sacrifice when the original plan didn't turn out well. We went to Cafe Besalu for celebratory morning croissants and coffee.

Tattoo (Part V)

Done! (For the day). It took about 3.5 hours of tattooing to do the entire outline, except for the compass which will be added next time. He didn't get to put in all the cross hatching yet either but he won't need the stencil for that next time. He cleaned my arm of all the ink and I went to check myself out. Despite how I look here, I was completely BEAMING, which lasted for about two full weeks.  He slathered ointment on me and bandaged my arm which mostly felt warm...kind of like a sunburn as I've heard people say, but not really that bad.

This is just the beginning. It's only about 25% done here and will be filled in and full color many months from now. Summary: totally awesome. I can see why people get hooked. There's something really cool about actually being tattooed (as in, having the needle on you) that's hard to explain but I actually enjoyed the entire process.

Since we drove down to Portland early this morning, and didn't spending the night, we left town and stopped at The Outback Steakhouse in Vancouver on the way back.  I was craving a big fat steak and my family's old celebration spot seemed like the perfect way to round out this day.

Tattoo (Part IV)

Almost all done here, it's been about 2 hours and 15 minutes at this point, we stopped for a break. The purple lines are the stencil that haven't yet been gone over with the tattoo gun. The black lines are completed tattoo ink. We still had yet to do the two most painful parts of the whole thing. See that little pink swirl right above my armpit? That (and it's corresponding one on the back) was the most painful part. Again, it was somewhere along the lines of slightly squinting and slightly gritting my teeth while thinking, "Ok, I am glad the whole thing isn't like that." The only way I can think to describe the feeling is to explain my reaction to it.

Tattoo (Part III)

Right before he started, he simply said, "OK, you ready?" and I was like "I guess" and I braced myself for what I thought would be really really bad pain. I waited, assessed, and about 5 seconds in I said, "Is that it? Is that what it feels like?" He said "Yep, some parts might be a little more sensitive than others but that's basically it." and I was like, "Seriously? That doesn't seem so bad." I kept things in reserve though since I didn't know how 5 minutes compared to 3 or 4 hours. There was the potential that right now it was just excitement and adrenaline that was making it seem not so bad. But really, I talked to J, I sipped coffee and tea and water, I chilled in the chair. The hardest part for me was sitting as still as I possibly could. Occasionally, I would have to grit my teeth a little bit for like 3-5 seconds and that was not so bad.  The nerves beforehand were the worst part, and would prove to be for each session.

Tattoo (Part II)

This is the last picture ever taken of me without my tattoo.

I sat in the chair while he got everything ready. He cleans, hangs up the drawing for reference, preps the ink and the guns (which they make themselves - totally awesome!), creates a stencil from the drawing which he then transfers to my arm. Since we made a change to the stencil, and to fit some of the lines better after it was put on my arm, he used a marker to hand draw the changes.

Once the drawing was on my arm, it was time to go!

In Which I Finally Blog About My Tattoo

So, I am finally writing about my tattoo in July 2011. I didn't post anything about it in the beginning for the usual reasons: I was busy, and it was a secret and I didn't want my mom finding out on my blog or on Facebook. But now that my mom knows I think it's time to write about my tattoo a bit.

The first session was January 14th, 2011. I have been thinking about getting a tattoo since I was about 16 years old, really thinking about getting a tattoo in the last 3-4 years, and thinking about getting THIS tattoo specifically for a little over a year now. If I had blogged last year, I would show you the images days when J and I had talked about it, when I had my consultation on October 2nd, when the ideas started to formulate. But some of you might remember this image from 2008 that is one of my favorites, so much so that I made it the banner of this blog. That was the original inspiration.  If I ever go back to that house and it's still there, torn, I am going to have a very hard time not stealing it.

On January 14th, after only having one conversation and a few emails exchanged, we drove to Portland with no idea of what was about to happen and got to see this drawing for the very first time. I think it's weird not to see your drawing before you get the tattoo but since this is my first I am not sure if that's how it usually is. J and I sat down at a table alone for a few minutes and looked at the drawing, tried to process how big it was, and talked about it. It wasn't love at first sight, but nothing in my life ever has been. I had envisioned much more ocean and water. And I remember my exact words being that it looked a little too "cheerful". I asked the artist about making any changes like changing the ratio of water to ship and adding a star to it (which he flat out refused to do, fairly enough since stars are overdone and it would ruin his design) but with almost any change would require a new drawing. In the end, we made one change, taking off the rosette at the top because I thought it looked "too girly". We changed the rosette to a classic nautical compass. Later, that's probably a decision I regret since I should have just left it to the hands of my very talented artist and it would look beautiful.

But anyways, this is the first look we got at the drawing and we both thought it looked way too enormous. The artist took me over to the mirror and wrapped this piece of paper around my arm and it fit beautifully. You just can't judge by how it looks flat on a piece of paper.  I was surprised at the small curls that came down past my elbow at the bottom of it but now they are my favorite part.  This drawing was really made to fit my body, every curve of my arm, from just a few small measurements that he took of my arm back in October.  I signed off on it and got ready to do it!

Outtakes

Here are some funny outtakes for you. The camera was set to keep shooting every couple of seconds until I told it to stop.

Portrait

I did get this lovely portrait of Fergus.

Adorable

This is not at all what I planned on shooting today, but honestly, how could I resist? This cat is the cutest thing in the whole world. He came in to my office and sat on the stool while the studio was set up so I just had to photograph him. Whenever I walked close to him though he would stand up on his hind legs, reach up to me, and try to kiss me. He got me pretty good in this shot though. It's just about his third birthday so I suppose this will be an early observance. We are very glad he came to live with us.

Round

Sorry, too busy around here! J worked until 11 PM since he's swamped and I am trying to help out by cooking, cleaning, laundry, running errands, etc. Toilet training the cats on top of all that meant a day of wiping up cat barf and cat urine. So, this is all you get today. Soon I too will curl up in a tiny ball on the bed and go to sleep.

Circus

I had to take the worst lamest and most mundane photos of my house and my office today to include with an application for a work thing (to prove I work at home). While I was out in the yard being extremely non artsy, I decided to at least snap the shadows and reflections that are always calling to me.

Dusting

We got just a beautiful little dusting of snow early this morning, but it was all melted by 11:30 AM. I am really craving a snow storm! A couple of days bundled up in the house with J while it was all pretty and white and cold outside would be a lovely thing. (my apologies to my New York blog readers)

Steak

I took exactly one frame today and this was it. It was delicious though. We also had kale salad and sweet potato fries. Yum!

Happiness

Fergus, in absolute ecstasy on his dad's lap. He loves him so much! We had friends T&M over for a dinner of "chicken baguettes", a recipe that we have been hyping up for a while. It was delicious. We make the baguettes ourselves (but you could buy them), we roast tomatoes in the oven with oil, salt and pepper for a few hours (you probably should do this part yourself because it's kind of what makes this recipe), and we marinate chicken strips in yogurt and then bread them in a mixture of breadcrumbs, parmesan, rosemary, lemon zest.

Orchid, Right on Time

A year ago today, this same orchid was blooming and was photographed. I was impressed that it bloomed at the exact same time one year later.

Coffee Shop

I was meeting two friends for coffee this morning when one of them says, "I know it's Seattle and I love dogs and all, but don't you think that's taking it a little too far?" This adorable dog was sitting up on a bar stool at the counter and he became my photo.

Door Knob

Tonight I discovered, after living here for a year, that the inside door knob to the bathroom is silver and the outside door knob to the bathroom is brass. That's what wandering around the house at 10 pm because you haven't taken a photo of the day yet will get you. It "forces you to look slightly differently at the mundane", as a photographer friend says.

Mushroom

Just a cat in a laundry basket kind of blipday. Still recovering from a rough weekend and trying to ease back in to work by doing laundry instead.

Rough Day

We had a bit of a rough day. I am coming down off my extreme high from photographing the birth combined with extreme exhaustion and it got the better of me today.

New Year

We had a super low-key New Years Eve and New Years Day. Just the two of us on the couch, basically. We did get out for a walk this afternoon...mostly because I was desperate for a photo of the day. I usually try to do something nice for New Year's Day but I am feeling totally uninspired by photography lately. I feel as if I've shot absolutely everything. Even though I know that's not possible.