our mama calls us sweet pea

For some reason, I was very intrigued by how these colors and shapes looked out-of-focus. I suppose I liked the dreaminess that I couldn't really achieve with sharp edges? hmmm.

teaser

I mentioned doing a Suicide Girls shoot quite awhile back and it actually did go down on May 1st. This is just one of the many fantastic pictures we took. More to come.

now i'm freeeee, free-wheelin'!

mmmmm yummy yummy yummy food.

I've been volunteering with our CSA, Freewheelin' Farm, by putting together our weekly newsletter (since I can't make it down there to actually farm, sadly). It has been a ton of fun these past two weeks and I have taken pictures of both of our deliveries!

Sooo good. They pull delicious food out of the ground and then hand it to us the same day! Plus we pre-paid so it almost feels like it's free!


Week 1, from left to right: Radishes, springs of Marjoram & Thyme, Green Garlic, Stockton Yellow Onions, Arugula, Fava Beans, the best Strawberries, and Pac Choi aka Bok Choy... The flowers were from Andy's mom's wedding (where we had a good ol' time & I took plenty of pictures... for another time). I just noticed that we also got Kale but for some reason I forgot to place it in the picture -- oops!


Week 2, from left to right: Arugula, Lettuce, Red Onions, Rhubarb, little Radishes, Kale, Turnips, Lemon Verbena, Strawberries, and Bok Choy! And look, the flowers are still going strong.


A couple more:

organic dog treats!

More pictures for work!
Our account manager and her husband are starting an organic dog treat bakery business on the side. Sounds fun! And the treats are homemade and people-friendly, too--my boss said the brownies were pretty good (they use carob, not chocolate).

What do you think? Would you buy this if you were shopping and these images popped up?

living up to our name

From Iso's Suicide Girls set, So I Married An Axe Murderer.

Okay, so I have a shoot coming up that is right up your alley! And it will involve a lot of learning on my part to pull it off. My friend (we'll call her "Her" as I haven't asked permission to talk about it) wants to submit pictures to Suicide Girls. I've known about the site for ages but had never delved into the content before. I figured I'd better brush up so that I'll have a better chance of getting Her the results she wants.

I've discovered a couple things, the main being that the Girls don't just submit random sexy photos; they put thought into a theme that holds the whole set together. While I have not yet looked through a full set (it costs monies to join!), I pored over about 16 pages of set preview thumbnails and got the gist on common themes:

colors (soft pink, indigo, black bed, against red)

music videos (fiona apple's criminal, MJ's thriller)

or, more broadly, pop culture references

(kiss army, the force, alphabet aerobics)

sexy-fying otherwise innocent scenarios

(making dinner, reading the paper, going fishing)

the "gritty" stuff (violence, decay, the devil, etc)

showcasing a hobby (polaroid photos, classic cars, deejaying)

showcasing a lifestyle (veganism, lesbianism)

embracing a body part/region (belly, faces)

evoking a feeling

(unleashed, soft touches, sunkissed, warning: may cause injury)

illustrating euphemisms/dirty phrases

(pearl necklace--but with an actual necklace)

and lastly, the ones that disappoint me...

lacking creativity/washed up themes

(back to school, hot tub/swimming pool/shower)

So, I'm thinking my plan of action is 1) think of any situation, then 2) consider ways to make it sexy and 3) plan a storyboard of sorts to build suspense/a story. Any ideas? In the meantime, some examples:

Scout's Sunday Times:

Colada's Double Dribble, in homage to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air:

and Mary's humorous Gossip Girls:

happy earth day

now here's some leaves for you to munch on.

andy rides bmx

yessir, yessir.
I'm stoked on this picture -- it's from the first time I've taken pictures of Andy riding, which was last Friday (right before we enjoyed margaritas & yummy food at Acapulco! mmmmmm).

OK, so before you read any further--do me a favor! Look at this image and think about how Andy got way up there in the air. What happened before this moment? What happened after? Where did he come from, where did he go? Where did you come from Cotton-Eye Joe?

Did you think about it? Maybe write it down? Thanks!

The biggest reason I like this picture is because Andy was happy with it. I'm having trouble figuring out what elements make a bmx photo a good one. Like what information does a rider gather from an image that makes them think a trick looks sick or not?

I have been asking this question for a while and I learned a bit about it on Friday. Once I started shooting and asking questions and observing it wasn't so hard. (I think dating Andy for a long-ass time helps, too--seeing as riding is not so foreign to me anymore. but anyways!)

To answer the question "How did Andy get way up there in the air?": In this instance, he was doing a 270 table. Meaning he spun around 270 degrees and pulled his bike parallel to the ground like a table. (You might even call this one an invert but we won't get into that.)

He started by coming up that lower ramp in the front:

Did you guess that correctly?

Next he spun counter-clockwise while doing that table-y thing:


Then he finished it off going down the larger ramp on the right:


All together now!


...maybe we need to get some video up in this shit... heehee

How close did you come to guessing his actions correctly? I ask because I am pretty damn sure that no one who read this rides bmx, and I know that when I look at a bmx photo, I'm like "How the hell did that happen?" Even though I watch videos and hang out with those scumbags while they ride, I still don't know. So I'm curious. And excited to learn more by shooting! So Andy better get another trick up his sleeve soon.

three random oakland pictures

I love how moody this image is. It's a detail of "Your Future Revealed" by mosaic artist Jeannie Houston Antes. Taken at the Institute of Mosaic Art with the permission of their friendly staff who let me wander all through their building with my camera.


A 2nd-story window near Keren's house. I liked the pretty architecture, the soft light, and the monochromatic quality.


I've been reading this blog called Gluten-Free Girl, and the author's motto is "yes."
I was definitely thinking of her when I took this. Maybe I should send it to her... Anyway, I love her blog because she writes about cooking and family and experiences and living happily & even though it is geared toward those who have to -- or want to -- live gluten-free (not me, at the moment), she just has this beautiful perspective on food. She genuinely loves it. Not in a gluttonous way, but like she respects & reveres what food does for your body and she totally has fun making and eating it! She calls her husband The Chef and her new baby girl Little Bean.
adorable.

photography for work!

So I'm not getting paid for these photos, per se, but I am on the job and taking pictures!
How exciting. Now every day I am dreaming up new ways that we need a photo for our projects.



Above, a menu for an upcoming event.
And below, some shots to explain concealed wire-o binding.

d$ my honey

(click for larger image)

A quick'n'dirty 'shop using low-res images. Still getting the hang of all the nuances of Photoshop... I think a workshop or tutorial or something is in order. I darkened up the highlights in the left upper corners, they were super blown-out/white. Did alright for 10 min work, I suppose.

I also realized you can totally see my seams on Keren's dancing image. ooops!

sabrina part 2

Some images from a week ago that I finally got around to posting.
I think Sabrina misses shooting with you! ;) She always asks me, "What are you going for?!" and I'm like, "I don't know! Wear anything! Make faces!" and she says, "We should call Autumn..."

<3

bring that funky track back

Had a shoot with Keren last Saturday and a shoot with Dana on Sunday. It was fun and good practice but the long weekend away from home wore me out! I have lots to talk about but I couldn't help posting. I'll update this when I get home from work...
Also - I'm obsessed with magnolias lately. Shooting every one I see--they are so gorgeous!

Saturday Sabrina

(click for larger images)
My favorites from shooting on Saturday! We were lucky to catch a day without rain. Now it's time to plan another one...

We shot in the evening, very close to dark. Definitely need to use my tripod next time--some images that looked fine on my lcd were actually pretty damn blurry once I viewed them on a monitor.

My color correcting escapades proved my suspicions--I definitely need more practice in Photoshop. I know what I want to achieve with the images but don't know how to go about doing it well.

Also, Sabrina wanted me to tell you that she is wearing that pink ribbon you gave her! btw, I saw those images you shot where she has the ribbon twirled around her fingers--LOVE THOSE!
very cute.

any tips or suggestions? criticisms or ideas?

thanks, love!

Oh man do I luv it

hey babe. oh man do I luv what you did there. that is so fucking great. It looks super tight. =) Thanks for sharing those. made me smile. Yes I miss u very much. If u ever get a chance to come down plz do, I can rent some equipment out for us to use ( free!!) only saves us a few hundred dollars. lol.

I FINALLY did the text for my website just this minute. I suck ass at building site. I got some books about dreamweaver and flash but it is like reading a foreign language. no sense. fuck. I have to wing it I  guess. You tube has some good tutorials if only I had the internet at my house where I have dream weaver. Im such a dipshit. I have a few pics to put on here from when I hung out with that fashion photographer (my fav) again 2 days ago. so cute. 

HE SAID that in a few weeks he is coming here to shoot the Guess? jeans Fall 09 ( i think) campaign and work permitting ( they BETTER) I get to go to the shoot. Seeing as how the first work of his i saw/fell in luv with was guess jeans 2001 campaigns, this is like full circle. <3>

L.A. is very lonely and I am very very homesick and I work too much, but as u can see, there are things that make it all worth it. I luv u babe. Proud of u for shooting. Something I need to get off my ass and do. 

shutter & aperture

What's up girlie.

I LOVE this picture. Andy drew this bicycle with a blacklight pen while I held the shutter open (f-5.6). It only took him 16 seconds and this was his first try. I was like "Oh my god, you definitely know bicycles if you are able to draw a perfect one like that in the pitch black." You can see I didn't use a tripod by those fuzzy red and yellow marks... our vcr lights :)

Anyway, the reason we were playing around like this was because my sister was over and showed me her blacklight pen. I thought it would be fun to try to draw some images with a long shutter speed in the dark, and we had a blast. She drew everything from bunnies to noodle bowls, and this profound message:

"Fudge is good."
She really cut to the chase on that one.

We got my mom involved too--she drew a bumblebee:

And then I rounded out the night with a few apples in different stages of being eaten:

I ended up teaching my sister the very basics of what an aperture and shutter are made to do.
Both are features of a camera that control how much light exposes the film (or in this day, how much light reaches your sensor...)
The aperture is a hole that can be made larger or smaller to let in more or less light.
The shutter acts like a door--you choose how long to keep that door open. Leaving it open longer lets in more light; leaving it open for a very short amount of time means less light gets in.
As a photographer, you have to set the aperture and shutter to work in conjunction in order to get the right exposure.

Like I said, super basic. So in teaching her this, I realized that I have A LOT of brushing up to do. I didn't even get into how depth-of-field factors into all this (although that would be hard to explain to a 10 yr old...).

One thing I am so grateful for is to FINALLY HAVE A DSLR! I can play around with aperture and shutter speed and white balance and focusing settings and snap, Snap, SNAP! to my heart's content--and all I have to do is recharge my battery and make sure I don't fill up my memory card (not a problem so far). No trips to Long's or Bay Photo or anything! I just get to learn and review the images and delete them. I am starting to see the limitations of the equipment I have, though (which sucks because I thought the purchase of my dslr would make instantly fabulous photos...). I need to begin looking for more lighting equipment. I have a tripod but it's pretty bulky.

My goals for this moment are to plan a shoot and follow through with that. Sabrina seems to be my best bet for that because she is used to being in front of the camera. I think she will be very patient with me and plus she is just so beautiful!
I also really need to get my website up and running. It's not too expensive to own the domain but seriously, it has been empty for like 3 months. WTF AM I DOING?!?!? sheeesh.

I'd love to see you rent out some equipment from your work and get down to it! Your pics would definitely snazz-ify our site.
<3
muah!

that sounds rad

hey girlie!
i know that having to work like everyday is a bummer--but how exciting that you work for a camera equipment place! you're getting paid to learn about what you love--that is sick!
i've been thinking about trying to get a job at a photography studio. i am just so bored with my job--i manage project schedules and assist the boss and i almost never get to be creative.
i visited the link for Danielle Levitt; I've totally seen her work before! I have that issue of Paper magazine with the Osborne girl on the cover. very cool that you were able to meet her. i just looked at every picture of hers on edge--she only has like one million. I love the celebrity gallery--that the portraits are so much more than, say, a high-school-senior-type portrait. Everything in the frame is saying something. I want to take pictures like that. Keep sharing awesome links like this! You are inspiring me.

hey my main beezy

Hey Jane. I am finally in action. I will try to stay on top of it now, and update each wednesday. Let's see, first of all I went on this cruise- it was muy expensive took me 6 months to pay for bc it had a bunch of bands on it. Hanson was on the cruise. I had so much fun. wanted to stalk them but Julian was obviously jealous so I had to keep it on the down low. sucks....but it was SIIICKK!

Also, I am at work right now. My job is pretty good, been here one month now. I rent out cameras and lighting equipment to professional photographers. Some of them are amazing! It's great bc they offer me jobs to assist them every so often ( unfortunately I havent been able to take any yet bc i work 45 hrs a week). The biggest perk is that I get to rent this outrageously expensive equipment for FREE! I havent done it yet but im planning on doing a big shoot sometime this month and taking full advantage. Another great thing is that I get to learn about all this pro. equipment I didnt know existed or how to use. If you have any questions about that stuff now, I can help. =) I luv all the info. u put in the blog. I also luv cheats on photoshop and therefore will probably love lollipops. 

Another note about young accomplished photogs is that I talked to one yesterday that came into my work, her name is Danielle Levitt ( look here:www.edgereps.com/daniellelevitt.html) she has done SOooOO much and is only 35 at the MOST. Talk about jealousy over here. at our age, she was already making it ( supposedly). Also, julian's dad is a baller and he only went to one year of community college!!!! =) college didnt teach me shit-i learned myself. like u r doing.

It's funny that you had written to me the 1st time about the tilt/shift lens bc just the day before you wrote that I learned about it at work. Had no idea what it was before. 

Raphael Mazzucco is coming in to town this tuesday so Im hoping hes shooting one of the days when i dont have work....which is almost never.

How are you doing? I miss u sooo fucking much. I am so homesick and now i cant go ne where bc i have a full time job. I hope to take some time off by april. =( Are you still moving in w/ andy? how are you guys? I hope everything with u is great. I luv u so much. Hope ur Vday is GREAT!!!! oh and dont feel bad about ur website, my is waaay slow and go too.

Luv u hot bitch!!!!

-Autumn

Revisiting Tilt-Shift & Vincent Laforet

Oh also, in the Inauguration issue of People Magazine (we get it at my work), the opening photograph of the article covering the inauguration was shot in the tilt-shift style. I tried to find the image but could only find other peoples' versions (not as good).

During my search I came across Connor Studios (an interesting site I will want to check out soon), and came across the name Vincent Laforet which I remember from my earlier post regarding tilt-shift. WOW. Turns out he is a highly accomplished photographer. I was reading his resume on his website and sheesh! At my age he had already been an intern multiple times during college and was landing his first job as a staff photographer. He has not gone to school for anything higher than a Bachelor's (reassuring) but his resume is super-impressive. Also looks like he was very willing to move about the country. That's something that's a bit harder for me to think about... Anyway, he is only 33. Wonder where we wil be in 10 years!

Michael Andrew's Lollipops

Last week I was looking for some Rebel XSi tutorials online and came across MichaeltheMentor (aka photographer Michael Andrew) on youtube. Looks like he has a tutorial dvd for sale, but I will probably just stick to reading my manual for the time being.

I haven't fully explored how many different products he has for sale, but the link on his site "Pop Your Colors!" caught my attention, because I'm interested in learning how to take pictures with clear, crisp, bright colors. You know how annoying it is to look at your digital image and it seems as if a film of grey is hanging over it. UGH. So I am interested in figuring out how to prevent or cure that.

He's selling a Photoshop tool called Lollipops that works on the "cure" side of things. You should watch the video that demonstrates how to use the tool. It's really interesting; I'm certain that you could acheive the same results without buying Lollipops, but the time savings that it offers is quite enticing.

On the other hand, that still doesn't answer how to prevent that grey film while actually shooting the picture. Lollipops could definitely be used as a fix for shoddy images (a cheat, I suppose?). But I do totally respect its use in the "Greener Grass" video; it is awesome to be able to take control of that sort of inconvenience (brown grass) that would otherwise take a lot of work to fix.

I also like that future updates are free; as long as you have purchased Lollipops, every update is available for immediate download. Quite generous when you consider the hundreds of dollars needed to upgrade from Adobe CS3 to CS4...

In other news, I have my beautiful baby Rebel XSi and I am slowly but surely learning all of its features. I have some pics from Andy & Co riding bmx but will try to take better ones for my next post.

muah! love ya!