Pre-Wedding stroll through Balboa Park

First off, congratulations to the happy couple, Madison and Tony, who tied the knot last Thursday! We started off our session in the parking lot, I sat up the black back drop because Madsion had requested double exposures! My heart swelled. So I loaded the Canon IIe with Kodak Gold for the film shots and for digital I used the 6D as always. I was so excited they included their pup, who was an absolute treat to work with. As always I’m just sharing some of my personal faves from our hybrid wedding session. Really needed this kick of romance after the LONG forced hiatus. So much love between the two.

Mother's Day on Portra 800

The night before Mothers Day I put out a call on our neighborhood FB page to anyone open to having a free portrait. I’ve been seeing all these posts by photographers for “porch-traits” and well in our military duplexes we don’t really have porches. So I thought if people were willing to come out to their driveways or side walks, I’d hop on my bike, throw on a mask and snag some family portraits for folks in my hood. Plus I had a roll of Portra 800 burning a hole in my pocket.

As I started I only anticipated taking a quick two shots of each family, but as I had a few participants drop out last minute toward the end I had may more spare frames than I planned for which in the end was okay because the last couple of families had something up their sleeves.

And for the finale, two moms whose kids didn’t see this coming.

And lastly, thank you to Becky who snagged a couple shots of my crew minus the husband. Mothers Day was weird but not bad, could be coming around to the new normal.

Thank you to those families who shared your mothers day with me.

Photo info:

Portra 800 (35mm) on Nikon F100, most shot a 3.3-4

Images were shot on cloudy evening between 6:30-7:30pm

Dev/Scan: Safelight Labs (medium resolution)

I Shoot Film Series by Hugo Meza Soto

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to be a subject in my friend Hugo’s film series called “ I Shoot Film!” In his series he interviews different film photographers with varied styles and philosophies here in Southern California. You can find the series on IGTV and Youtube. For our shoot, we shot some in studio stuff at Safelight Labs with model, Amanda Lusso. For the shoot I used a Nikon F100 with Portra 400 and Lomo 100. Below the video I will share some of my favorite images from the shoot.

San Diego Womens March 2019- Ilford Pan F 50

The six you like…

So this was my first time shooting Pan F, this roll has probably been sitting in a shoe box for 3-5 years. I just didn’t know what to use it for or when. I figure the harsh light could make for nice shadows. Shooting marches in midday sun is already a challenge, trying to find natural reflectors or shooting with moderate back light. Its really easy to not get the exposure right especially in the heat of a moment with constant changes. The slow down method isn’t really always an option. I’ve included “my six” above, but also included a variety of other images, some poor composition and less great metering for range purposes. See also: journalism purposes

Camera: Nikon F100

Developed: The Darkroom

Scans: @nictone

Event: San Diego Women’s March

Baltimore Drag Awards- Fuji Natura 1600

Shooting my first roll of Fujicolor Natura 1600, I decided to save it for a special occasion. At the conclusion of the Baltimore Drag Awards, performers, friends and families pour out of the Creative Alliance theater to wait for their cars to take them to their respective homes/after parties. I attempted to grab as many portraits as I could in those few minutes. I shot the film at box speed on Nikon F100, most at 1.8 not recalling the shutter speed but I try not to go below 125. Developing and scans:The Darkroom

When I bought the roll it was about $20/roll. I bought one for me and one for a friend. Now I am wishing I had purchased more because I love the colors, and the price per roll has since increased (at least on amazon). I decided to share ALL portraits taken, the underexposed, the overexposed and the il-cropped. The good,the bad, and the ugly. FEAST YOUR MFing EYES.

As always thank you to the drag community of Baltimore for always stopping to let me snag a photo. You all are the best!

The long road home

A visual journal of our move from Maryland to California.

This post contains only 35mm images shot on Canon AE-1 Program

First roll- Lomography 100

Second Roll- Lomography 400, metered as 100 (overexposed) and pulled one stop.

Chloe hates looking at the camera.

Elijah dealing with the heart break of saying goodbye to his friends as we wait across the street from his school.

If you are wondering about the light leak and this "first of the roll" image, I opened the back of the camera because I couldn't remember what I was shooting.

This is my childhood basketball court in White Plains, KY.

Arizona?? Wanted to capture the strange brown cloud, was surprised even with the overexposure, you can still see it.

Hubby taking a photo of me at Salvation Mountain because I have waited like 8 years to go.

Goodbyes are disposable

see-you-later's are semi-permanent

disposable camera photos from the going-away parties with the 202 Film Collective, Baltimore party at the Crown, Anniversary & Holiday parties at Barley and Hops.

Glitterball- NYE in Baltimore

Sadly the Glitterball would be the last drag show I photographed before leaving the east coast. Got to see my friend and amazing queen Baby co-host a show with Venus. It was a fantastic show in a small Italian venue. The five queens gathered in a tight bathroom for a dressing room, proving something we have always known and that is, the glamorous side of show biz is often created in the least glamorous places. Or that glamour is a state of being, not so much a lifestyle to be obtained.

From small bathrooms to large stages, and if there are no stages we will make our own. The thing I learned about Baltimore is a show can happen anywhere, I also should have learned this in my fashion show days. A restaurant, a bar, a night club are all fine stages so long as the crowd came to have a good time and be entertained.

And entertained they were.

These bitches swang from chandeliers, dropped splits on the concrete floor, and gave strip teases to resurrect, give you life and then slay. you. again.

The real reason I fell in love with Baltimore Drag and Burlesque and really all things Baltimore Variety is really at the heart of what I consider Baltimore. Its gritty, and dirty, fabulous and flirty, raw sexuality and political commentary. There is always something new to be seen, new song to be heard, a new way to perform a routine, another envelope to be pushed.

Thumbing through 2017s photos of performances, I know one thing: I will be back.

And as if Baltimore needs any help being gritty, I will bring along a disposable camera to provide pop flash and 90s nostalgia.

You can probably hear my heart-break and mourning in my words. San Diego is truly beautiful, but I haven't been here long enough to meet "my people" yet and there is something about Baltimore that made me feel like "these are my people" with almost everyone I got the chance to meet. The blood through that town is dark and riddled with history that hurts and the life is creative and bent on creating a new history that heals.

So blessed to have rang in the new year, watching these creative do their thing.

Indisposable Concept

The whole idea of the Indisposable Concept is to get rid of all the bells and whistles and rely solely on creativity and composition. We get so used to all the cool tricks we can do with all our fancy settings and photo shopping or "fixing in post" type of mind set. Also you get really used to shooting 500 frames a shoot.

With most disposable cameras you get 24 shots, and while there are higher end versions equipped with nice films, underwater bodies and even zoom lenses, all three times I have shot for this project I have used whatever camera was the cheapest at the local drug store.

Most of the time when people shoot for this project it is mostly travel photography, but IC has a portrait series going on. For this project I shot my cellist friend Kelsea, in Beaufort SC.

I have shot Kelsea many times before I knew she played cello. On IC for the project you only get 24 words to describe which can be difficult because people are so complex. Kelsea is a girl I connected with through a military spouse page when I first started shooting again and was looking for people who had modeling experience or at the very least were interested in fashion. Kelsea is a Black Milk-aholic and she had these really cool leggings with sheet music on them. We wanted this shoot to represent both the girl, the clothing and the music. It was much harder than it sounds!

I think the funniest thing of all, is the disposable camera used to be my favorite thing in the world. There was nothing I loved more that my crazy party pictures, interesting faces and places and just pure memory on film. And now shooting with a disposable has to be so thoughtful because we are so spoiled with our idea of endless frames, you forget how quickly or how long 24 frames can last. Most of the people who do this project, do so with the guideline of 24 frames/week.

Its the documentation aspect of our lives that used to be printed instead of captured on a phone never to be seen or always to shared via social media.

Anyways, this is a project for EVERYONE. You are encouraged to share your world in 24 frames. You can develop your roll locally and email you images in with the info pack or you can ship the camera all the way to Australia. I have done both and it is actually cheaper to do it locally that to ship. Check it out and if you do this post a link in the comments. I am nosy and want to see your life!

You can check out the full roll here:

http://indisposableconcept.com/2015/05/11/starla-l-roll-3-ic-portrait-series/

#TBT First SLR

My first SLR wasn't even mine.

Truth be told, my go to camera of choice like everyone else in the late 90's to mid 2000's was a disposable camera. At less that $3 for processing and FREE double prints (which means two of each print) it was an affordable option to get those awesome party pics, you know back before they had cell phones with cameras.

As a teen I never thought much about photography other than for documentation purposes or for like portraits and comp card (model business cards) photo session. I was REALLY into video, making bad skate videos, editing together my random road trips to Kentucky, friends rock shows, and truly epic party moments. [insert clip of little brother wearing contractor stilts with beer in one hand and a cig in the other trying to run on gravel]

After high school and while many of my friends were in their senior year I gained access to my mothers old SLR (Canon Rebel of some sort) when she thought the back latch broken and she got a new camera. All my friends were into the high school photography program and the assignments always seemed like fun, I found myself out and shooting with my friends in the park at night and grave yards at various times... because you know... that was cool.

Along with our laughable ideas of what to photograph for meaning and depth was my idea of a good photo. The following images were my ideas on art, sports, macro, portrait and self portrait circa 2004-2005.