I Make-A Your Band Famous...

So, those of you that know me know that I work with teens, big-upping the youth and so forth. A few months back we decided to host a "band showcase" night featuring a few Jr. High Schoolers from my program. These kids rock. AND they're not complete assholes which is a rare combo when you're dealing with 14 year olds that have groupies. I took this opportunity to take a few "band" shots with them so I would have some pictures for flyers and such. These are some of the goodies...

The Side Projects:

The Makings Of A Blog...

Helloooooo blogosphere! This is my first entry in hopefully many posts about my reluctant journey back into the world of photography. I loved it...I lost it...now I just find it kinda sexy. I'd like to think of my forays into photography as a sort of artistic booty call. Always there when I need it, quietly waiting when I don't. No regrets in the mornin'...

I started taking pictures, as most girls do, in high school (pictures of feet & lawn chairs, that sort of thing). Turns out I was ok at it so I kept it up in college, where I surreptitiously dropped out to go to art school. I love darkrooms. There is something undeniably cathartic about developing something beautiful from scratch & I fell in love with every bit of the process. I rolled my own film... agitated every 30 seconds...mixed the chemicals & single handedly ruined countless pairs of wooden tongs.

Now in them there days we didn't have no "digital" cameras...we had to WAIT to see how our pictures looked. But after a while I started to watch the world of instant gratification rise up around me & it was no longer kosher to love "the process". I dabbled in Senior portraits, weddings & the like but could never keep up with pace or pressure. It took the joy out of it for me. So I stopped...found other things to satisfy my creative itch.

I watched the Pentax get dusty while I painted or glued until I finally decided to give digital a shot. At this point I was so far behind the times I had no hope of feeling "professional"...where the hell is the f-stop ring on this thing?! Why do I have to adjust the white balance?! It wasn't pretty. Very caveman meets cell phone. Maybe if I shake it real hard it will do what I want. Notsomuch....turns out.

What saved my photographic soul in the end was the realization that my long lost darkroom wasn't lost after all...it had just evolved into something far cooler. EDITING. Ohhhh I love to edit! I love taking kick-ass photos then making them awesomer (new word). It doesn't get any better than that. Now that I have this new found curiosity I have decided to post my findings & tomfoolery on this blog.

I'm always open for tips & ideas...models...designers...whatever. Bring it.