c.m. photography

Moving!

2009-12-20T23:16:00.003-07:00

I'm moving up in the world to a new blog attached to my new website. There's lots of new stuff over there so go check it out!

BLOG

The website is up and running as well, many thanks to the lovely Gloria Pak, who did the design, and James Winegar, who built the site.

CLAIREMARIKA.COM!

P.S.: We're still working out a couple of things on the website, so don't try to download a price sheet or access my proofing site.

alice lane

2009-11-30T20:14:00.003-07:00

i've been shooting this lovely little home decor store over the past couple of weeks. it's gorgeous in there! go check it out, seriously.

fishbowl

2009-11-11T17:26:00.002-07:00

another d.i. object

grace

2009-11-09T18:43:00.002-07:00

so i've decided to take my personality project in a slightly different direction. instead of trying to represent a million personality traits in the photo, we've decided to focus on just one. this one was grace. more to come soon!

procrastination is an art

2009-10-26T18:23:00.003-06:00

the 6 page paper i have due tomorrow notwithstanding, i've managed to spend the past couple of hours chatting on the phone, reading blogs, shopping for boots online (snow tomorrow!), thinking about what to do over Christmas break, and fighting the strange urge i have to sew (i don't even own a sewing machine) a less girly version of this quilt for my first nephew
clark (born this morning.)

so before cranking up the classical music (it helps me focus) and getting to work on that paper, i thought i'd top off my procrastinatory activities with another shot from my d.i. series.

a lamp

2009-10-26T17:09:00.002-06:00

dear d.i.,
thank you for providing me with this most hideous lamp as well as inspiration for my latest project.
sincerely,
claire

how fitting

2009-10-19T22:47:00.004-06:00

i don't want to be a blog complainer, but i just couldn't resist since my bad day had alot to do with a graphic design midterm that was heavy on typefaces (and flat bike tires and missed lunches and botched shoots).

i do have some real photos to post soon though.

and you can check out more of these funny cards here.

linda the cupcake queen

2009-10-09T16:37:00.002-06:00

so i'm doing a series where i'm playing with ways of representing people's personalities through hair/makeup and styling.

this was my first shoot.

linda loves travel, spaghetti, stars, baking, and music.

i love fall

2009-10-08T08:06:00.003-06:00

summer used to be my favorite season. i guess that's kind of inevitable when you live somewhere where summer lasts all year. i've been in utah for five years now though, and i think fall is getting to be a contender. the season isn't in full swing down here in the valley yet, but i managed to zip up to montreal, canada last weekend to visit my dad, my grandparents (who were visiting from france), and my oldest friend celine. we went for a walk out in the laurentide mountains and the colors were so beautiful! it made me want to livin in a cabin on a lake and travel by red canoe...anyway, these are the photos i took.

fresh from the garden

2009-09-21T19:09:00.001-06:00

i planted a garden for the first time this year and i can hardly come up with enough zucchini based dishes to use all i've got. the cherry tomato plants are also giving abundantly...no issues consuming those though.

so good...

i want to live here

2009-09-11T00:27:00.003-06:00

this one is my favorite.

the solaris collection

2009-09-11T00:18:00.004-06:00

so i'm taking a location photography this semester, which is basically architectural photography. our first assignment was to shoot a residence, and i jumped on the opportunity to go shoot these awesome modern homes in daybreak (the second house will come in my next post). they are solar powered and surprisingly affordable. plus they're in daybreak which is pretty awesome.

stephanie and phil

2009-09-04T14:58:00.011-06:00

i had the pleasure of shooting this wedding on august 20th right here in provo. it was a lovely day and they're a great couple, thanks guys!

summer ending

2009-08-26T12:25:00.002-06:00

here's to enjoying the last week of summer. i've been terribly lazy these last few months (photographically and otherwise) so i'm looking forward to getting back into the grind of school.

katie and ryan's wedding

2009-08-25T13:50:00.018-06:00

my dear friend katie married ryan on august 18th in draper. you can see the whole event and order prints here.

katie and ryan: wedding sneak peak

2009-08-19T16:15:00.003-06:00

what a beautiful day yesterday was! katie and ryan were married in draper and then had a gorgeous luncheon/reception at heritage gardens in sandy. i've still got tons of images to edit through and another wedding tomorrow, but i'll get the rest of the shots up as soon as i can. until then, here are a couple of favorites.

william flies planes

2009-07-27T14:08:00.004-06:00

while we were in florida i was able to do some portraits of my brother in law, who flies lawyers to the bahamas in cirrus planes and gets paid for it. awesome, right?

these are for his website.

st. augustine tidbits

2009-07-21T10:07:00.000-06:00

i can't take credit for that last one, my husband snapped it of me with my 100mm 2.0 lens

downtown st. augustine

2009-07-21T09:51:00.004-06:00

home sweet home

2009-07-20T20:07:00.000-06:00

so, we just got back from two weeks in florida and i must say that although we had a great time (photos of that to come), it's nice to be home.

when we walked into our apartment after being gone, the first words out of my mouth were "aww, our apartment is so nice!" (all 300 square feet of it).

so while i get the florida photos ready, here's a little glimpse of our apartment to hold you over.

katie's bridals

2009-06-24T16:10:00.006-06:00

aah, what a beauty.

ok, maybe we had too much fun with the gardening props (hat, boots, watering can...), but they just fit so perfectlly with her wedding theme/colors.

many thanks to mccoards garden center/sunsine nursery in west provo for letting us invade their greenhouse for a couple hours. they are seriously the best. i found them recently in my efforts to buy local, and for as long as i live here i will never buy plants from anyone else. they have a huge selection and they are extremely nice, knowledgeable, and passionate.

you can see the whole shoot and order prints here.

garden party-katie's bridals sneak peak

2009-06-20T20:02:00.004-06:00

i still have a ton of editing to do, but i was so stoked on this shoot that i wanted to post a couple right away.

barbecue

2009-06-17T08:23:00.002-06:00

to celebrate the end of the recruiting season at my husband's office, his boss had a barbecue at his house. it was awesome; giant slabs of meat for the boys (ribs and steaks i think), and a lovely herbed salmon fillet for my (semi) vegetarian self.

i was super jealous of their tomatoes, and their cat was super jealous of the food.

katie and ryan's engagements

2009-06-02T16:52:00.006-06:00

don't they look like models? katie is one of the most beautiful people i know, and she's certainly met her match.

you can see more and order prints here.

Adrianna's Graduation Portrait (Part 2)

2009-05-07T10:59:00.000-06:00

remember this pretty lady? well the weather finally got nice enough to get out and do the second part of her graduation portraits.

you can see more here.

Picklesimer Family

2009-05-06T10:49:00.004-06:00

i got to shoot some fun family portraits of my brother in law and sister in law in between emily's luncheon and reception (what a day, right?).

you can see more photos and order prints here.

speaking of ordering prints...

2009-05-05T14:24:00.003-06:00

i have a new proofing site. it's so much better than instaproofs--it looks better, it's more usable, it's simpler and cleaner. i love it.

you can check it out here, or use the link in my sidebar.
let me know what you think!

emily and robert

2009-05-05T14:07:00.004-06:00

emily is a good friend of mine from the photo program. her wedding to robert on may 2 was tons of fun to shoot. she and robert have been together since high school, and they're pretty much the sweetest couple ever.

i photographed emily holding the hundreds of letters robert sent during his mission for my prized possessions series, you can check that photo out here.

click here to see the whole event and order prints.

emily and robert-sneak peak

2009-05-02T23:31:00.004-06:00

i just got home from shooting emily and robert's wedding in st. george/nevada, and i couldn't resist posting this image. more to come soon!

the tulip festival

2009-04-28T17:04:00.004-06:00

my mom came out to visit for the weekend and it rained the whole time. until yesterday, which was a glorious day. we went to the tulip festival at thanksgiving point and i took lots of celebratory spring flower photos.

enjoy!

mmmm, spring.

2009-04-24T11:26:00.002-06:00

i'm back!
and it's spring!
could things get any better?

i'll have some great stuff to post in the next week, so stay tuned.

zeiss test

2009-04-10T15:08:00.004-06:00

so my boss is renting a couple of the new zeiss lenses for canon. including the one i've been drooling over.

i thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me to test out the 50mm f/1.4.

here's my conclusion:
-it just feels good to shoot with.
-the bokeh is beautiful
-but (as you can see from the image above) i'm not entirely confident in my ability to keep things in focus at 1.4.

maybe some practice.

i think i want it.

p.s.: that lovely lady is my work buddy/web designer, sarah.

2009-04-09T18:01:00.002-06:00

sorry for the lack of updates...we're into the last couple weeks of the semester here and i've got more cyanotypes to make/books to bind/projects to shoot/frames to build/business plans to draft than i know what to do with.

so if i wasn't already, i'll be a little inconsistent in my posting for the next couple of weeks.

HOWEVER,
there is some exciting news; i found an amazing new proofing service AND beautiful wedding albums AND a new lab for printing (all in one day). so i'll be showing those off to you when i get the chance.

until then, wish me luck!

all done up

2009-03-31T13:12:00.003-06:00

yeah so that's me, taking a photo of myself in the mirror to document this.

farmer's market and central park, new york

2009-03-31T09:45:00.002-06:00

ilan ruben's studio, martha's, and christopher griffith's apartment. new york

2009-03-30T20:24:00.000-06:00

the docks, new york

2009-03-30T12:11:00.000-06:00

on the way

2009-03-29T21:56:00.001-06:00

new york

2009-03-29T21:32:00.004-06:00

where i've been this past week.

went on a photo field trip. we visited some awesome photographers, including ilan ruben, sarah silver, and christopher griffith.

we also got to tour martha stewart's empire. it was pretty rad.

here are a few favorite photos. more to come very soon.

bowl of tomatoes

2009-03-22T18:00:00.002-06:00

we bought a bunch of cherry tomatoes last night.
has anyone else noticed how terrible the normal sized (and normal priced) tomatoes have been lately?
if you know where i can get some decent romas, let me know.

old film

2009-03-19T17:05:00.002-06:00

i've been going through the piles and piles of film i have from high school.
it's been fun.
today i photographed it all on a light table to be able to look at it as positives. and decide what to scan.
here are a few (really terrible quality) images i liked. they were taken when i was 15 or so on the isle d'aix off the west coast of france.

i'm sure i'll soon replace these with actual scans, so your eyes won't have to hurt when you look at them.

i wore these to church today

2009-03-15T20:29:00.001-06:00

they're red.

an awesome font

2009-03-15T20:22:00.002-06:00

andy and i teach primary.

for any of you out there who aren't aware of what that entails, means that every week we're responsible for teaching sunday school to a bunch of rowdy eight year olds for an hour, and then getting them to stay still and not speak in belches for another hour long group class called sharing time.

this week, our class was in charge of sharing time.
kind of scary...
i can't say i'm looking forward to the next time. at least we'll have learned our lesson not to give our kids candy beforehand.

on the upside, i had to print some scriptures, and i dug out an awesome font from my archives (i'm an avid font downloader).

this was my first time using it, but i definitely want to find some excuses to use it again.
if you're interested, i downladed it from here.

my apologies

2009-03-12T13:08:00.003-06:00

i've been a terrible blogger of late.

i'm going to go ahead and blame midterms and the fact that my dad came to town and dragged me off to moab for a climbing weekend.

regardless, i've got catching up to do.

sorry to deprive you of the visual goodies that are my photographs for almost two weeks. i'm sure you've been missing me horribly.

sunday napping

2009-03-01T19:21:00.004-07:00

birds on a roof

2009-03-01T18:30:00.004-07:00

i took a detour when i was walking home from campus last week. it was kind of a weird day...it was springy but it felt like fall.

some great videos

2009-02-25T12:27:00.002-07:00

i saw this on design sponge and can't get over how rad it is.

also, here's a really great ted talk on creativity.

brunch

2009-02-25T11:51:00.002-07:00

i did a shoot this weekend for whisk magazine (a school production). it was alot of fun. i especially enjoyed getting to eat some of that delicious food after i was done photographing it.

a lamp

2009-02-19T16:15:00.003-07:00

on of the many random/everyday things around my apartment that i've been photographing for my photo a day project.
i've been watching the one light workshop, and i actually did this as a flash/ambient light test.

adrianna in the studio

2009-02-13T16:10:00.003-07:00

adriana is a friend of megan's, and she asked me to take some graduation photos of her.
we had a great time in the studio this morning, and there's more to come (when it gets nice out we're going to do an outdoor session).
doesn't she have gorgeous eyes?

you can see the whole shoot and order prints here.

drooling

2009-02-06T15:27:00.002-07:00

so i just found out that zeiss makes lenses for 35mm slr cameras, and they've even got a couple for canon.

i'm considering letting myself be tempted by this 1.4 50mm.
if you're interested, check them out at b&h.

cyanotypes

2009-02-03T13:55:00.002-07:00

i've started working on some cyanotype photograms. theyre alot of fun to do.
the images are made by painting a light sensitive emulsion of potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate onto a watercolor paper, and exposing it to uv light with the object directly on top of the paper.
if any of you out there have objects (coral, dried plants, seashells...things like that) that you'd be willing to let me use for some cyanotypes, you would make me very happy. leave a comment or shoot me an email!

awesome art

2009-01-30T15:22:00.002-07:00

came across this on design sponge.
i really really like these paintings by michelle ramin.

it snowed

2009-01-26T12:33:00.002-07:00

wedding photography

2009-01-26T12:22:00.004-07:00

i'm hoping to line up some more weddings for this summer (or sooner),
so if you or someone you know is getting married, hook me up.
it'll be a good deal for both of us!
you can look at some of the things i've done here, here, and here.
you can also browse by category on the sidebar--------->
if you're interested you can contact me at claire@clairemarika.com

bust

2009-01-22T17:20:00.002-07:00

on wednesdays i'm stuck at school from 9-8.
that makes for a really long day, so to pass the time in between two of my classes, i snuck up to one of the art classrooms to photograph this guy, who i'd seen earlier.
i kind of like him.

some stuff on a light table

2009-01-17T16:48:00.003-07:00

these are just some random shots i took of objects on a light table at work. i was thinking of doing some things like this in cyanotype. we'll see.

linda & nick, december 27

2009-01-15T17:43:00.018-07:00

as promised, here's linda and nick's wedding from dc. you can see the whole thing and order prints here.

two photographers who don't like to be photographed

2009-01-09T15:25:00.003-07:00

elise and i had fun in the studio yesterday doing some lighting tests.
she is our new assistant at work.
of course we used each other as models.
you can check out more of her stuff here.

daguerreotype envy

2009-01-07T08:05:00.003-07:00

i didn't take these photos (as if you couldn't tell by how incredible they are)
chuck close did.
they are a series of daguerreotypes that he did for a collaborative poetry/photography portfolio called a couple of ways of doing something. i've been in awe of that book and of those images since i first saw them a year or so ago (it's in the byu library, you should go check it out if you haven't seen it).

i would love to try doing daguerreotype. i was thinking that maybe i would try it for the alternative class, but its a very very very time intensive and expensive process, so i'm not sure i'll tackle it this semester. i wish i could though.

daguerreotype is at the very root of photography, and some might argue that things haven't gotten any better than they were then. they're just incredibly rich images.

what does it take to make a daguerreotype, you ask?
here's what i've gathered from my research:

1. have copper plates cut. the size of the plates is the size the image will be. i would start with 4x5, but i assume chuck close's were giant, as everything he does is giant.
2. send them off to somewhere in new mexico to have them silver coated.
3. buff them
4. sensitize them with iodine vapors in a special chamber for 8 to 10 hours, checking on them frequently until they're the right color.
5. put them in a view camera and take the photos
6. develop and fix the plates- this is a very delicate process, as the image on the plate can easily be ruined.
7. dry the plates
8. gold tone the plates
9. cover the plates with glass to keep them from oxidizing

then if you're chuck close, you scan them and put them in a beautiful book for all the world to see.

someday i'll do the same.

fifteen credits of bliss

2009-01-07T07:51:00.005-07:00

and not a single 20 page research paper.

i have some vivid memories from my freshman year, when i was waiting to get into the photo program and just trying to get as many general ed. classes under my belt as possible, looking forward to the day when my class schedule would be filled with photo and art classes.

and now that time has come.

i don't mean to be overly dramatic here, but this is a big moment for me.
i'm totally done with all of my generals
and i only need two more anthropology classes to get my minor (which i'm putting off until next year)

i'm thrilled about my schedule this semester:

-alternative photographic processes
-business practices for photographers
-editorial photography
-bookbinding
-framing

what more could a girl ask for?
it's going to be hard work, but its going to be work i enjoy.

christmas

2009-01-06T19:40:00.004-07:00

as i mentioned, i had the pleasure of spending christmas in st. george with my husbands family.
this provided me with the long awaited opportunity to photograph our newest niece: sophia. and photograph her i did. she was a great little model. anyway, these are all from christmas day with the fam.

a photo a day

2009-01-06T19:05:00.003-07:00

for 2009 i've decided (at the urging of photojojo) to make a new years photo resolution:

i will take a picture every day.

i think this project will help me to open my eyes more and to see the beauty in the ordinary things around me.
i've created a blog to post my daily photos, and will do my best to update as often as possible. there will also be a link in the sidebar.

so here's to 2009 and to taking photos daily.

happy new year, enjoy!

there's no place like st. georgeingtonD.C.tréal for the holidays

2009-01-02T21:48:00.008-07:00

the past two weeks have been something of a whirlwind.
here's a quick overview with a promise of lengthier posts to come:

it started with christmas in st. george, where we had lots of
fun hanging out with family and playing with the babies

then we jetted off to D.C. where i managed to juggle my bouquet and
camera as the bridesmaid/photographer for my friend linda's wedding...

...and of course, we saw the sights!

finally we headed to montréal to visit my dad for new years,
where instead of braving the below zero weather and the windchill,
andy and i mostly stayed inside trying to battle the massive colds we caught(probably on one of our flights)

although we had fun, i must say there's no place like home after holidays like that.

the last two prized possessions for a while...

2008-12-16T16:26:00.002-07:00

hilary and her favorite mate gourd emily and the 114 letters written to her by her by robert while he was on his mission

some things my mother gave me

2008-12-05T17:16:00.007-07:00

hey look, it's me! i'm not dead or anything, just busy...
i've been wanting to do this mini series for a while featuring the pretty things my mom has given me over the years. as you can see, i finally found some time to do it this week.
i was originally thinking of photographing these on black, but ever since i bought this blue paper backdrop for the toaster shoot i've been wanting to photograph everything on blue.
it's just so pretty and soft.

anyways, the top image is a long strand of {fake} pearls from my moms costume jewelry collection. i used to play dress up with them and now i wear them to church...a nice transition.

in the middle is a gilded hand mirror that my mom bought from an antique shop {which hapenned to be owned by my middle-name-sake, marika} when she was in college.

the bottom is a tiffany charm bracelet my mom gave me for my sweet sixteen. she would give me a new charm everytime i accomplished something noteworthy.

that's all for now, tonight i'm off to peruse the beehive bazaar to find some handmade christmas gifts. it runs though tomorrow, so go check it out!

alternate ending

2008-11-20T12:04:00.005-07:00

since jessie and trevor couldn't narrow their prized possessions down to just one thing, these are a few alternatives.

copycat ad

2008-11-20T11:53:00.002-07:00

real version*

my version*

*i figured i probably should clarify which is which because mine looks so freaking awesome

some photos...

2008-11-20T11:19:00.006-07:00

since i've been busy busy not taking any post worthy pictures (except an ad for a pur faucet that i copied for still life), i thought i'd put up a few work related photos you might enjoy.

1. remember that shoot last week i told you about? you know...ice rink, old guys on skates, freezing... yeah, these are some of the test shots.

2. here at byu publications and graphics, we occasionally get some odd requests. for example: we were given a copy of group portrait in which everyone is wearing baseball hats, and asked to replace them with christmas/new years hats. this led to an afternoon spent trying to imitate the light and position me correctly relative to the light wearing a series of party hats and santa hats and elf hats. this one is the best.

does anyone think i should make this my profile picture?
i kind of do.

*all photos by brad slade

hot chocolate

2008-11-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

this week's still life

2008-11-13T11:06:00.008-07:00

here are the prized possessions i photographed on tuesday.

jessie's boots are morgan freeman approved*
trevor's typewriter is just awesome
and the bible that cate's sister lucy is holding belonged to brigham young

*wondering about morgan freeman? as the story goes, jessie had just gotten the boots and was wearing them in portland when morgan freeman walked past and said imagine this in his voice:
"those are some real nice boots."

what a day

2008-11-12T08:14:00.002-07:00

yesterday. what a day. i spent many more hours on shoots than i did sleeping.

want a recap? of course you do.

7am-meet up with brad (my boss) and braden (the other assistant) to photography the deans of the marriott business school for their annual christmas card. it was at an ice rink. it was freezing. they were on ice skates (mind you they're all 60+) and i spent the whole time praying none of them would fall and hurt themselves. i was also praying that the profocus light brad had borrowed from the photo department would not get the better of the flimsy boom it was on and fall crashing to the ice/floor.

11am-pull away from the ice rink(with feet that felt like they'd never be warm again) to go bouldering at the quarry with stacie.

1pm-off to school for still life class. we did a demo in the studio with 4x5 film, and at one point i fell asleep sprawled out on the floor. john kicked me to wake me up. i was probably snoring or something. i really should try harder to actually sleep at night.

3pm-on a frantic search for a block of chocolate and chocolate grater for my shoot.

4pm-shoot in the studio. hot chocolate in tiny blue espresso cups.

7:30pm-three prized possessions shoots in the studio at work. awesome images to post soon.

i love being able to spend my days taking pictures.

but today i need to start a five page paper that's due at midnight.

good news

2008-11-08T13:36:00.004-07:00

-there's a real live website on the way! i'll keep you updated.
-i'm also doing some re-designing (you may have noticed changes to the header).
-i wasn't particularly fond of the still life i shot this week, but i love the silhouette of it, so i'm incorporating it into my design stuff. new logo, anyone?

mmm, toast

2008-10-30T14:54:00.002-06:00

a new prized posession and a call for volunteers

2008-10-30T10:30:00.004-06:00

my friend and co-photographer lucy let me photograph her with her bear (whose name happens to be bear) last night as part of the prized possessions project.

over the next couple of months i will need to produce five more images for this series, so if any of you are interested in being photographed with your favorite thing, leave a comment or email me!

here is the first draft of my artist's statement about this series...just in case you were curious about my theories about this.

thought the scriptures warn us to "lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matt 6:19-20), we all have prized possessions. For many, these objects are not "treasures" in the worldly sense--some may not even be beautiful--but we hold them dear because they tie us to a certain experience, a particular time, place, or person. in essence, it is not the object itself that is most important to us, but what the object represents. the experiences, not the objects, are what make life sweet, and are the only things we will take with us when we leave this world.
in this project, i've sought to catalogue not only prized possessions, but also the stories behind them. this has forced me, as well as my subjects, to think deeply about the objects that are important to us and the reasons we hold them dear.

a shirt

2008-10-23T10:44:00.002-06:00

2008-10-20T23:43:00.003-06:00

sorry for the lack of updates, i've been off doing this:

with my dear old dad (aka mon petit papa chéri) in maple canyon.

i'm going to be shooting a bunch this week though, so there'll be plenty for you to look at.

contact me, please!

2008-10-16T09:53:00.003-06:00

if anyone would like more information regarding pricing/availability, just email me at clairegoussard@yahoo.com and we can talk.

thanks!

katie and the leaves

2008-10-14T10:44:00.003-06:00

if you're wondering whether the clothes hanging from this tree mean that i made katie change into the d.i. dress (which we bought on the way to the shoot) in the middle of the aspen grove, you would be right.

i'm really not sure why, but i decided it would be cool to tangle her in the trees with lace...

the end

things to come

2008-10-13T23:44:00.002-06:00

firstly,
you know how i was talking about doing a fall illustrative shoot? well, i did, and i think i managed to get some really pretty stuff. i'll try my darndest to post that tomorrow

secondly,
my husband [who stays up to date on all sorts of tech happenings] told me about this black silicon chip they're developing, which could eventually make its way into digital cameras. if it did, it would be 500x more sensitive than current ccd or cmos chips. interesting... i wonder what that would be like. i tend to get freaked out by too much change, but as the president of our church reminded us last weekend in this amazing talk, change is unavoidable and is the mechanism that allows us to progress minute by minute and day by day, hopefully in the right direction.
in any case, it'll be interesting to see what happens.

prized possessions

2008-10-10T17:41:00.005-06:00

i've been thinking for a while about doing a series of photographs featuring people's most valuable possessions. i know that it's by no means a new concept, but my anthropological/ethnographic penchant seems to express itself in a kind of need to catalogue people. i just thought it would be really interesting to learn about which physical objects are most meaningful to people and why.

i shot these for a mini-theme in my digital class, but i think it may be an ongoing project.

i started by asking my boss, brad slade, and my co-photo-assistant braden duncan, what their most prized possessions were.
the criteria is this: it has to be a physical object, and it has to be truly important to you, like one of the things you would get if your house were burning.

after much consideration, braden decided that his prized posession(s) were his journals, which he's kept religiously for who knows how long (if only i were that disciplined, my posterity might actually have something to read in 100 years).

brad chose his rolleiflex camera, which he has been using to photograph his beautiful kids since they were babies.

as for me, it's hard to say what i would chose. after rescuing my hard drives with all my photos and my file with old letters and important documents and whatnot, i would probably run back into a burning house for either:

-the silver gilded hand mirror that my mom gave me, which she got from the antique shop that the grandmother of her good friend owned. the grandmother of the good friend was named marika, and is my middle namesake.

-a teacup that my godmother gave me. the story is that when she first moved to montreal from the iowa farm where she grew up, she made a friend. that friend gave her this teacup and saucer, which surprised my godmother because she thought that teacups always had to stay in matching sets. her friend taught her to embrace variety and maybe even discord, and i know that meant alot to her. she gave me the teacup over forty years later, the day her friend died.
my godmother is brilliant.

-the little cloissonne bird that my grandfather bought in india for his dad when he was young. he got it back when his dad died, and gave it to me. it's beautiful. i'll photograph it sometime.

what is your most valued object?

mmm...chocolate

2008-10-09T12:43:00.002-06:00

this is what i did for the black on black assignment in my still life class.
this isn't a final version, so hit me with some feedback.

looking back

2008-10-09T11:03:00.003-06:00

this post from my fellow photo student ashton reminded me of an engagement shoot i did last fall of my friends katie and parker. the ones with the orange corrugated background were shot in front of the building from ashton's post.

seasons

2008-10-07T11:28:00.003-06:00

don't you love the weather this week? now it really feels like fall. i've been dying to go up the canyon and photograph my beautiful friend katie in a grove of birch trees. i want to shoot an illustrative portrait for each of the seasons like mucha's.

meet arvilla

2008-10-07T11:22:00.003-06:00

this is my niece arvilla. she is a few weeks old, and i finally got to meet her (and of course photograph her) this weekend. isn't she awesome?

new kicks

2008-10-02T19:59:00.004-06:00

i photographed these shoes for my first still life assignment and then decided to keep them (for funsies).
anyway, the assignment was white on white. if nothing else i definitely did a pretty good job at that.

sunshine finalized

2008-09-23T12:14:00.002-06:00

here is the final image from the sunshine shoot

so hilarious

2008-09-21T19:37:00.003-06:00

i came across this awesome clip thanks to my dear friend at dear demeter, alisha. whether or not you love typography, this video is amazing.

scatter sunshine...

2008-09-21T18:26:00.005-06:00

guess what i did today! yup, that's it. scattered sunshine. all over the studio.

our first assignment in my advanced digital class was to choose an image as our inspiration and to create our own version of it. i don't want to post copies of my "inspiration" photos because i feel like my own images fell far short of rivaling their quality. i will tell you that one of them was the june anthropologie cover, and the other was a cig harvey photograph from the archaeology of distraction portfolio. and they both involved clouds. my idea was to use the clouds, but bring in a little sunshine.

i suppose i'm happy with the results, but i'll admit i struggled with the light. i had planned on using the profoto 7-foot umbrella that we have in the studio where i work to flood the whole set evenly, and then add an accent to the model and to the sun. much to my distress, when i arrived at the studio this morning, the profoto kit was gone (someone must have taken it home for a weekend shoot). anyway, i had to use a much smaller umbrella and deal with clouds that were either blowing out or being darkened by other clouds shadows. anyway, these are some outtakes. you'll get to see the final image later, once i've tweaked it to my heart's content.

thanks to evelyn, our lovely model, and emily, who did the set design, makeup, and hair.

things i love right now

2008-09-12T15:34:00.001-06:00

cig harvey's photography

map art by chris kenny

my bike, or what will be my bike as soon as it stops being back-ordered

the bravery, specifically this song

lightroom

2008-09-12T13:49:00.000-06:00

i just wanted to say that lightroom is great.
this is from a shoot i did for my portrait class last winter, i used the cyanotype preset on it.

fall...

2008-09-11T09:41:00.004-06:00

...it's here. though the leaves aren't this color yet (i shot this two years ago), there have definitely been some sweater weather days. one thing that's gotten me in the fall mood is being back in school.
i'm wrapping up my second week of classes, and i can tell it's going to be a good semester. i'm really excited about my photo classes. i'm taking a still life class from john telford, and an advanced digital class from val brinkerhoff.

have i ever told you how highly i think of the byu photo program? it's a very small program, but that only makes it cozy: we all know eachother. i've always felt like i was being pushed just enough creatively and aesthetically. plus the facilities are great. i like the darkroom the best out of the ones i've worked in, we've got profoto in the studio, AND a hasselblad h3d (that i finally get to use this semester), AND a medium sized view camera with full movements to stick the hasselblad back on.
like i said, it's going to be a good semester.

golf marathon

2008-08-26T17:08:00.006-06:00

i was asked to photograph the first anual utah golf marathon fundraiser. it was alot of fun to schmooze with all the utah golf celebrities.
seeing as i know nothing about golf (although now i think i know what a green is) the only person that i actually knew of before going was lavell edwards.
regardless of my golf ignorance, it was a great day. they played 54 consecutive holes at the thanksgiving point golf course.

bailey family

2008-08-26T14:43:00.005-06:00

i've been climbing with stacie for about three years now, so it was alot of fun shooting her family portrait this past friday. her daughter emily is such a character.

more of france

2008-08-19T16:11:00.011-06:00

these are from family party in honor of my great-aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary in southern france

these were taken at a cistercian monastery in provence

these shots are from the alps, where we had another family party in honor of my wedding

if you're wondering what a french family party entails, i can tell you that it's basically a six hour, four to six course lunch involving lots of wine, noise, toasts, and occasionally dancing/musical performances by young cousins.

paris

2008-08-18T16:07:00.014-06:00

the view from notre dame

inside notre dame

outside the louvre

this was taken inside shakespeare&company, my favorite bookstore in paris

views from the eiffel tower

at the sainte chapelle

the stained glass makes the light this incredible magenta color

i shot this in an alley near the sainte chapelle...i just loved the light

montmartre and the sacré coeur cathedral

a stray cat i befriended

at the arc de triomphe

versailles

melinda&seth's rehearsal dinner

2008-08-18T14:45:00.003-06:00

i just realized that i never posted any of the photos from seth and melinda's rehearsal dinner all the way back in may, so here are a few favorites.

back from france

2008-08-13T16:01:00.007-06:00

after a long but highly enjoyable three and a half weeks in france, my husband and i are home.
we spent two weeks in paris for our honeymoon, and then headed down to the alps for a week, where we hung out with my family and had something of a second wedding reception/big family dinner.

here are a few of my favorite shots, but there are tons more on the way.

enjoy!