lingered upon

Packing's a bitch

2012-02-08T17:25:00.003-05:00

Finally leaving for New Orleans tomorrow morning! Planning is not exactly our strong suit, so we don't really have anything on the itinerary (save for two dinner resys). I figure we'll wander around and follow our stomachs. One of the hardest parts about packing for me is deciding what cameras to bring. I really do want to travel light, but that never works. I did swap out the Mamiya C330 for the little Minolta. That should help our shoulders a bit. Oh and of course my phone should be in that picture too.

I'm also no good at creating "style in a suitcase." I'm bringing neutral colored tees and a blazer or two. Usually I end up under-packing, clothing wise, but it won't kill me to wear a tee twice. J and I end up sharing a carry-on so there's really no room to pack any more, and the cameras are priority. ;)

Will be back with much to share, I'm sure.

Moka pot morning + habitus magazine

2012-02-07T18:37:00.002-05:00

On 35mm film.

And one final shot here. ;)

I dare not speak of what percentage of our cupboards is filled with coffee brewing supplies...

Coffee break

2012-02-06T17:37:00.002-05:00

A quick stop into Joe in the Upper East Side after a meeting today.

Things are a bit stressful over here so please excuse the brevity of this post!

Spot of color

2012-02-03T15:17:00.003-05:00

It's coming. Ranunculus season, that is. Some gorgeous bright orange/red ones showed up at our local florist the other day. They are adding a nice spot of color to our otherwise monochromatic bedroom.

For those who wondered where the duvet is from, it was once from West Elm but I don't think they carry this specific print any more. The bed is from Crate and Barrel, and the print from hands artshop. And of course, Teddeh quite enjoys these cameos.

Happy weekend!

Minna

2012-02-02T20:22:00.002-05:00

Film snaps of the lovely Minna in Union Square from the other day when it was 60 degrees out. Warm enough for a caramel frappuccino! Minna and I go way back to freshman year and have shared some hilarious and amazing memories since. We both attempted a 365 day self-portrait project at some point in college (she may be a familiar face to some of y'all) and both never finished...

I am enjoying how the colors came out - hard to believe this is the same roll as the shots below (Red Hook entry)! Wish I could make Pro 400H produce these soft and pretty pastel colors every time.

Some fun in red hook

2012-02-01T20:00:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Jen, Justin and I roamed around Red Hook in hopes of finding some cool shooting spots. As it happened, that week most things were closed or closed super early and we weren't able to explore as much as we'd liked. I was especially bummed that Saipua was closed that day, as it is quite a trek to get out there without a car. We ended the day at Ikea with meatballs, chicken tenders, and $1 cinnamon rolls. Can't complain about that.

I took the Minolta x370s (with Fuji Pro 400H) out for a spin that day. Messed up a ton of shots due to focus. Whoops, I thought I was past that!

For the love of grunginess.

Newest addition to the family

2012-01-31T20:19:00.003-05:00

If you follow me elsewhere, you might have already seen my beloved new addition to the camera family. The Mamiya C330 is a pretty fantastic beast of a TLR, and it is my first 6x6 format camera - yippee! Now I've got all the bases covered with my Pentax 67, Contax 645, and this guy.

My initial impression was over how massive this camera was. I really love how big the viewfinder/focusing screen is though. I'm also still getting used to the fact that it's not quite 'what you see is what you get' (a disadvantage of TLRs). For far distances, the difference in what I see in the viewfinder and what I get is negligible, but as I like close-up detail type shots, I will have to reframe to compensate for the parallax error. J tells me I need to compensate for the exposure too with close-up shots because the lens is "slower" for those. Oy!

Anyway, haphazardly shot through a test roll (used some Fuji Pro 400H) around the apartment. As it was a test roll, I scanned these myself and was reminded why I pay so much to get a lab to scan. I had some serious color issues, not to mention dust galore, despite cleaning in between each scan. Pain in the ass.

Looking forward to taking this out next time!

Hello, pancake month

2012-01-30T16:35:00.002-05:00

I have very fond memories of this recent shoot for Serious Eats. Eight different kinds of pancakes at Clinton Street Baking Co.? I can think of few greater things. :P Click through the slideshow in the link to see everything we tried.

Below are two of our (the writer and mine) favorites. Technically I don't need to try these at all, as I'm not writing about them... yet we ate almost half the poached pear stack - and that was only the second of eight.

This last guy was the Japanese Pumpkin Pancake - I really must return for these. I now regret only taking a small bite of this stack...

Like mini peonies

2012-01-27T11:02:00.003-05:00

These ranunculi are by far the biggest I've seen this season (though I suppose in these shots, there's nothing around to show their relative size). It's also been so dark and grey this morning, I figured I might as well go with that mood.

Just this one has the ever so slightest blush tones in the petals. I love it.

A few of you were curious about the close-up filters I use. I believe I have this set here. I pop them on my 50mm and lo and behold, I have a ghetto macro lens. Think of them as reading glasses for your lens. I also have used them on my Contax 80mm lens (same filter size). The only slight annoyance is if you're shooting on the go and you suddenly want a far away shot, you have to remember to take off the close-up filter, as it restricts the maximum distance to which you can focus. In any case, I have found them surprisingly useful and will almost always pack them with me.

Our day with the giant balloon

2012-01-25T13:50:00.003-05:00

On a mild day in December, Jen, Justin and I got together to have a little photo fun with Jen's idea to get a little crafty. See her little blurb on it here! I finally got my film scans back from that day and am happy to share these. The shots of me are taken by Jen. All Contax 645 + Portra 400.

Needless to say, we got tons of stares, and at least a dozen strangers took pictures of Jen and her giant balloon. SO FUN. I am looking for any excuse to get myself one of those balloons...

On an unrelated note, I am trying to move away from posting a giant collage as one photo, and instead posting each shot as its own for easier pinning... Not that I'm assuming you'll want to pin my photos, but in case you do, this makes it a lot more agreeable. (Thanks of course to J for showing me the code to get the spacing perfect between the shots. :P)

A peek inside fort reno provisions

2012-01-24T20:10:00.003-05:00

Earlier today, Erin (Serious Eats national editor) and I headed to the new BBQ joint in Park Slope, Fort Reno Provisions. Naturally, I was enamored with the tchotchkes (and great light in there) and wanted to share a few shots before our official First Look post goes up.

Cool spaces like these remind me that I should seriously get out of Manhattan more often!

Happy chinese new year

2012-01-23T14:10:00.003-05:00

Celebrated last night at a friend's place where the girls made dumplings (boiled and pan-fried) from scratch (and by girls, I mean the other girls), while the boys watched the football game. I don't know why, but that makes me feel like a REAL adult. I folded a few dumplings before throwing in the towel, because folding was never my strong point.

Sadly I don't have too many photos from the weekend to share - spent Saturday in Philadelphia where it was mostly too cold to pull out the camera. Time was best spent shuffling from one eatery to the other and pretty much munching non stop.

So below are some very old 35mm film shots (Portra 400 of course) from dim sum at Chinatown Brasserie.

I had no idea there were so many "rules" for good luck on Chinese New Year. Apparently I'm not supposed to wash my hair, do laundry, use scissors, take out the trash, wear black or white, etc. I've got red pants on though!

Bowery coffee

2012-01-20T15:53:00.003-05:00

Hope you guys aren't sick of coffee shops on here yet, because this one is yet another real gem. Over the past few weeks I have found myself adjusting my routes so I could pass by Bowery Coffee - and actually, I go for their Bergamot Sage tea more so than the coffee drinks (but obviously I enjoy those too as you'll see in these iPhone shots!). Stepping into this little cafe is like entering a different era. The tarnished finishes, the vintage lamps, and the color of the walls are undeniably appealing. And can we talk about how fantastic these stools are?

And what's even more awesome is that they serve doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant! New Yorkers, you should be galloping there right this moment.

Above: iPhone snaps. Below: naturally it was a feast for the Contax too. Some day, if counter space ever allows, I would love a beautiful espresso machine like so...

Sunshine yellow

2012-01-19T14:48:00.002-05:00

Just a little fun with my +4 close-up filter and these tiny yellow ranunculi. Crazy how even in the second shot, at f11, how shallow the depth of field is.

Lunch at the modern

2012-01-18T15:55:00.002-05:00

Back in May of last year, I had a post titled "Dinner at the modern." Here's a follow up with lunch! Any meal at The Modern is as much of a feast for the eyes as it is for our palates. We stopped in here rather spontaneously on Monday (of the long weekend), and they were able to accommodate us in the dining room - the bar room was much busier and we have yet to eat there.

Lunch came with canapés and an amuse bouche AND petits fours. So our "four-course" lunch ended up being a bit larger than our stomachs could happily contain. There was not a single dud in our order. We chose a foie gras and squab croustillant (meant for two) as our main dish, and it knocked me off my chair a bit. Imagine a sandwich of squab with foie gras in between, then wrapped in cabbage and then a perfect flaky dough/crust, finished with caramelized ginger jus. I mean, come on. I am salivating remembering it. Another incredibly rich dish I had was a cauliflower risotto topped with uni and salmon belly. Unreal.

All images taken on the Fuji x100.

Oh, the dishware and flatware here are beautiful, as you'd expect. Even though I don't take milk in my coffee, I want that creamer + saucer.

Another beautiful space

2012-01-16T21:43:00.003-05:00

I've always been a fan of La Colombe, having spent my college years in Philadelphia (where I believe it got started) - their ornate signature cups and saucers are a familiar and welcome sight for me. I think La Colombe might have been my first brush with serious and good coffee. I was guzzling down 24oz cups of hazelnut coffee from Wawa at the time, but I finally got to see what was out there in the coffee word. Anyway, I definitely have a soft spot for it. As soon as I saw the newest location (on Lafayette and East 4th ish), I knew I had to go in with a camera (specifically the Canon 1V with Portra 400 here).

Not pictured are lovely terrarium bowls on some of the bigger tables. See a tiny snippet here. The hammered metal spoons (see link) are insanely lovely, but a little bird told me La Colombe had bought every last one of them from Fish's Eddy! So none left for us sadly.

The chic girl in the cloche you see is my coffee date, Kathy. I had been following her blog for years (literally since 2006 - it was in fact one of the first food blogs I had ever come across), and we finally met through Serious Eats. Ah worlds collide. :)

Ashley part 2347874234 (pretty much)

2012-01-15T21:19:00.004-05:00

In early December, Ashley was over in the city for a shoot so we both took advantage of the opportunity to blow through some film on each other. I can't even count how many times she has appeared on the blog, hence this title. We also realized we didn't have a single good picture together so this first frame here is courtesy of J. (I mighta killed him if it were out of focus.)

See some of the shots she took of me here.

This last one (converted to b/w from Portra 400) might be my fave. :) J joked that my favorite b/w film is Portra 400. Heh heh.

Little home goods

2012-01-13T14:45:00.002-05:00

Pretty smitten with my new goods from terrain, which include this boulder mug which is sitting on top of this reclaimed wood tray. I imagine you'll see much more of these two to come.

Happy (long) weekend. :)

Little bits of buvette

2012-01-12T20:31:00.004-05:00

While at Buvette yesterday waiting for our amazing vegetable spread for Serious Eats, I took these from where we sat. Buvette is such an adorable little gem in the West Village. I've had lunch there only once but it'd be like the perfect place to take a mom or have a really leisurely solo lunch/breakfast. Their menu is rooted in good old classic dishes.

That little blue book is their wine menu. Insanely cute right? And of course, the perfectly distressed wood tables... I guess it goes without saying that I am a FAN.

Back forty

2012-01-11T11:05:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I've never blogged about Back Forty here - it's one of our usual haunts and I have recently been obsessing over one particular brunch dish (and want to eat it ALL THE TIME). It's a hearty quinoa with two poached eggs. Braised forest mushrooms and roasted butternut squash in the quinoa really make this one of my favorite brunch dishes of all time.

We were extra gluttonous the most recent time and got ourselves an order of three doughnuts. Why three? Well it's $2 for one or $5 for three. So we're suckers. Also they are usually super fresh and warm, and kinda a nice mix between cakey doughnut texture and yeasty doughnut textures.

Also pictured is J's order of fried squid sandwich, served with a nice spicy remoulade. So this quinoa dish may not be the most photogenic, but damn it really hits all the right spots for me in terms of what I want for brunch.

These two were taken from another weekend with the iPhone. Safe to say I'll be ordering this dish at least a third time, so long as they keep it on the menu!

Another great thing about Back Forty is that we've never had to wait for a seat during brunch. Knock on wood.

Katie + Tim

2012-01-09T19:14:00.002-05:00

Back in October, the super talented Jennifer Sosa had me second shoot with her on this wedding at Mymoon in Brooklyn. This girl is damn good at what she does and she always brings out the fun in her clients. I feel very lucky to piggy back on some of that fun. When I shoot with her, I almost don't feel like I'm "working." Her post on the day is here. :)

Here are some of my shots from the day (picture-heavy ahead - haven't done one of these in a while!):

Sweetleaf coffee & tea | long island city

2012-01-08T14:19:00.003-05:00

It's been way too long since I featured a new coffee shop on here! After seeing A Life Worth Eating's favorite espresso list of 2011, we knew a visit to Sweetleaf was in order. While it's not the stone's throw away that Abraco is, yesterday was the perfect day (at some 60 whopping degrees) to make a trip out to Long Island City.

The space is awesome in that rustic-chic kind of way, which obviously I love so much. J tried the espresso shot - Stumptown's single origin Ethiopian Mordecofe, while I got a cortado. Then we basked in the glorious afternoon light.

Next week, we're going to try to make it to #4 on that list - Kickshaw in Astoria.

Inside Joseph Leonard

2012-01-05T23:45:00.004-05:00

Some snaps of the beautiful space of Joseph Leonard in the West Village (while on a shoot for Serious Eats):

I envy the job of the prop/antique collector for this place! I must return on a good light day and bring my photo geek friends here. Total dream to shoot. The tables, of course, have a great distressed look, and there is a jar of pickles on every one. I didn't even venture to the other side of the restaurant where there was a lovely antique mirror display among other cool things. I hear this place gets pretty crazily busy, so I shall return on the off-hour!

Stacked

2012-01-04T15:03:00.006-05:00

Well, it feels like it's been years since I baked something. Believe it or not, I used to do it pretty avidly (you know, before I could step out the apartment, walk like 500 feet, and get amazing cupcakes from Butterlane or walk like another 500 feet and get all sorts of good stuff from Abraço, and so on). The previous tenant had left some things in the oven that (just barely) resembled cookie sheets so I thought I'd finally end my baking draught with some good old chocolate chip cookies.

Here they are taken in the same spot, just from opposite sides of the table - that I dragged into the office because there's only good light there. I thought the French doors made for a fun background in the second shot.

Whoops, I just counted and I guess I added more to the stack in the second shot. I also really tend to like my subjects on the right side of the frame. Hmm.

Lunch at pulino's

2012-01-03T12:02:00.002-05:00

Some 35mm film shots from lunch at Pulino's yesterday. I would have loved to shoot more of the interior but there were too many people and alas I was out of film. Just look at those carbs!

Taken on my dinky but trusty little Minolta x370s.

Birthday note for mom

2012-01-02T15:10:00.002-05:00

Happy birthday to my mom who looks at least ten years younger than she's turning this year. :)

I used to love getting flung around in circles like this (almost 20 years ago, oh my). Now, that'd just be downright torturous!

Because it's a new year

2012-01-01T21:20:00.002-05:00

I suppose I can't get away with not even remotely thinking about resolutions for this year, so I thought of these off the top of my head (and I kinda wanted to fill the negative space of this picture, taken on the rooftop of last night's party space). Number one on the list is a biggie for me. I'm not sure if I can get past my natural inclination to do it, but I am convinced I'd be a lot happier if I could! The others are more petty but they are things I want to be doing anyway, so I might as well spell it out for myself.

Beautiful view of Long Island City here taken on the x100.

A happy new year

2011-12-31T12:27:00.003-05:00

Well this year has flown! I am excited to see what next year brings, especially on the travel front. It has been much too long since our last trip out of the city, so J and I scratched the itch by booking tickets to New Orleans in February (not during Mardi Gras sadly). Would really love and appreciate any recommendations for must-sees.

The gif below might take a while to load. Wait for it... :)

Photos courtesy of the very awesome Justin Lee.

Thank you all for your readership this year! Hoping for bigger and better in 2012.

Sleeping space

2011-12-29T16:37:00.002-05:00

It's been a slow week on the blogosphere it seems. I've been waiting on film scans to come back and with each day, keep hoping it will so I will have nice blog fodder. Unfortunately, this has made me slack in creating new stuff. And it's not that I haven't tried! Today, I walked around Central Park for a good fifteen minutes as my fingers numbed by the second. I gave up on any shooting there.

I did, however, pull out the polaroid back for the Contax and actually got around to scanning the result.

This duvet cover was a huge sale score at West Elm. :)

Afternoon tea

2011-12-27T13:58:00.005-05:00

Tea time is so much better with this charming tea infuser and this elegant caddy from Bellocq. Today I'm sipping No. 45, White Wolf - a delightful blend of organic white peony, cedar, juniper, and mint. Satsumas and cookies baked by mom complete the scene.

The embarrassingly sloppy behind the scenes. I'm too short for this shit. Yes, I had to drag in a step ladder.

Contax glamour shots

2011-12-26T17:24:00.003-05:00

This weekend felt like it both dragged and flew by. Very bizarre. J and I spent all of yesterday indoors; we ordered Chinese food, drank champagne, and watched Netflix. Riveting stuff, I know. I've really been slacking on taking my camera with me around the city. The iPhone has made me lazy like that. Anyway, I wanted a few pictures I could use for "About Me" pages or the like, so I had J take these of me wielding the Contax. I also snuck in this picture of my new "wine" colored cloche. It's almost too cute for me.

P.S. The lovely Ilona Joy interviewed me for her blog a few weeks back - check out the post here!

Happy friday and holidays

2011-12-23T10:51:00.003-05:00

This silk shirt I never wear turned out to be a nice festive backdrop for this little holiday message card of sorts. And how thrilled am I to have poppies this time of year!

Have a good one! I'll be back next week.

Wednesday

2011-12-21T17:09:00.003-05:00

The only upside of rainy days in the city is taking dreamy out of focus iPhone shots... What I really needed to do here was stand right in the middle of the street, but I was getting enough stares as it was on the corner. ;) I just can never pass up the opportunity to bokeh the great buildings of this city.

Many of you have figured out how to do this, but in case you still want to know how to create iPhone bokeh, there are two methods that are pretty much the same idea. The quick and dirty method is to compose your scene, focus on your hand close-up (sometimes I use the tip of umbrella when it's raining...) and quickly take away your hand and press the shutter before the iPhone has a chance to refocus.

The other is to use the iPhone's AE/AF lock. For this, I will try to focus closely on something around the same exposure as the scene, then hold down that part of the screen for a second or two. You'll then see "AE/AF lock" pop up on your screen. Then bokeh away! Fun fun.

6th and B

2011-12-20T10:49:00.003-05:00

I know I've shared my love for the community gardens of the East Village a handful of times on here already, but here I am, going at it again. Back in early November, I passed by the garden on the 6th and B, aptly named "6th and B Garden", and shot a few frames of Portra 400. I really enjoy the mix of grungy East Village-ness and pretty greenery and florals. I'm sure it would have looked like a different beast during prime gardening season.

Bellocq tea atelier

2011-12-18T16:17:00.004-05:00

Words alone cannot express how beautiful BELLOCQ Tea Atelier is. Fortunately, the very skilled Anna Williams has already captured some of its beauty (the photos on the website). In fact, it was her photos in an issue of Communication Arts that made me buy that issue. I was merely flipping through it but was so inspired by those few shots, I had to have it on hand. Ever since Nicole blogged about BELLOCQ, I felt even more compelled to go. Since the BELLOCQ showroom is only open Friday and Saturday and it's a slight trek to Greenpoint from here, laziness got the best of me and I only just visited it yesterday.

Right now, the showroom is decked out in gorgeous holiday lights and pearly strings. But really, everything about this place makes me swoon. I seriously need more of this in my life. These pictures barely begin to do it justice.

Of course the light in the back room was just beyond perfect for portraits - amazing diffused light coming in three directions plus great darker backdrops for some shadow and contours.

Hey you out of town photographers, this is a MUST visit for your next time in New York.

Shades of grey

2011-12-16T15:01:00.004-05:00

I don't know why I don't shoot more black and white film (I guess the easy answer is that I can always make my color film black and white but not vice versa). But I always love the results, especially when it comes to portraits. Some dapper looking guests from last month's City Hall wedding. :)

Hoping to shoot more personal "work" this weekend. Have a good one!

My kinfolk contribution

2011-12-15T10:26:00.002-05:00

As some of you may have seen, the latest issue of the beautiful Kinfolk came out on Monday. It is available in print and for the iPad. I am ridiculously thrilled to have been a part of this issue and to have my work alongside other artists whom I have looked up to for many years. Working with The Jewels of New York and stylist Andrew Stewart was seriously a dream. We spent almost the whole day at Diana's place in the lovely Brooklyn Heights neighborhood with a ton of precious props (another post to come on that). After the linens were ironed some dozen+ times (thank you, Andrew) and props were moved to and fro, and we took a break to order some good old NY pizza, we were more than pleased with the final shots. I couldn't have asked for a better shooting experience.

I have only seen screenshots from the iPad so far, but am eagerly awaiting to see it in print. Here are some of the other selects from the day. I shot a mix of film (Portra 400) and digital.

I hope you'll pick up a copy - it'd make a lovely gift too. :)

Peering in

2011-12-14T19:43:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share one frame from an October wedding for its cozy and intimate mood. Sometimes it's great to just shut off the flash during the reception and let 'er go at a super high ISO.

Birthday dinner #1

2011-12-13T18:18:00.002-05:00

On the night of my birthday, J and I took the short trip down to wd~50 in the Lower East Side for a molecular gastronomy treat. We both agree that we really like the idea of the place because no one else in this city is doing anything like it, but we also agree that some dishes definitely just work better than others. Some of these flavor combinations just didn't quiite hit the right notes for me. Nonetheless, dinner was anything but boring or routine-feeling and I enjoyed the creativity (maybe almost more so than the food itself).

Highlights for me included the foie-lafel (witty, no?), sweet shrimp (those miso threads were stellar), monkfish, and apricot dessert. See the full spread below!

Gratuitous dark floral studies

2011-12-12T13:49:00.003-05:00

I couldn't help myself. They are just so stunning. The color gradient in the red petals is especially beautiful to me. I also love the way the petals curl out like welcoming arms at the edges. Call me the crazy ranunculus lady. :P

Vandaag

2011-12-09T14:46:00.005-05:00

One of the many perks of shooting for Serious Eats is that we get to visit popular places in the off-hour. On the dreary and wet Wednesday of this week, we headed to Vandaag for some drinking and shooting. While I was waiting for the drinks, I snapped these of the interior. The place felt dark and cozy, and the gray day made these shots feel black and white appropriate.

I especially loved the rolled up newspapers on the bar and the shape of these dining chairs.

I have enjoyed coming here for drinks (fantastic beer list and cocktails!) a number of times. The place just felt so different mid-day and I quite loved it.

And thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! They were very much appreciated. :)

24

2011-12-08T09:42:00.004-05:00

As much as I bemoan getting older, there's no stopping my birthday from coming and going. 23 was a beautifully turbulent year (yes, I'm laying on the drama pretty thick). The months leading up to my exit from the corporate world were rough. There was so much uncertainty and doubt about whether I could succeed in this industry (not that the doubt has completely disappeared now). My birthday usually turns me into a grumpy pessimist and grumpy overall, because I reflect and wonder what the hell I've accomplished in the past year. This year, I'm going to look forward and embrace what's to come.

J got me this beautiful (and man is it beautiful!) 27'' iMac because he knew I needed a computer that didn't take a full minute to render an edit. Yes, I am spoiled and incredibly lucky. The funny thing about these photos is that they make my desk look neat and uncluttered, but what you don't see is the floor and the tables to the left and right where I've discarded all of the junk that was on my desk. ;)

Coffee, flowers, inspiring photography books... these things will, of course, always have a place on my desk.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the day!

Chicago's botanical garden

2011-12-06T19:45:00.005-05:00

The nice thing about Chicago's botanic garden (and zoo which is nearby) is that they are free to the public. In NYC, not so much!

Yes this is a long overdue post. I forgot I had a bunch of Chicago film that I haven't blogged yet. I'm dying for an excuse to shoot more film and really the best excuse is to travel somewhere new. Heck, I'd even take upstate New York. Ok, done whining. I know if I reallllly wanted to blow off some rolls, I could easily do it in my "backyard" that is the East Village.

Kelly on the high line

2011-12-05T15:23:00.002-05:00

When scrapbook design extraordinaire, Kelly, asked me if I could shoot some lifestyle-y portraits for her, I couldn't be happier to oblige. I first met Kelly a little while back at La Colombe where we geeked out over film cameras and the like. She's incredibly nice, has a fantastic smile, and makes the best funny faces. It appears she travels an enviable amount, too.

We popped into Ronnybrook at the Chelsea Market for this final shot. Thanks, Kelly, for having me!

Quiet morning at Peels

2011-12-01T17:00:00.003-05:00

Finally got to check out Peels on an early Sunday morning last weekend. I opted to build my own biscuit with cheddar, scrambled eggs and sausage. As you can see from the picture, I had to pretty much knife and fork it. Good thing even the biscuit on its own was delicious. I was satiated for hours after this seemingly paltry meal (normally my appetite is roaring to go pretty quickly after most meals :P).

Of course, it's a super photogenic spot. I can see why many bloggers and photographers who aren't based in NY flock here when they do visit the city.

Kat & Tommy | City Hall Wedding

2011-11-30T18:38:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share a few scenes from Kat and Tommy's intimate City Hall wedding last week. This is picture heavy so I'll keep the text to a minimum. :)

Below - outside City Hall waiting for rides to Long Island City.

These guys traveled in ultimate style in the trunk. I couldn't help but share this picture. They were really great sports!

And finally, the lovely newlyweds.

The city is incredibly beautiful when you get away from it. I had to stop myself from making almost every picture black and white. I'm just really in that kind of mood.

The whole event is here. Thank you to Kat & Tommy for having me - it was a pleasure!

The prettiest punch

2011-11-29T19:17:00.004-05:00

I got to shoot some of the prettiest punch I have ever seen for this article in Serious Eats. Below are a few different versions and edits from the ones in the slideshow. I am accustomed to shooting in portrait orientation for the blog, but have to switch gears when it comes to Serious Eats slideshows, where landscape shots work best.

1) Rosemary, Baby! from Prime Meats; 2) The Queequeg from The Drink; and 3) Sailor's Punch from Slightly Oliver. I want those scallop-edged bowls! And that blue trunk!

All were dangerously drinkable.

Gramercy tavern fall tastings

2011-11-28T22:34:00.002-05:00

Here's a little blurb from J about our Thanksgiving Eve dinner.

This was actually my first time at Gramercy Tavern. I guess that makes it one of the few restaurants Alice has managed to go to that I haven't. Obviously there was no way I was about to let that stand.

It's an interesting place. We've had most of our more formal meals at more overtly French restaurants, but Gramercy Tavern is in the New American tradition. There's a more overt emphasis on seasonality and perhaps somewhat less complex arrangements. It's an interesting contrast, and an enjoyable experience for planting me firmly in autumn.

The restaurant offers a prix fixe and two tasting menus, one standard and one "vegetable" (emphatically not vegetarian!). We decided to order both tastings. The food was broadly at a very high level, but within that there were a number of highlights.

The lobster salad from the autumn tasting was exquisite; the lobster itself was delightfully textured, while the creamy sunchoke puree harmonized perfectly with the flavor of the lobster itself. Among other accompaniments, little potato chips offered a thoroughly enjoyable texture contrast.

The sunchoke soup was vegetable tasting was similar. It was emphatically vegetable focused but not at all vegetarian, featuring substantial chunks of lobster. It's also lovely to see a dish that meaningfully uses a typical luxury ingredient in a firmly supporting rather than starring role.

The last savory course of special note was the spinach fettuccine on the vegetable tasting, and greatly outshone the corresponding dish on the autumn tasting. The intensity of flavor of the mushrooms was shocking. It was pure earthy, mushroomy goodness.

The desserts were just lovely. Alice's pear dessert was very well-balanced, while I found my deconstructed apple pie (with apple pie ice cream!) satisfying my apple pie craving perfectly.

(Thanks, J. I'll echo the sentiment that my pear dessert almost went down in my books as one of my favorite desserts - ironically, it was the poached pear itself I didn't care for that much. The rest was divine, as I like my desserts both crunchy and creamy in texture.)

His and hers: makeshift studio edition

2011-11-27T19:40:00.003-05:00

Anyone who has visited the apartment has probably heard me complain about the awkward space on the left side of our living room. It's a fair sized space but I haven't been able to figure out what to put there (though I thought it might house a full-sized bar pretty well ;P). For some reason, watching The September Issue inspired us to get a little background stand and shoot in front of it for kicks.

I haven't done one of these his/her looks in ages, so it was the perfect prop to get us wanting to shoot again. Here's what we actually wore today - minus the mustache (c/o Ashley!) and kitteh.

Obviously our white muslin background could use some ironing... and I eventually want to get some colored backdrops for moodier shots. I'm just terrified of the background looking like those hideous ones used reserved for elementary school portraits.

I think we'll leave the stand set up there for now. I want to collect some fun props, and whoever comes by the apartment will be forced to take a photobooth style portrait there. :)

Two years ago...

2011-11-23T13:39:00.004-05:00

Before I shot RAW and before I had a full-frame camera, I baked this apple pie for Thanksgiving. Apparently I took these at 1/25s hand held (whyy?) with my Rebel XTi.

Move along... nothing to see here.

Last year, J and I had a glorious French meal at Adour (thank god I've learned better white balance since that post) the night before Thanksgiving. We decided to keep up that tradition (or I guess, make it a tradition), so we'll be heading to another great restaurant tonight that I've been really wanting to return to. I like to call it stretching out the ole stomach muscles for the next day. Stay tuned for that - I've realized food posts have been majorly lacking on here and that makes me sad! A big part of it is that I just haven't taken the 5D into restaurants lately, and I'm never happy enough with, say, x100 pictures to post them here. (First world problems, I know.)

This is getting too text heavy, but I'll leave it with this: this year, I'm especially thankful to have the opportunity to pursue my dreams of becoming a successful photographer. It sounds so corny in writing, but it's just something I shouldn't take for granted. And of course, thanks to all of you who continue to follow my adventures on lingered upon. :)

Friends on film

2011-11-22T23:25:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I have a pesky bit of film left over on client shoot rolls and end up begging my friends to pose for me. Nicole was in my hood once when I desperately wanted to finish off some film, and she graciously came over and let me shoot her. The last shot is from a jewelry lookbook shoot I recently did for a very talented friend who will hopefully launch her line soon. :)

All Portra 400.

A short update

2011-11-21T21:45:00.006-05:00

I'm going to be bogged down editing for a bit these next few days and attempting (for the 23434th time) to finally organize my disturbingly unorganized files and shoot folders on my drives. For now, here's a little look at these insanely cute girls from a City Hall wedding today (here, we're at a pier in Long Island City). Glittered flats and magenta skirts - obviously I couldn't get enough of these two!

Avedon vs. the ranunculi

2011-11-18T15:01:00.004-05:00

Avedon: Heyyy what're those purple balls doing in my prime spot on the windowsill?? I must go investigate... Maybe they're edible!

Avedon: Hmph, oh well. These purple balls suck! Move them!

Does this post make me a crazy cat lady? Yikes. I better stop this dialogue while I'm ahead. Happy weekend!

Sara + Mike | A Jersey City Engagement

2011-11-17T17:55:00.003-05:00

I had the pleasure of shooting Sara and Mike's engagement session in Jersey City last month. I was introduced to them through the adorable Erin - you've seen her on the blog before! ;)

All shot on Fuji Pro 400H.

I can't explain why but this last shot is probably my favorite. There is something odd and whimsical about it. His hands in front, hers in back. Their expressions.

Old world luxe

2011-11-16T21:37:00.004-05:00

I swooned hard over this 18th century French "hotel" exhibit at the MET. Turns out hotel in that context just meant a private house.

The black and white doesn't really do it justice but you can still make out some of the ornate details. I wish I could have stepped past the velvet ropes and walked around the room!

For the love of negative space

2011-11-15T23:28:00.003-05:00

Here are two more shots from last month's trip to Chicago.

Above: Ektar 100 | Below: Fuji Pro 400H.

Empty beaches are always so photogenic. I am dying to plan another trip somewhere, but it's funny (and terrible) how I now think of traveling primarily as extended photo walks. Everything else (the food, culture, etc. of the place) comes second. I definitely want to escape to warmth come February when the winter starts to really drag on us over here. Currently eyeing Costa Rica...

A good sunday...

2011-11-14T14:44:00.004-05:00

Means spending the afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with black and white film. Unfortunately said film was only ISO 100 so I was pretty restricted in where I could comfortably shoot. Everything here is shot at f1.2 with Fuji Acros 100.

I always forget how awesome black and white film is until I pick it up again.

Out with the old...

2011-11-13T19:29:00.003-05:00

In with the new shiny blog layout! I've had the same layout for this blog from the very first post, so I was long overdue for a change to a less amateur-looking blog. I hope you'll enjoy this cleaner look (yay, sans serifs) and larger photo size (perhaps a little TOO large in some of the single vertical shots... oops). Once again, as both design and code are involved, I have J to thank for all of this brilliance. Can you believe he friggin' DREW the header? In Illustrator? With the pen tool? And he's never used the pen tool ever before that? I guess some of just have it in our blood. I won't even show you the hideous thing I was resorting to use as my header before this one... The pen tool and I don't get along very much at all.

ETA: Please do not view this in Internet Explorer. It looks like crap.

Earlier this week

2011-11-11T14:41:00.003-05:00

Shot at Whitehall in the West Village on Wednesday, a new restaurant with another interior that hits all the right notes for me - industrial and sleek with hints of rustic/woodsy-ness. See the full look + slideshow here. Why yes, I got to sample all of those dishes you see there. It's a tough job, I know.

Above, oysters with smoked bacon and Worcestershire dressing. Below, the talented team - pastry chef Ryan Butler, bar manager John McCarthy, and chef Chris Rendell.

And with that, happy weekend, all!

New 'do

2011-11-10T16:23:00.005-05:00

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you might have seen that I got me a serious fringe with my latest haircut a week ago. I definitely haven't had bangs this short since the first grade and it's amazing how much they can change your look. I'm still having trouble recognizing myself in the mirror.

I popped the +1 close-up filter on my 50mm and did an arm-length selfie here. To address a comment on my last self-portrait post about how I manage to focus properly: actually, whenever I try these, at least four out of five shots are focused on my nose, hair, mouth, etc. Getting it right on the eyes (especially at f1.2) is just trial and error.

Donning my current choice red: NARS lipstick in Joyous Red. :)

Solange + Andre

2011-11-09T21:57:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to share a few film shots from Solange & Andre's Brooklyn lovely no-frills, cozy wedding a few weeks ago. The reception took place at The Farm on Adderley, another one of those restaurants where I would love to go when empty and photograph all the little details and mismatching chairs.

There's a mix of Kodak Portra 160 and Fuji 400H here.

As a side note, I'll be making some changes to the blog hopefully soon, so if you come by and things look broken and all out of place, you'll know why. One of those changes is going to be to post larger pictures, so I'm making my collages bigger nowadays. You can click here for the bigger version of this one.

Nautical

2011-11-08T14:35:00.001-05:00

I was over at The Drink yesterday to shoot some things for Serious Eats and normally I don't go crazy and take pictures of interiors and other details, but when I stepped foot into this bar, every heartstring was tugged to the max. Seriously, could this place be up my alley/aesthetic any more? I snuck these shots in while we were waiting for the real subjects to be ready. The angle of the late afternoon light was just so perfect, I completely geeked out over there. I haven't been this excited about a post in a while!

Note the awesome ceiling of tea-stained maps. Of course, the outdoor garden was just as charming as the inside. Swoon.

Glittering

2011-11-07T10:43:00.002-05:00

On Saturday night, I took the tram to Roosevelt Island for the first time. It's a very quick ride but the view from the back of the tram was not something you get to see every day (well, unless this is part of your daily commute I guess), especially as a downtowner. I later found out that tourists like to ride the tram back and forth and take a zillion photos heh heh.

Snapped these glittering views with the iPhone.

Fall cocktails

2011-11-04T16:12:00.001-04:00

Would love to be sipping on one of these gems from Gramercy Tavern (shot here for Serious Eats) tonight. Below is the Concord Crush and the Fall Classic. It's nice to be able to see the pretty colors of these cocktails in natural light. We never really get to see that!

I recently discovered another fall (ish) favorite - the Pan American Clipper which has got something like apple brandy, lime, grenadine and an absinthe rinse. What's your drink of choice?

Our nook

2011-11-03T17:47:00.003-04:00

I wouldn't exactly call our apartment "done" yet (though, is it really ever??) but I did want to share this little nook at the end of our entryway hallway. I had lofty dreams of a big plush bench here and tons of coffee table books and flowers and artwork, but this will do too. It's getting there! This awesome bench is from The Upper Rust (a haven for antiquey goods and props, not to mention three blocks from the apartment), and I believe it was made from a beer barrel.

These two NYC watercolor sketches are from the talented Suhita of Sketch Away. When we were all cooped up inside on the day of Irene's supposed rampage, I went on an blog surfing binge and came across her work, which I immediately HAD to have. J is all about getting original artwork, so we got these created for us. They were remakes of this and this, both of which are super affordable prints. Suhita mentioned that the cool thing about these two was that they were sketched from the same place in the city. All it required was a turn of the head.

The third sketch is by the awesome Charrow. We came across her work at the Joe Coffee on 13th and were instantly smitten. This particular print is called "Hydrant Jungle" (you must see it up close as it is terribly cute).

P.S. The only downside to this nook is it actually doesn't get much natural light at all. This was shot at an exposure of eight seconds (ISO 400, f5.6). :P

Around and about millenium park

2011-11-02T22:36:00.002-04:00

On Kodak Ektar 100. Some wild colors here. Here was my first time trying this film and I pretty much just overexposed the hell out of it. It would be fun to play with it again, but I should learn how to best expose it.

The "Bean," of course, was oodles of fun (and dizziness/nausea after a bit...).

It was a gorgeous sunny, windy autumn day that day.

Remains

2011-11-01T22:10:00.001-04:00

Lone espresso cup on the window sill at Intelligentsia (of course we had to seek out decent coffee) in Chicago.

Revisiting the self-portrait

2011-10-31T15:40:00.003-04:00

I've been dying to shoot more portraits (I think our new Richard Avedon coffee table book is definitely contributing to my itch) but I just don't get much human interaction during the weekday when I'm working at home, so I settled for the next best thing and attempted some moodier portraits on myself, tripod set, remote in hand.

Damn, expressions are hard. I can really appreciate a good portrait now, having tried to convey different expressions and failing. I realized that generally, when I don't smile in my portraits, I come off as a smug bitch. And smiling is no bueno either, so I end up with the same half-amused barely there smirk in every shot. And these days, I just want to make everything black and white. Maybe it's because of the rapidly approaching winter...

A quintessential nyc engagement

2011-10-30T21:23:00.002-04:00

Laura and John hailed all the way from Dublin for this little engagement session in the city, as engagement sessions are not really a thing over there. They wanted to hit up Central Park and Times Square, and although we New Yorkers usually avoid Times Square like the plague, it was surprisingly fun to shoot among the hoards of people. Below are some of the selects from both locations. All digital this time!

Be sure to take note of Laura's adorable tights. :)

Moseying on over to Times Square...

For the love of succulents

2011-10-28T18:49:00.002-04:00

Such a cool word to say and such a great plant. This little pot from the Brooklyn Flea makes me happy. I'd like a whole sill of them. Also, I love using the close-up filters on my 50mm for shots like this. Instantly macro-fied!

There's snow in the forecast for tomorrow. Apparently we had like two days of autumn this year. Not OK. >:[

Just makin' an appearance

2011-10-27T18:00:00.001-04:00

You didn't forget about me did you?

Maaawwww.

Some recent eats, via iphone

2011-10-26T18:34:00.003-04:00

Sure my new 4S's camera is pretty fantastic and all, but these are obviously no substitute for nice SLR food pics! Still, it's nice to not have to carry an extra point and shoot around if I don't want to/forget. Just wanted to share some casual dinners consumed in the last week or so.

Ridiculous fatty junk food at Lou Malnati's in Chicago. I believe we had BBQ wings, cheesy bread and two types of deep dish pizza with extra buttery crust. Just looking at these pictures is clogging my arteries. We stumbled back to the hotel in a food coma daze.

And if that weren't enough, we were super hungry one night last week and went all out on the comfort food at Kitchenette. Fries + garlic mayo, two crazy indulgent shakes, chicken and biscuits for me, and fried chicken for J.

Finally, some greens in my life! At Soba-ya, some chawan mushi, spinach with sesame sauce, a giant bowl of nabeyaki udon for me, and some duck soba for J.

I suppose I could say I'm padding up for the cold winter ahead...

Degustation, recently

2011-10-25T18:26:00.004-04:00

Even though I've posted meals at Degustation a countless number of times now, I can never resist sharing because we always have a great experience. It's also been our go-to standard "special occasion" (loosely defined) place, and still our whenever-the-hell-we-feel-like-it place. We went for a little day-after-birthday dinner for J after Chicago. Not a single bite I didn't completely enjoy this time (you never know what will sneak on to your plate with these ten-course tastings).

For anyone that hasn't been here yet or is planning on being in the city any time in the future, put this one on your list.

Gratuitous portraits, chicago edition

2011-10-24T15:29:00.003-04:00

Considering when I met him, J barely knew what an SLR was, I'd say he's blossomed into quite the photographer. Now when we head out on photo walks or travel anywhere, he usually gets the 5D while I shoot with the Contax. It's cool that we can geek out over awesome light or backgrounds together (usually he gets more technical than I care to know!). So as I wait for my Chicago film to be ready, I can share some stuff he took (processed by me). Whee!

On an unrelated note, I was very uncomfortable in glasses until fairly recently. I suffered a pretty bad infection back after a trip to China (I was an idiot to wear contacts on the 13-hour plane ride back) and my eyes have never been quite the same - they are extremely sensitive and dry now, i.e, they get bloodshot all too easily. Of course, I rebelled a lot and wore contacts despite doctor's warnings. Thank you, Warby Parker, for letting me feel just as "pretty" and confident in this trendy pair. :P I still feel different in glasses, but in a good way. Now if someone could only make fog-proof glasses for nasty summer days and eating hot soup...

Pretty girls and a guessing game

2011-10-21T12:22:00.004-04:00

We couldn't have asked for better weather for this shoot in Central Park early one Sunday morning. Ashley, Jeremy, Deverie and Lizzie were so fun to shoot and made my job easy peasy. Ashley is moving out of the city by the end of this year (DAMMIT :'() and she and a few of her best friends got together for a photo hoorah.

Now here's the fun part for you - one of these pictures below is a rogue digital shot converted and processed to look like b/w film. The others were taken on Fuji Neopan 100. Can you guess which one of these is not like the other?

Now what we really need is someone to take a good photo of Ashley and me! Our last resort is ghettoly rigging it up with a tripod and remote...

Happy Friday all! I'm off to an engagement shoot this evening and one tomorrow. Should be fun. :)

Our reason for chicago

2011-10-20T15:50:00.003-04:00

So the main reason we headed to the windy city for a few days was a glorious glorious reservation at Alinea, you know, the best restaurant in North America. I made the reservation on August 1st (crazy right?) and meant it to be a little birthday surprise for J. When I couldn't get through after the 298th phone call, I was convinced I'd need to resort to Plan B. I guess 300th's the charm?

There's not much I can say about this place that hasn't been said by all the serious eaters out there who know a LOT more about the place than I do. I was just there to enjoy an experience that you really can't find in NYC. I was a total wimp and skipped out on a wine pairing and requested just a few glasses that I could nurse throughout dinner. J got a petit pairing, which still turns out to be nine light-ish pours. Basically, if you get a legit pairing, it seems like you'll be drinking a good bottle and a half to two bottles of wine on your own. You would have had to roll me out of there.

Either I was having a really off day photography wise, or we were sat under the worst light in the restaurant, because these were pretty horrific before (and after) some heavy post processing. But, how could I not share one of the best meals of my life? :) Sorry for not putting more detail into this post - it would literally fast become a novel if I described how we were instructed to eat each one... and this ain't the blog for that.

This last thing was a craaazy chocolate "pinata" of sorts. Best to watch this video to get the whole gist of it.

Well, now that that's off the bucket list... Paris?

An nyc city hall wedding and the rain

2011-10-18T18:53:00.002-04:00

If you remember the little teaser I posted a few weeks back, you'll remember the fun Kayla and Tiho still managed to have after their photo session got completely rained out. From the moment I saw Kayla's striking red shoes, I knew it was going to be a great shoot.

I wanted to share some pictures from their day. When the ceremony started, we all kinda cracked up because the officiant had a booming enthusiastic show-time voice. Eventually, we managed to get it together. :P

Wohoo! The day looked sunny and we started the film session with little worry for the weather. Below you can see what ensued...

Aren't they beautiful? It was an honor to shoot their wedding and I can't wait to photograph their "second wedding" in 2013!

Stumbling upon a new leaf

2011-10-17T15:21:00.002-04:00

We didn't really have a set itinerary for Chicago so much of our time was spent walking around rather aimlessly. I think the best discovery of our trip was this amazing event space and floral studio, A New Leaf. The place reminded me of my favorite community garden (on 9th and C blogged about here and here) but on crack. My pictures do not do this place justice.

Also all the workers there were super friendly and nice. Especially when I was poking my head into every little corner and snapping pictures - they were so welcoming about it all. I wanted to share this place so much that I purposefully shot it all on digital so I wouldn't be waiting on my film!

I think there was a wedding scheduled there later that day. The event space, which is connected to the studio, is stunning with very cool architecture. I would kill to shoot a wedding there. :)

Back from the windy city

2011-10-16T22:47:00.002-04:00

Are we sick of the obligatory autumn leaf toss pic yet? :P I couldn't help myself when I saw this field of perfect crunchy orange leaves in Millenium Park. Chicago was great. We had a pretty lazy trip overall and didn't cram too much in. Sometimes that's just the way to do it. Updates to come!

A little fun around madison square park

2011-10-12T20:01:00.002-04:00

I had a great time shooting some casual portraits for Stefie and Marcus last month. I know Marcus from college and Stefie, I originally "met" through her food blog - Four Tines. This girl doesn't mess around when it comes to food writing! This session was actually the first time I got to meet Stefie in person. Ahh, worlds collide.

All shot on Kodak Portra 400 - the b/w ones were obviously converted. The Flatiron building may just be my favorite in NYC... and the afternoon involved a little run to La Maison du Macaron. What's a shoot without the clichéd sweets/baked goods these days? :P

I'm heading to Chicago tomorrow. Much to come on that.

He's the boss

2011-10-11T22:01:00.003-04:00

Avedon has quickly gained his title as boss of the household. He'll do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and we'll just have to deal. :P

Recent shots from an early evening on the windowsill, one of his favorite places to chill. I taped up the black window frame with white gaffer tape for photo's sake... shhhh.

Who could say no to that face?

An exception

2011-10-10T20:50:00.003-04:00

For me, it's very rare that I'll order the exact same dish every time I go somewhere. Even rarer is that J and I will order the exact same dish so that we can't share and benefit from more variety. Ippudo is the exception. I've been coming here since 2008 when the wait for two on a Friday night was a gentle 20-30 mins at prime dinner time. Now, Friday night waits for two (well, first of all, I'd NEVER even attempt to go there on a Friday night now) are enough to make you look at the hostess like she had three heads and sulk out of there in search of plan B. It is NO secret that Ippudo's ramen is the best in the city. And it's not like I haven't given other ramen joints a chance!

Here's my message to all of you who haven't been here and plan on going at some point and to all of you who have been going and ordering the wrong things - I NEVER stray from this order: Hirata pork buns to start and the Akamaru Modern after that. I always always get the Akamaru Modern with the Nitamago (seasoned soft boiled egg) topping and a side of Bakudan (super spicy sauce to mix in). They've changed the sauce in the past year or so and now it's significantly spicier than it once was. It's $2 for the scoop, but I do wish I could ask for a 25 cent amount of it, which would be perfect. If you're more like J, you'll get the Akamaru Modern with the Kakuni (braised pork belly) topping. You can't go wrong with either of our choices.

Ah those first few sips are pure ramen bliss. (Never mind these less-than-ideal food photos taken at ISO 3200 with the X100.)

Now you know exactly what to order. The hard part is getting yourself in without the unbearable wait. ;) I'd recommend Sunday nights before last call - maybe 10pm or so, or Sunday mid afternoon around 3:30pm. Or of course you can show up right at opening lunch or dinner times during the week.

Happy nom-ing!

No start, no end

2011-10-07T16:34:00.003-04:00

It's funny that I still use "happy friday" because now fridays are more or less meaningless to me. As a photographer (especially where weddings are involved), there really is no work week. It's all the same, and fridays probably signify the START of a heavy working weekend. I'll be second shooting on Saturday and shooting my own on Sunday. God I need a massage. I haven't blogged much "real work" lately because I'm waiting on a few shoots in film.

I think Ashley had to take this shot because she's much taller than I am, and saw me struggling to reach up as far as I could with the Contax. It's such a happy shot. I love her Chucks and the disheveled nature of my shoelaces.

Sleepy kitteh

2011-10-05T21:55:00.002-04:00

Still no Internet and it appears alicegao.com is down at the moment too. GAH. So sucky.

Avedon has found his new favorite spot on the windowsill. His fur is so soft it is UNREAL. He's kinda been keeping us awake throughout the night by playing with his jingly mouse toys - I thought cats were supposed to sleep like all the time?? He also has a funny habit of not drinking from his water bowl but always drinks from our human water glasses, sticking his whole face in the cup to reach the water. Doh.

Contax 645 | Polaroid back

Friends

2011-10-03T21:06:00.003-04:00

I'm blogging this entirely from my phone as my Internet has been down since early afternoon. Grrr. So please excuse the brevity. Here's a gif sneak peek of Sunday morning's shoot with Ashley (you remember the gorgeous red head that is no stranger on this blog :p) and her friends. We were lucky to have some gorgeous weather in Central Park. It was a great time. Although fighting parents with strollers for ideal park spots was a bitch. They invaded our first spot within minutes.

No better way to welcome Autumn!

Meow

2011-10-02T18:18:00.002-04:00

He's here!! The wait for my "exciting news" is over. Last weekend we went to visit this charming little guy in his foster home and were totally smitten. Today his foster care brought him over and he's adjusting pretty well so far. After a few minutes of hiding under the bed and the couch, he came out to play!

So handsome, right?? We're not sure what breeds he is but we suspect he has some Russian Blue in him.

We've named him Avedon (after Richard of course). Don/Donnie for short. :)

I'll try not to overload the blog with pictures (these were shot on the x100) of him, but I can't promise that...

Good old instant gratification

2011-09-30T14:52:00.003-04:00

I don't really use the polaroid back for the Contax all that much because the focus is a bit off on mine, but as I have a bunch of rolls of film to send off, I was impatient to see something NOW. I love the dreamy quality it produces.

Happy Friday all! I'm working most of the weekend but should have something très exciting to share with you all later on Sunday. Not photo related and I can hardly wait. :D

Rain on your wedding day

2011-09-29T19:28:00.003-04:00

Today I had the privilege of shooting the lovely Miss Kayla's wedding to her man, Tiho, at City Hall. We were all a little worried about the weather but things looked good when we got out of the hall. The sun was even shining. As we headed toward the Brooklyn Bridge, the sky started turning black as night and the air got thicker. We forged onward, determined to get some bridge shots.

Of COURSE it would start torrentially pouring on us around then. We had no cover near us and no umbrellas. Kayla kicked off her shoes and we scurried back. We finally made it under the safety net of this building and we were all still in pretty good spirits despite our wet rat state. Kayla and Tiho - you guys were the best sports EVER. It was such an experience and I'll never forget it!

Aren't they so darn cute? I made this little gif after we got soaked. And now we play the waiting game for the film shots!

Boutique

2011-09-28T18:47:00.002-04:00

I always walk by the cute storefront of Cloak and Dagger in my 'hood but have yet to step inside. I'm sure it's chockfull of charming finds.

Kodak Portra 400 on Canon 1V (cropped to square).

On that same block is this great antiques shop with killer finds, The Upper Rust. I would love to just take home everything from that place.

Apologies for lack of content on the blog recently. As other things are picking up, I'm losing time to shoot for myself. I was cleaning out my harddrive the other day (was down to like 20GB of free space, eek!) and it's amazing how much J and I used to squeeze in on a weekend day. Just following along with the pictures, I was reminded of how many new places we'd check out and photograph every weekend. Nowadays, weekends are weddings and errands and bumming in the downtime. Alas, I am only human.

Botanicals

2011-09-26T18:14:00.001-04:00

Fun with a dark background and some flowers I have around.

About as tame as friday nights get

2011-09-23T23:41:00.002-04:00

Watching this kid on youtube while being somewhat oblivious to J's attempts at shooting me with off-camera flash. He was muttering something about trying to achieve a sort of rim light on one side of me. Meh, flash, shmlash. (Ok that isn't fair - it'd be great to learn how to use off-camera flash effectively, I suppose.)

Seeing red

2011-09-22T17:55:00.002-04:00

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw these tiny ranunculuses at Sunny's the other day. I did a triple take because I didn't think you could find them at any florist at this time of year! You can't really tell from this picture, but these buds are eensy weensy. Ah, and so very dreamy. :)

Shot with a +2 close-up filter on the 50mm f1.2. I eventually stopped down to about f/3.2 on this one, because otherwise I'd have half a petal in focus and the other not!

They look just as cute through an Instagram lens.

Obviously my obsession continued from there and I grabbed a few on film too. Oh AND I shot a few on the x100. I was looking for my Polaroid too but it seems to be MIA since the move. Yikes.

Workshoppin'

2011-09-20T17:26:00.003-04:00

On Saturday I attended the Food Photography for Bloggers workshop run by William and Susan Brinson (House of Brinson). I knew their space was going to be awesome from the photos on Design Sponge, so I was extra excited about seeing it with my own eyes. It was quite a space! It pretty much made me want to toss out all our furniture and hunt down unique antiques. :P

I wanted to learn how to take moodier and darker food photos. A lot of it is in the right props, so I will need to find myself some dark linens like the awesome burlap cloths I used below. Seeing how simple black and white foamboards and even small black cards placed strategically affected the overall mood was very interesting. Of course I had read about such techniques in books but it made a huge difference to actually see it in person and to try it myself.

Man they make it look so easy! I'm still most comfortable with candid restaurant food photography but this kind of careful styling and the real good stuff is something I want to improve on, especially as I hopefully start cooking more... erm, yeah, about that...

Some shots I took at the 'shop. Yes, we got to sample the foods. :D

Thanks to the Brinsons for a great experience!

Treats for the week

2011-09-19T13:15:00.002-04:00

Nothing like a dozen colorful macarons to make the upcoming week look pretty damn good. These babies are from bisous ciao in the Lower East Side. I'm looking forward to the blood orange with dark chocolate ganache - one of my all-time favorite flavor combinations.

I think I'll serve with a little Darjeeling or Dorian Grey for the perfect afternoon pick-me-up.

Sweater weather

2011-09-16T19:19:00.004-04:00

Happy Friday and thank you all for your sweet comments on yesterday's post. And to those who commented for the first time - hello and it's so good to hear from you! I have been very lucky to have your support and kind words.

So the temperature dropped something like 30+ degrees in two days and I think we're all pretty excited to bust out the boots and blazers and scarves.

In very happy news, I have a properly working Canon film 35mm SLR again. I shot a test roll and here are two frames. Yay, no focusing issues! Well except for my own mis-focusing in some of them. I found the auto focus to be a bit flaky, which is odd because I think it's supposed to be better than on the digital system.

The Canon 1V is HEAVYYY. I mean with the 50mm f1.2 on it, I felt like I was carrying a hunk of bricks. I guess what's great about it is that it's weatherproof. I'll have to take her out during the next big storm we have. :)

Mornings, lately

2011-09-15T14:15:00.002-04:00

Some snippets of the apartment taken on Tuesday morning. It feels so good to have film work to show again. I stopped for a while because it was getting to be frighteningly expensive, but seeing film results always make my heart flutter in a way that digital cannot.

It's been busy busy busy over here and lots of priorities have shifted. I remember I used to spend at least a few hours shopping every week - yes, EVERY week. Now of course there is no time (and no money) for that. It's been hard to put together another his look/her look post because my style/wardrobe has been the least of my concerns and focus. I recently had the strangest sensation that I couldn't wait to be in my 30s (when I've usually feared that). Maybe then I will be finally secure - in this saturated competitive industry and in myself and what I'm doing. Of course, it'd be great if I could achieve all that while still in my 20s. ;)

I try not to complain too much on the blog because it's my happy place, but shit, this is HARD. Having to handle the business side of things and producing all the creative work and trying to be PROFITABLE after everything (the insurance, the equipment, the upkeep of equipment, the film!, misc. random costs that you never think about when you decide you to make the jump into the freelance world) - it is a lot to swallow. I mean, do I regret making the leap and pursuing photography full time? HELL NO. I knew it wasn't going to be all fun and games. I knew tears and sweat would be shed. I knew I would probably never shop at Saks again (:P), but I also know that my eventual success and achievements would be a DIRECT result of the work and effort that I put in. I would produce things that I could call mine. And the little triumphs along the way are so much more meaningful than, say, a promotion at some job or a shiny new office could ever be to me.

I'm chugging along because there's something good (no - great) to be had out of all this. Day to day, I'm happy and I love what I'm working towards, but just wish I could learn the ropes better and faster. What a crazy ballgame this all is.

(And to think this was just going to be a post with pretty morning light photos! Oops.)

Thick as the night

2011-09-13T20:51:00.002-04:00

I thought I'd share some unpublished film scans from Hawaii today because I'm really craving another trip out of the city. This bamboo forest in Maui was ridiculous. The bamboo was so dense it was nearly dark as night in the forest. The two shots below don't even depict the thickest and darkest part of it - (can only do so much with ISO 400 film - slide film at that!). We were even told by the park ranger to make sure we headed back before 3pm because it would get so dark that people would get lost finding their way back.

The real lovely part was the gentle sound of the canes knocking against each other in the wind and the leaves bristling about. What a sweet soundtrack to accompany us on our little hike.

Neighborhood eats

2011-09-12T18:21:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I've had a proper dining out, but here's some recent fun with the x100 and nearby food. I have some issues with focusing on this camera, but otherwise, it's a nifty restaurant camera that isn't quite as ridiculous and imposing as the 5D.

Chorizo benedict (left) and chickpea hash (right) from El Cobre's brunch menu. J and I went again two days ago. Safe to say we're going to eat through the whole menu soon.

My haloumi salad + Lauren's mozzarella sandwich and Ian's smoked salmon (I think?) sandwich from a lazy lunch at Cafe Orlin.

As far as unpacking goes... well, it hasn't. I ache for the day all cardboard boxes are out of sight. How do other people manage to get settled in to a new place so seemingly effortlessly!

Ten years

2011-09-11T20:00:00.002-04:00

I'm a bit late to post on this today, but it feels a bit strange to not acknowledge it at all. I dug up these shots of my parents in July 1990 across the water (I was two and still in China at that point). I'm grateful we have these memories in pictures.

I love this city.

Fun in the upper west

2011-09-08T21:50:00.004-04:00

Some recent fun times with Ashley and Brian in their neighborhood. I had a blast shooting them! It's always a wee bit intimidating when another photographer trusts you to take her portraits. I love the variety of her many expressions. :)

I just can't get enough of this girl. Some film shots from the session to come soon hopefully!