The Fallbrook Fruit Packing Plant

I've been shooting the old Fruit Packing Plant in Fallbrook for years - I've blogged about it before.

The renovations are almost complete, and I wanted to get a shot of the building at this stage - that was my main goal today. But I also wanted to play with the plastic sheeting, and chain link fence on the west side of the building. The way the sheeting was looped and tucked, and the way it blew and shimmered in the breeze was compelling to me, and I knew I could get some fun images of it.

And my final goal today was to get a shot to submit to a Day in the Life project some friends were putting together - today is Leap Day, so what better day for a bunch of photographers all over the world to all submit one photo, and then create a slide show that takes the viewer all over the world, all on one day, hour by hour, and minute by minute. Fun!











So those are the documentary shots. Now onto the fun stuff!














And finally, this is the shot I submitted to the Day in the Life Project. It's the lock on the front gate - and I love the way the light hits the fence, and the shadows on the sidewalk. It's a very simple image - just a picture of a gate - but I love it!

Is it Spring?

Iconic Portraits: Part Two

Yesterday I blogged about an iconic image - an image that I created - that defines me as an artist. It's an image that defines my art, my business, and my style.

But I'm not always the one taking the photograph...

I think that everyone has a favorite image of themselves. I have several! And I want to share them, because if I have one wish for my business it's that I hope to give my clients images they love of themselves as much as I love and treasure these images of me. Everyone deserves that! Everyone deserves a little magic - and the right photograph can give you that.


This first image is in my opinion, the best image ever taken of me! It was shot by one of my closest friends at the time - the incredibly talented Kevin Mann during his first semester in a beginning photography class. We were in my backyard, it was dusk, he had a cheap clamp-on lightbulb, and he insisted on spraying me with a hose. I thought it was a little nuts! But he believed firmly in what he was doing - and he was right - and he shot a magical portrait. He printed it huge, and it still hangs on my wall in my bedroom. When I think of myself, this is the image in my head.


This next image is my first real headshot - from my hugely successful acting career in LA. Not really... I took lots of classes - from a well-known teacher who had published a book on acting - he was the real deal. But auditioning in LA was very different than auditioning in San Diego, and I was just not ready. So I decided to take a break, moved back and started to study photography, so that I could shoot other actor's headshots when I went back to LA. But I fell in love with photography, and never went back to LA. It was not the plan, and I never would have guessed I could love something more than acting - but I did and I do and I have no regrets. But I still love this headshot! It was shot by Willa Burns in Oceanside and I was 22.


And this one was shot by me! With a plastic camera, a big fan, a tiara, and some BBQ tongs so I could trip the shutter - really weird setup, but I love the results. I shot this in 2004 as part of a whole series of self-portraits - but this one is my favorite!

So those are the three iconic portraits of me. Everyone should have at least one!


This last one is not iconic - but it is fun! I found it as I was looking for my first headshot, and wanted to share it too. It was shot at the very end of my big acting career - right before I started to study photography. I wasn't very happy as an actress at that point - and I think you can see that in my face. I just look a little off. But you gotta love the hair!

Iconic Portraits: Part One

In 1994 I got my first job as a photographer. I wasn't hired because of my portfolio, or my education, or my skills - I was hired because of my enthusiasm and passion for the art. I REALLY wanted it, and luckily the person doing the hiring thought that was a big asset and took a chance on me. I got a little training - basically set the camera and the lights up like this, use these poses, and work as fast as you can, while making sure the client has a great time. It was a great job! But after a month or so I got bored with the standard poses, and I started to focus more on finding the perfect angle for each person I shot. I started looking for the beauty in that person. And my sales shot way up! I got used to having at least one person dissolve into tears each day - because they never thought they could look that beautiful. It was a very very cool time in my life!

But I started to get bored... I wanted more. I wanted to change the way the lights were set up, I wanted to move the camera, and I wanted to go outside and shoot. I wanted to actually understand how the camera and the film and lights worked. I didn't want to just set it and forget it, and follow a standard set of poses anymore. Was that asking so much?

So I left that job and started to take photography classes, and then spent the next ten years in the darkroom. I loved everything about the darkroom - the smells, the chemicals, the way you work all day to get one perfect print. There's just nothing else like a black and white darkroom...

During that first year of school I shot an image that still perfectly defines my style as a photographer. I consider it to be one of my iconic images. There are several very sweet shots on that same roll of film, but this one image, with the wet hair, and the thumb in the mouth, and the big dark eyes - it just says so much about me, as a photographer. I initially titled it "Pure Rock n' Roll" and I still think that's a very fitting title.

I've thought about retiring it - it was shot in 1995, so it's nearly thirteen years old now - and I've shot thousands of other beautiful images. But something about this one is just so special, and so rock n' roll, and so me.

For me, it's an iconic image. It's who I was at the time I shot it, and it's still pretty much who I am now - all these years later.

Karina

Back in December - back when the weather was gorgeous - I did a session with Karina and never blogged it, so I'm posting it now!


This is my favorite image from the session - it's all about the eyes!






And finally, Karina with her violin - such a gorgeous instrument!

Jamie and Jessica

I did a quick engagement session yesterday morning with a really cute couple - Jamie and Jessica. They're getting married in 2009!














Jessica is going to be a stunning bride - such beautiful and expressive eyes!




And a great-looking groom as well!

Studio Update: The Inside!

I got some more painting done this week, so I figured it was time to finally shoot some pictures of the interior of the studio. It's not officially done yet - there are still little tasks I want to complete - but it's pretty close! Close enough for photos, anyway...


This is my favorite part of the whole studio - and it's what you see when you first walk in the door. The big images are gallery wrap canvases - exactly the same as painters use - only these are a photographic image. Canvases like this are really hot right now - and I can have them made in just about any size you can imagine. More on those on another day!

The couch is over a hundred years old - I bought it last summer from a family in Point Loma - their great aunt had brought it with her from the East Coast, and it was custom made for her family in 1904. I'm totally in love with it, and at some point I plan to get it reupholstered in white Matelasse - but for now I'm enjoying the green. It's not a color I would have chosen, but I really like it!

The one thing I don't like is that outlet right in the middle of the wall - but you know, it's awfully convenient at times... I'd like it better though if it was lower on the wall - like low enough for the couch to hide it? Maybe someday!


Backing up a little, here's a wide view - and you can see one of my skylights. The table in the foreground is also over a hundred years old. The grandfather clock was made by my grandfather, for my grandmother and as the oldest grandchild I inherited it. It needs to make a trip to a clock doctor - it's not working right now - but if you walk by it, the chimes shimmy in it, and it's a pretty sound.


From this view you can see the front door - and the backside of my cute little sign. And the LCD TV where I show my work...


Another view of the LCD TV and the fireplace - and yes, I'd love to hide those two cords... Give it time, and it'll happen!


And this is my work area. I designed and made the desk and the black table in the corner - they both use legs from tablelegs.com and from there it was just a matter of doing the math, to get the size and shape and mass I wanted. I had a very specific picture in my head, and couldn't find a desk that fit - so I made my own!


And this elegant sideboard - circa 1885, or earlier - is my favorite purchase in the past year! I actually designed the whole studio around it. It doesn't look it in this image, but it's absolutely massive - taller than I am, with a nice high counter perfect for wrapping up packages and doing other tasks you need a counter for. I would love to get all the clutter off it, and let it just sit there, elegant and beautiful, but the truth is I use it and work at it and it's very functional. Some of that clutter is going away in a week or two, but it will never be just a pretty piece of furniture - it's a working counter and storage area!


And here's the final corner. I can and do shoot inside - with natural light from all the windows or with studio lights. So I've hung a rod between two antique cloak hooks, and I'm able to hang fabric to use as a background. Right now I've got five different fabrics I can use, and I plan to replace them occasionally - so I have something new and fun to use!


And finally just my desk - with some sun flair! The rest of the images in this post are so straight and documentary in feel - can you blame me for wanting to have a little fun? And the light and the colors reflect how I feel about my desk and computer. I feel like I make magic here at times - so why not shoot it the way I feel it?

So that's the studio part of the studio! If that's all you're interested in you can stop reading now. But if you're like me, and you like seeing how other people live, I have a few more images you might be interested in...

Whenever I go to a show at an art colony or anytime I'm in an artist's loft, I'm mostly interested in the art, but I'll admit it - I also love to see how they live. I want to see where the bed is, and what the kitchen is like. Because it's usually not like your average house - it's a chic loft with paint on the floor and interesting people wandering in and out, and it's intriguing! I don't live in a loft - it's just an old farm house - but I do have some paint on the floor still, and interesting people do wander through occasionally...


The bedroom...


The bathroom, complete with the famous red clawfoot tub!


And my tiny kitchen, which I designed and built myself. I have a dishwasher, a great toaster over, one burner, a crock pot, and a refrigerator/freezer - but no microwave. And I don't miss it at all! And I do plan to call an electrician at some point and hide those cords too.


And to end the tour, I'll include this photo of my front door at sunset. If you come to visit me in the early evening, this is what it looks like!

Innkeeper Wanted

I'm posting this just because I think it's cute!

Studio Update: New Signs!

After painting my front door, I installed my new signs, and compared to the painting, hanging signs was a breeze. And I think they look lovely. I'm VERY pleased!


You can see both of my new signs in this shot - the main sign at the foot of the stairs, and at the top of the stairs, you can see my front door and tiny little sign...


Another angle of the main sign.


And my tiny sign on the door. It's only ten inches across, but for this door and this logo it's the perfect size! I designed it myself, printed it out, and lived with it for a few days before ordering it, to be sure it was just right - and it is. In fact, it's even better since it's installed.

Thank you to Jim's Sign Shop for all your help - you rock!

Guess what I'm doing today?

Tedious, tedious, tedious...

Rock Star: Season Three

Got some lovely news yesterday! Rock Star III is still a very real possibility! In an interview with thedeadbolt.com, Mark Burnett said...

"Yes, it’s funny... you look at these online studies and one of the most requested shows to come back, from anything I’ve done, is Rock Star. And yes, I’m in discussions with various bands. But there is one flaw as a business in that you have to find a suitable rock band that actually wants to find a new lead singer. So you’ve got a barrier to entry, but yes, we are in discussions and people do want to see that series again."

He's looking for a band? He's in discussions? Such GREAT news!

Mr. Burnett, this is a direct plea to you! Please listen to those who are telling you they want the show back! And don't worry if you can't get a band - we WANT you to find a band, but if you can't find one that's no reason to discard the show... Just do like we did with All-Stars and let the public decide. We had a lot of fun, and had a GREAT ending with All-Stars, and I firmly believe you don't need a band for this show. And if you feel you need the star power, invite Tommy Lee and Tim Farriss back to join Dave Navarro as judges, and give them a say in the decision, but make the "prize" for the winner, a record contract and solo tour with the House Band. It could work...

And to anyone who loved the show as much as me, this is a direct plea to YOU! More letters! More letters! More letters! If Mark Burnett is considering it, let's give him even more reasons to go for it!

Join our Big Letter Writing Campaign at RBL! It's clear that the public is being heard, so I've decided to split my letters between CBS and Mark Burnett Productions. In the past it seemed smarter to concentrate on CBS, but since Mark Burnett is the one talking about the show right now, and he has serious clout, I wanted to throw half my letters directly to his company.

Ghen Maynard
Executive Vice President
CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group
7800 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Conrad Riggs
Mark Burnett Productions
640 North Sepulveda Boulevard
2nd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90049

Just do it. Just write a letter or two. When your favorite show comes back it'll feel really good to know you were a part of the reason it's on!

Downtown Fallbrook

So I took a little walk downtown on Main Street today, and did a little documenting...


Diva's always has the best window displays. Right now they're featuring dresses made out of tissue paper and these really pretty lamps. It's very creative - and their windows always are - and they have a lot of windows! My grandparents used to own shoe stores and my Grandma did beautiful displays - it's definitely an art form.

I love the way the street and the traffic lights are reflected in the window. And you can see through the window, back out to the other side of the street, as well as into the shop. It's just a really interesting shot with lots of levels.


A view of another window, with yet another lamp and more reflections.


For years Fallbrook didn't have a place to buy fabric, but it looks like we do again. These bolts of a plastic-y fabric for outdoor use, were sitting outside, and inside there were people happily shopping.


It's not unusual to see a vintage car like this parked on the street. I think there are more classic cars in the area than anywhere else in California, and the owners like to show them off!


On Main Street some of the buildings are really old, and some are made to look that way, and it's sometimes hard to tell the difference - which is a good thing.


I love this sign! The Mission Theatre runs a dance school across the street, so their students are often seen darting across. In this case, "Dancer Xing" is accurate.


The Mission Theatre was built in 1948, and the inside still has some great original details. They do mostly children's theatre now, but in the past they did adult productions, and before that it was all movies.


As I've mentioned before, the building my studio is in, Elder House, was a school until only recently - and the traffic signs haven't been removed yet.


I love to watch leaves fluttering in the breeze. I shot nearly thirty frames of these leaves as they blew wildly, and considered putting together an animation. Maybe...


And of course there are some pretty little plants along Main Street...


These trees are just now blooming - so pretty!


And my favorite shot of the day! Who knew some leaves and stems could be so yummy?

Provisional Voting

I had an interesting experience at the polls today. When I first registered to vote, at age 18, I registered with one party - but I haven't always voted for the candidates put forth by that party. I tend to pick my candidate based on who they are as a person, and what they espouse, and less on what party label they wear. So today, I once again was attracted to a candidate for president in the other party, but I realized it was the first time I've ever felt that way in a Primary Election - so I explained to the poll worker what I wanted to do, and asked how best to accomplish that - since obviously if they handed me the ballot for my "official" party, my preferred candidate's name would not appear on it.

The poll worker told me first it wasn't possible - that I should have changed my party affiliation before the deadline, and now it was impossible. So then I asked how to write-in a candidate's name, and she said that I could do that, but it probably wouldn't count. And I told her that was fine, I might still do it anyway! She was completely kind and helpful, but luckily another poll worker nearby heard the exchange and grabbed the policy book and looked it up and discovered that I could indeed vote under another party, using a Provisional Ballot. Yeah!

So I got my special little peach colored envelope and as they explained it to me, the guy in line behind me said he wanted to do the same thing. And we all kind of laughed over it. Here I was the first person all day with that question - and it was really late in the day - and now they had two of us in a row. So I went over to the little cardboard voting booths and filled in the little bubbles with a pen - no electronic voting in Fallbrook! And when I was done, and waiting to hand over the peach envelope with my provisional ballot, I noticed a bunch of people getting peach envelopes. Now they could have been people from other areas, people who have recently moved - there are lots of reasons to use a provisional ballot. But as I left I smiled at the poll worker who had helped me and said, "Wow, there are lots of us all of a sudden!" and she smiled back and said, "Yeah, you really started something!" and she gave me the OK sign.

It made me feel good to realize that I'm not the only one - and also to know that because I asked the question, it opened the door to other voters getting to vote for the candidate they truly believe in, rather than having to stick to their official party's candidates. I have no idea who they all voted for - but I think it's VERY cool they got to make the choice they really wanted to make!

De Luz Schoolhouse

There's a little one-room schoolhouse in De Luz - the only other existing one-room schoolhouse that I know of in this area, is in Anza, and it's the school my great-grandma attended. She was born in 1904, lived to be 100-years-old, and rode a donkey five miles to get to school. But this post isn't about her, it's about the schoolhouse in De Luz - which is situated in the prettiest oak grove. It's peaceful and quiet, the ground is fertile and rich, and the oak trees are the tallest I've ever seen. It's paradise.


De Luz Elementary was built in 1927 and one teacher taught all eight grades. In 1968 the school was closed, and since then the building has been used as De Luz Ecology Center.


The tiny post office may look like someone's idea of a little joke, but there really are mailboxes in the side of the building.

I've shot in the area many times, but today was different. It was a gray cloudy day, and the light was flat except for a few brief moments when the sun broke through. But flat, subdued light can be be quite beautiful if you have the right subject matter. So this time I didn't shoot the big soaring trees, or try for majestic landscapes - instead I mostly went after the subtle details that usually get lost in stronger light. And I found some wickedly beautiful details...


Leaves on an oak tree.






Have you ever seen grass this pretty?


Where they've cut off a limb, the tree oozes sap.










These sheep are very lucky - they live in paradise, have plenty of room to roam, and look healthy and happy.

I was the only human in the area, so I thought they were all watching me, but shortly after I shot this image I saw some coyote footprints, and it occurred to me that this was the kind of day when wildlife is more active - and it's the exact kind of day I've seen bobcats and mountain lions in the past, and here I was all by myself, with no other humans around, and I was concentrating on blades of grass and leaves? I'm usually smarter than that... So I decided to call it a day, and got back to my car, and then watched as a nice-looking healthy coyote trotted across the street. I am not afraid of one lone coyote, but a mountain lion is a different matter.


And finally I shot this image on the way out to De Luz. I shot the same tree in December on a pretty sunny day, and the difference today, just two months later was striking. Where the hill was brown before, today it was green. Where the sky was bright blue in December, today it was gray. Very, very different day, and very different image - but still a really beautiful and striking tree.


And the freshest little weed...

For more on the De Luz Schoolhouse, go to:
http://www.fallbrook.org/history/de-luz-school.asp

Catching up...

Couple of things on mind today! First, it's been an entire month since I gave up Diet Coke and it feels wonderful to no longer be in the clutches of that monster addiction. Okay, maybe it's not a monster addiction compared to cigarettes or heroin, but since I've never done either of those two things, caffeine was my monster - and it's official - I've slayed it.

So since it's February first, I figured I was ready for a new goal, but I couldn't decide which one to go for - so I'm picking two. One is simple, straight-forward and easy to determine if I'm sticking to it or not. The other is a bit more ethereal and harder to define if or when I've truly achieved it - but that's okay, just the attempt is worth doing! So my goals for February are no more junk food unless it's a special and social occasion. A hot dog at the fair, chips at a party, ice cream at a friends house - all good! Hitting the drive-through window for dinner because I'm so busy? Not so good.

The second, more ethereal goal is to catch more of the opportunities that flutter by... You know, the thought you have and never act on? I want to act on a few more than normal this month. I think as a rule, artists tend to grab more of those slippery little opportunities than the rest of the population - but hey, there's always more, more, more!


This was in my fortune cookie last night - I'll take is as a sign I'm on the right track!

On another topic, we named our Ultimate Rock Star at RBL - and the winner is also my personal favorite - Marty Casey. It's been a fun ride the last few weeks, and the ending was great! David Goffin, executive producer of Rock Star stopped by to let us in some news about his next project - which sounds very cool! And then later, our Ultimate Rock Star himself, Marty Casey, stopped by to give a very funny and yes, heartfelt acceptance speech. Perfect ending to a really fun couple of months!


Edited to Add: Here's a screenshot of the front of Marty Casey's official site, with a mention of the win.