Frame 0

Frame 0 | Jardin Majorelle

Frame 0 | Paris 

The beginning of a new roll of film.

These were accidental on both instances. I was loading just enough film to insert into the spool and catch the sprocket before closing the back to tighten the rewind knob. Knowing the first few frames were already exposed I quickly took a few photos to get to one on the counter dial. In a rush and unintentionally, this is what I got for frame zero.

When I first reviewed them on the contact sheets I dismissed them as mistakes. However the more I looked at them the more I thought about its relations to this time of the year: the beginning of possibilities. I get so excited thinking about all the photos I'll take and with it, the mistakes, lessons and growth I'll make.

I am fresh from my travels with almost three weeks of constant shooting. I've been thinking a lot about my photography goals and personal projects for 2019 and narrowed it down to ten. They are as follows:  

1. Nail down metering with film
2. Practice the Sunny 16 Rule
3. Shoot a self-portrait and floral double exposure series 
4. Purchase a new film camera
5. Share my work; more on here and instagram 
6. Shoot more still life studies and with studio lighting 
7. Experiment more with different films 
8. Attend a photography workshop 
9. Try different compositions 
10. Create shot lists for things I typically shoot: travel, still life, etc.

Here's to a new year and what's possible! 

Summer

I have been blogging since 2012 averaging 24 post in the past seven years. 2013 was a better presentation of my ideal year with 60 posts! My goal this year was to create 52 posts. Once a week sounded doable. However I've only done eight so far and at this rate I’m trending below my average. Ahh! This means I have plenty of photos in my archive to share! And my blog's timeline may be somewhat similar to Westworld. But I promise it will be a heck of a lot less confusing when I’m sharing multiple timelines.

Seattleites used to say summer didn't start until after the 4th of July. That's because it would rain up to that point. But the last few years that hasn't been the case. We've had really beautiful and warm days in June. Summer is almost here and I have been brainstorming ways to spend it. I've been researching and creating lists of places to see and things do to. The other day I asked my beau what he wanted to do this summer. He rattled of a handful of things: take the boat out on Lake Washington, go to a few Sounders game, visit LA and hang out in the city. Ok, we can do that! On my list: ride a hot air balloon, take a trip with my sisters, hang out with my nieces and nephews, maybe make a trip to Vancouver and take lots of photographs!

As I thought more about how to spend the next nine weekends. I decided to look through my archives and share what I did the previous summer. This is what I love most about photography. It’s ability to capture a memory in time. Looking through my photographs I remembered what a great summer it was. I checked off a few places on my bucket list. I spent a lot of time with the people I love. I celebrated another birthday. I sunbathed in the California sun. I visited a new Washington island. Here are photographs from last summer.

San Juan Island     

Washington is surrounded by an archipelago of islands. Someday I would love to visit all the major islands. Last summer the stars aligned perfectly for us to visit San Juan Island with our friends. We left Seattle on a Friday after work (bad idea) and drove to Anacortes to catch a ferry over to San Jaun Island which we had to make reservations for in advance and couldn't miss. It took us close to five hours to get to our rented home. Once we arrived everything moved at a much slower pace and we were able to relax.

Things to do: Rent a house on the beach | Hike or drive up to catch the view from Mount Constitution | Visit or stay at Doe Bay Resort & Retreat | Go crabbing

The Griffith Observatory

When I stand on Normandie Avenue in Koreatown, I can see the Griffith straight ahead perched on a hill. It is beautiful especially at night lit up. As many times as I've been to LA, I've never been to the observatory. Before a flight home, I was determined to squeeze in a couple of hours with my Hasselblad. In addition to the architecture, the Griffith has an amazing view of LA.

Joshua Tree

Another place that has been on my list. You can read all about it in a previous blogpost.

Palm Springs

I've seen photographs of Palm Springs in glossy travel magazines. Always with some good architecture and palm trees in the background swimming in that perfect sun beaming light. That's what I had envisioned Palm Springs to be and that's what I found.

Napa Valley

We celebrated Ian's birthday in the Bay Area starting in San Francisco and then moving our way over to Napa Valley. The wineries were all very impressive making it easy to photograph. However my favorite part was meeting up friends along our trip. It's always so much fun to be able to travel and connect with friends.


Here we have it: memories of last summer. Now, onto taking more photographs and creating more memories. Happy Summer! 

Resemblance to Reality

Here it is: my annual still life shoot of peonies I photographed with my Pentax. I showed Ian the photos I took and he was a little surprised, "They don't look like something you'd shoot." That got me thinking two things: one; I may be getting closer to establishing my style (yay!!!) and two; it's not what I would normally go for but I wanted to try something different. I wanted these photographs to portray the reality of our spring. It was brutal, it was harsh and then one day the sun came out and summer was here. Completely passing up spring and showing all the damage it had done. If not to mother nature than to human nature specifically in Seattle. I was about to lose it at some point. Snow in March? Unheard of!

Just like I do every year I picked up these peonies at the market and brought them home to watch them bloom. Except they never fully bloomed. And I couldn't figure out why. They had sufficient light and water and the apartment was warm. Over a span of a week they began to opened up, wilted and then fell apart. Again, it has been one strange spring. I thought about going back to the market to buy some bloomed ones just so I could photograph them but I stopped myself. Not everything has to be mask with beauty. Bruises, imperfection and growing pains should also see the light of day. They deliver something different; more meaningful I think. It's messy and it's real.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I've been trying to squeeze in a trip to New York just to see the Irving Penn Exhibition. Unfortunately we are quickly approaching July 30th, the last day of the exhibition and I don't think it's going to happen.

Today's blogpost is dedicated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art; one of my favorite museums. It holds so much art and the space itself is art. I've spent hours roaming the museum from one wing to another finding myself being transported to a different part of the world each time. I love having a view of Central Park during water breaks in the American Wing Cafe. The museum is always so busy making it a wonderful place to people watch as well.

Here are photographs I took on black and white film during my last visit in January. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10028