And so it begins.

Every January, I do a personal project where I will take a snapshot of each day. January is generally a slow month so this will help keep my skills up.

Today’s jaunt: A lazy Sunday New Year’s Day hanging at home with the kiddos and my sis and her boyfriend, who came all the way from Sydney, Australia to visit with us.

Happy New Year, everyone!

On days like this (gloomy, cold), I like to dig through my family pictures, while nursing a hot cup of coffee, with the kids happily installed in front of the TV on the first day of winter break.

And what did I find? Warm, sunny pictures of our last summer vacay this year.

We visited Mazama, stayed at a farm house, strolled through the kitschy cowboy town of Winthrop, waded lazily in one of the lakes and braved our first hike through the scarily named Cutthroat Trail, which was actually pretty tame.

The perfect, lazy end to a pretty crazy summer.

(please wait for the slideshow above to load, after which, you can use the numbers above it to advance. Enjoy!)

I love the color and vibrance of fairs – but not the prices. These things are serious money pits, aren’t they? Sheesh.

At least I got some pictures out of it!

Shot fully on the Kodak Portra 400 on the Canon EOS 3 system.

Every summer, a group of our closest friends and my family pack our bags and head for vacation somewhere by the Pacific ocean or the Puget Sound. This year, it was Lopez Island. Here’s a pictorial account of our little trip.

All film. All developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab.

Enjoy!

This is going to be a MEGA post but I’ll make it as painless as possible, with lots of candy at the end! Let’s gooooo:

• Jon Canlas does not BS. Three days, all of them packed with as much info as you can digest, whether you’re taking film seriously as a business or just as an enthusiast. I went in as someone seriously considering film to enhance my business, and walked out amazed and EXCITED that I can consider doing it 100% – and be successful at it. There are no shortcuts. This workshop is not a magic ship that will take me there in three days. It’s all going to be patience and hard work but it’s good to know it’s not just a dream.
• Jon says at the start of the workshop that he is an open book and holds nothing back. He was not kidding. He even showed us his numbers. More important than that, he showed us how he made it work, the mistakes he made, the lessons he learned. Sometimes, it’s hard to imagine a rock star like him making mistakes so it was comforting to realize he, too, is human. And then you blink and there sits Jon Canlas, one of the world’s most celebrated photographers. It is surreal.
• The class size is small. We had about 13 people and got to ask all the questions we wanted to ask.
• From technique to knowing your gear and film, to posing to developing and post processing, these were three days of knowing and loving film. I’ve read Jon’s FILM IS NOT DEAD book and thought it would be more of the same, but hearing him go through each chapter, flesh them out with his on-the-job stories of the pictures in the book, experience that would probably add another 50 or 60 pages to the book (which would be a lot less interesting than watching him and his crew interact as they reminisced through each wedding and family session – we even had a ‘reading’ by his assistant Tavis Johnson at one point!).
• It’s not just about film. Jon and his business partners like Richard Photo Lab shared many, MANY business stories and industry lessons, things I have always wondered about, things you can only learn through experience and networking and just having done this for a long, long time. Being someone who prefers to listen and attend lectures (than reading these things in a book), this was especially useful to me.
• Last but not least, Jon and the FIND crew are so personable and genuine, and my workshop mates all so supportive and willing to share during and after the workshop, that you just want it never to end. We studied, we shot, we ate, we partied. I came home not just full with knowledge but so much love and friendship that it felt almost cultish – in a good way. Among my fellow attendees (and models!) were some BIG NAME togs, I kid you not. To be honest, I was giddy most of the time from being able to rub shoulders with these guys but everyone was just so down-to-earth and REAL. I felt very, very fortunate.

Ok, enough reading. Here’s a sampling of the images we took throughout the three days. I shot with a Contax 645 on 80mm f2 Carl Zeiss lens using mostly Kodak Portra 400, 800, some Ektar 100. Enjoy!

Day One: Couples – technique, posing.

(yes, that’s Mike Herrera of mxpx and his wife, Hollie. thanks for modelling and happy 10th!)

(and yes, this is musician Damien Jurado and wife, Sarah, a fellow photographer. My favorite subjects from the workshop because he never smiled. “This is my picture face. This is always my picture face.”)

Day Two: families – technique, posing large groups, “touching strangers” .

This girl makes me yeeeaaaaarrrn.

My “bride” and her brothers. An exercise in posing large groups of unruly subjects.

Day Three: Bridals – posing, technique, communicating light and love through film. And modeling for us was none other than the Abeggs – the irresistible Catherine (aka my studio partner) and Michael, whose jokes I never get.

The ethereal Hannah and Trever.

Thank you so much, Jon! It was a great opportunity and I’m glad I took it.

Sorry for the three-day hiatus! I was waiting for my scans to get back and didn’t want to post anything work related.

The lab had been overwhelmed with lack of staff so got back a little late – but so worth it.

This is my first black and white roll. Was dirt cheap but look at the results!!

This is my daughter, Sky, just so happy she got her own Girl Scouts Thinking Day “passport”. Makes one realize what may be unimportant to us jaded grownups, may mean all the world to a little girl.

Shot with my Canon A1 on manual, 50mm FD f1.8 lens. Rated at 400, developed at 400.

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What is SOOC? Straight Out Of Camera. No editing, just shrinking so it doesn’t take forever to upload.

My new project for the year, just one SOOC pic a day to keep those creative juices and technical skills and light-hunting skills honed.

For more SOOC pics, go to SOOC in Categories.

ISO 100 f2.8 1/2000s on 24-70mm L on 5DMarkii.

ISO 100 f8 1/320s on 24-70mm L on 5DMarkii

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What is SOOC? Straight Out Of Camera. No editing, just shrinking so it doesn’t take forever to upload.

My new project for the year, just one SOOC pic a day to keep those creative juices and technical skills and light-hunting skills honed.

For more SOOC pics, go to SOOC in Categories.

The motherload of all SOOCs today since I got my scans back! Tried my hand at manual focusing.

All shot using the Contax 645 on 220 film. Most were the 400vc but I think the last one of the Seattle skyline is on the 160nc. 80mm f2. Zeiss lens.

Since I didn’t do one yesterday, here’s two for the price of one:

Took these while we were driving home from skiing at the Snoqualmie Summit today.We don’t get many sunny days in the Winter here in the Northwest so when the sun does shine, I’m usually out with my camera in our beautiful Valley.

First buds: This was taken at Fall City by the river.

ISO 160 f2.8 1/1250s with my the 24-70mm f2.8 L on 5dMarkii. Spot-metered.

Keep Out: The road from Carnation to Fall City is filled with scenic little spots like this one. Despite the warning, I stop and take a pic.

ISO 160 f2.8 1/1250s with my 24-70mm f2.8 L on 5dMarkii. Spot-metered.

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What is SOOC? Straight Out Of Camera. No editing, just shrinking so it doesn’t take forever to upload.

My new project for the year, just one SOOC pic a day to keep those creative juices and technical skills and light-hunting skills honed.

For more SOOC pics, go to SOOC in Categories.

The man who IRC-chatted his way into my heart. Happy 10th Anniversary-to-be in September

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Shot with Kodak Portra 400vc 135mm on my Canon A1, f4.

What is SOOC? Straight Out Of Camera. No editing, just shrinking so it doesn’t take forever to upload.

My new project for the year, just one SOOC pic a day to keep those creative juices and technical skills and light-hunting skills honed.

For more SOOC pics, go to SOOC in Categories.