One Love Photo

The B-List and our little plastic cameras

last weekend a group of talented and stylish wedding bloggers met up in brooklyn for an event called the B-List. the event was a way for all the women to meet in person, face to face and introduce themselves to each other. a chance to talk about blogging and weddings, and to share tips and ideas with each other. it was a huge success and plans are being made for more B-List events in the future! we really wanted to jump on a plane and meet all these wonderful women when we first heard about it. but we had two weddings the same weekend so decided to sponsor the event if we couldn't attend. part of the sponsorship was providing info or samples for a goody bag for each one of the attendees. we started brainstorming immediately over dinner. from one idea to the next we jumped around until we both fell in love with the idea of a small toy camera or a viewmaster with our photos on a reel. it took a lot of time, research, trial and error but we managed to figure out a way to bring both ideas together into one.    

one.) find little plastic viewfinder toy cameras online and order a ton. luckily we did because out of the five colors per pack we only like the pink and yellow.

two.) tear apart the camera and see how it works and see how teeny tiny the slide/wheel is inside.

three.) design our own wheel using our favorite wedding photographs.

four.) print our tiny wheel on transparency and realize the dot per inch thing is ruining our brilliant idea.

five.) think.

six.) figure out that we need to shoot the wheel on slide film to get the image quality that we need.

seven.) print the wheel out large, hang it on a wall and photographed it with slide film.

eight.) test a roll, check size, scale and exposure. fire off several rolls once we've got it right.

nine.) cut the film in a perfect circle, punch necessary holes

ten.) take cameras apart, replace image wheel and put it all back together again.

eleven.) smile and pat ourselves on the back!

The The B-LIST bloggers: if you are planning a wedding or just like pretty things you must visit these blogs!

100 layer cake, blue orchid designs, brooklyn bride, elizabeth anne designs, from "i will" to "i do",  green wedding shoes, iDiY,  oh so beautiful paper, once wed, perfect bound, santa barbara wedding chic, the bridal wishlist, the bride's cafe, little white book, vintage glam weddings, wedding bee, junebug weddings,  with this ring, the ritzy bee blog

 

Mexico Squared

 

illuminated

some define photography as "to paint with light". we love that definition. understanding the magic, the wonder and power of light is what keeps us so intrigued in this medium. we are often surprised and delighted by how our cameras translate light. both photos below have a very special feel, the light is so lovely that it actually becomes one of our subjects.

 
 

12x16 beeswax collage panel
paper, paint, vintage lace, gold leaf and lots of little jewels.

14x14 beeswax collage panel
paper flowers, natural wood background, textured wax and jewels.

am always looking for a spark when starting a new mixed media piece. couldn't resist these two dream like images. the first one is from petra and evan's stunning ocras island wedding. one can never have too many glowing paper lanterns in their wedding tent. and the next from the enchanted forest wedding of elly and stephan at a washington state park. to see more on my mixed media pieces please visit my website or these posts on the blog.

Isla Mujers, Mexico Wedding - noellen & jackson

and here is the final and most important chapter of this wedding story. it really doesn't get much better than this. a hilarious and genuine couple. so funny that they made our cheeks hurt. a sunset ceremony. some unexpected tears. gusts of wind blowing in love from up north. a very cute beach dog as the wedding mascot. a coconut man. a colorful golf cart and a quick getaway. the sweetest set of toasts anyone could imagine. dj dave scratching the vinyl. friends with sun kissed faces grooving in sundresses. a surprise fire dance. delicious miniature cakes for all. and of course lots of love and laughter!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

back home and wondering if we can just rewind. i wouldn't change a thing. well, maybe just one little thing. i would stay later and jump in the pool with noellen and do a little synchronized water routine as the grand finale. at least noellen got her secret wedding wish, all her late night guests soaking wet and giggling. had i only known that was where the night was headed.

noellen and jackson, thank you for saving us from our winter blahs and for being so funny, sweet, warm and appreciative. your wedding was so real and refreshing. thank you. so much!

the wedding was at zama beach club on isla mujers, mexico. it was coordinated by the wonderful tiffany lanier from sunhorse weddings. tiffany did such a great job (as you can see)! she is from the states but now lives on isla mujers and is a pro at planning unique and unforgettable weddings on the island. see more portraits from their wedding below and some beautiful shots of the island over here.

Felicitaciones - noellen & jackson

i always feel flustered when someone on the street stops and patiently waits for me to take a picture. i know they are just being polite and i should be grateful. but knowing they are there, watching me and waiting makes me completely lose focus. so i always wave them through, telling them to walk right in front of me, assuring them that it is OK. hoping they will pass quickly, so I can get back to my square.

that is exactly why i LOVE shooting on isla mujers. people are immune to the camera, they just walk or drive right into your shot with no apologies. if they stopped and waited every time someone was snapping a photo they would never get across the street. and that's what is so cool about noellen and jackson wedding portraits, there is a wonderful variety of cameo appearances from the locals. someone on a moped in one, ladies peeking out of windows in another, even the cemetery cat made a brief appearance in a few. while roaming the streets we heard plenty of well wishes coming from all directions from strangers in spanish. regardless, if we could or couldn't understand them. congratulations really has a nice ring to it in any language, felicitaciones!

 

 

 

muchos años maravillosos a usted ambos

many wonderful years to you both

Bienvenido - noellen & jackson

when this welcome package arrived at our house from noellen and jackson i knew we were in for a pretty special trip! the first thing i did was set everything up and photograph it because it was just too sweet to explain in words. the package included custom luggage v.i.p tags, translation bookmarks, an adorable map of isla mujers by laura hooper, a packing list and a little guide to the island that i used the whole time we were there. they also made custom doorknob signs for all their guests at the villa and welcome bags full of necessities for a healthy and happy stay!
 
noellen and jackson had 42 guests join them in mexico to celebrate their marriage. to welcome all their friends and family they planned a bienvenido dinner at a private restaurant reserved just for them in downtown isla on the eve of their wedding day.

 

 

 

had to include these, since we were forwarned that like father like son, jackson rarely smiles for the camera. but we are always up for a challenge. we were just that much more focused on jackson. determined to capture plenty of his genuine, true and real smiles. those are always the best anyways.

the basketball court is the center hub of this small island. the first night we were there, we watched a heated match between two local teams. one of jackson's favorite past times is playing hoops with his brother and friends. he was bent on spending his wedding eve on the island court with them. after the party was over they headed off to see if it was open. they lucked out and the court was all theirs, well, at least half of it. we followed behind with noellen and her sign (and straw), eager to cheer and to talk a little bit of smack.

my personal favorites of the night.

 

 

 

am pretty sure jackson was in heaven. he brought his basketball from chicago, which balanced out noellen's 10 pairs of flip flops. hey, we are all allowed impractical packing splurges from time to time.         (especially for your wedding)

 

 

 

score! more to come from the wedding this week....

Noellen & Jackson

Lake Union Cafe - emily & patrick

i miss you

it is instant

as when i leave your lips

-raymond a fox

  these two have been apart before. and know they will be again soon. they appreciate fleeting moments more than most. magnetic is a good word to describe them. you can see it in their smiles, they are thrilled with each moment together. they sneak sweet glances and move in closer. when they kiss, they savor it. they don't want to let go. and we don't want them to either.

it started with a first wedding kiss under the early spring blossoms and got better from there. forecasted seattle showers never appeared. friends and family gathered together from all over the country. romance was in the air. a little love graffiti before a promise for forever. an evening candle light ceremony that brought a few tears, but many more smiles.

 

this was our first wedding of 2009 and can't imagine a better way to begin! while editing and looking at their amazing smiles on screen, we feel so blessed to work with such kind, considerate and loving people! thank you emily and patrick!

ceremony and reception were at the lovely lake union cafe.

Sanford and Son - amongst the junk

at my latest portrait session inspiration struck at an antique store in tacoma. it's namesake is the 1970's hit show sanford and son. i just got a good giggle from turk and j.d.'s version of the show's theme song on scrubs. that little tune reminds me of being a girl and "junking" with my folks. i spent many weekends getting lost in antique malls and junk shops with my imagination running wild. they were often busy rearranging their booth full of old rusty treasures and i was free to explore aisle after aisle of curious relics. we had an antique apple press in one corner of our dining room and a tall mannequin dressed in 40's clothes in the opposite. my parents taught me to appreciate the past and to always be on the lookout for a special treasure that was considered junk by someone else. my mom has had several booths at junk shops over the years. it's so fun to merchandise and hear about what items sell and which ones just sit. she just opened a new one a few weeks ago and i am so excited for her! now we have a whole new reason for going "junking" together and a perfect excuse for stopping at every yard sale.

in march i met catherine, madeline and michael in downtown to do a little portrait session. the rain and wind were not apart of our original plan for the day. quite naturally without much thought we migrated to my favorite local shop, sanford and son on antique row. it's huge, yellow and full of artifacts. the owner is named alan and he kindly welcomed us into his warehouse and encouraged us to explore. we were grateful and excited about our unexpected change in location. it wasn't hard to make beautiful portraits because of their mutual respect and love for each other and also for the art of photography. catherine is a photographer herself and she is very beautiful, kind, supportive and full of positive energy. i felt very free to follow my own instincts and eye on this shoot. here are a few of my favorites from our inspiring afternoon together amongst the junk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"to invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk"

-thomas edison

Guantanamera or One Jon Almeda

whenever i hear this song especially on the street in mexico by a mariachi band i get so excited! because the words blur for me and i hear "one jon almeda' as the chorus instead of the cuban inspired "guantanamera". i swear it really does sounds like "one jon almeda" in this wyclef version. i usually feel the need to loudly sing along with my own personal lyrical twist. smiling and thinking about my very special, ingenius, funny, creative, helpful, generous, sweet, extremely talented and super cute man.          my one jon almeda. 

first days back from vacation are rough. first days back with a snot nose, plugged ears and depressing rain outside are the worst. been moving slow today not ready to re-enter reality. dropped all my film off at the lab. am quite eager to see what i captured down south. to take my mind off my cold and the drizzle i enjoyed looking through all of jon's colorful mexico photos. most of these images were shot with his newest homemade lens. haven't named this one yet but it's a custom tilt/shift using one of my favorite lenses from my old enlarger. it's really quite perfectly soft and dreamy. it's just what we have been looking for. leave it to that clever one jon almeda........                                        we had such fun wandering the streets together cameras in hand. jon with his weird accordion lens wrapped in soft electrical tape and me with my square vintage box. trying to fight off feelings of self-consciousness and concealing our cameras however we could. me trying to hide mine in my much too small brown leather purse. trying not to look so obvious. hating the idea of being the nerdy over excited tourist. wishing we could be invisible and or fluent in spanish. but once something caught our eye, we forget all that. patiently waiting, taking turns, eager to see the rectangle or square that each other composed. each of us creating our own tiny theater inside the viewfinder. carefully deciding who or what our main character would be at that moment. some zoomed by us in a instant, others stopped us in our tracks and some created the perfect detour. these are jon's photographs from our last week together on the beautiful yet rather modest isla mujeres. enjoy, they are lovely!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and now we wait for the film.