Can you believe I moved again? www.wendyveeblog.com

22Nov09

I know, I know.  How can I ever expect a following if I keep moving.  Well I did and my gypsy self is staying put after this move.  I found 3rd party hosting to be more flexible and really showcases (I always think of gameshows when I hear that word) images better.  SO please update your bookmarks.  My new and final home is www.wendyveeblog.com

Thank you for your patience!

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Christmas Sessions Now Available!

18Nov09

Great News!! We are now ready for Christmas and Christmas sessions!  And by Christmas We mean Christmas, Kwanza, Hannukah and all other Holiday events!  This is the most fun time of the year and we’d love to share it with you!  Call us up so we can begin planning your portraits, holiday cards, and gifts!

WendyVee

Filed under: photography   |  2 Comments
Tags: Christmas Portraits, photography, Santa Hats

The most photographed man in America

13Nov09

My last few posts have recounted my adventures over the last 14 days or so. This post catches up to present day and luckily I’ve had the energy of a slug for the past few days so nothing new has really happened. Well, that’s not really true, but I haven’t been anywhere or done anything new so it’s sort of true. The cool things that have happened include my neighbors asking me to take a family portrait of them and an author, Jenna Mills, suggesting we meet to NOLA to take her publicity photos for her new book. My first reaction to both of these – internally – was “Oh no! What do I do???”, but I’ve since over come that and now am just excited. I lied. I’m still petrified but also excited. There.

But I digress. The tail end of my 10 day adventure led me to Georgia. E is working there right now and I couldn’t resist stopping to see him on my way home. He was excited too and planned a romantic weekend for us in Savannah. Immediately when I got off the plane and out of the airport I felt the wonderful cool air. It was cool in NOLA too but not like this. The word “crisp” comes to mind describing what it felt like. The next morning revealed trees whose foliage actually changes colors with the seasons. No biggie, I know, but I grew up in the Deep South in Louisiana and now I’m in south FL. Our trees stay the same color year round mostly. Occasionally, a frond will fall off the palm tree and if the wind is strong enough it will shake loose a coconut, but that’s it. So seeing the colorful foliage was quite a treat! Although exhausted still, we made the pleasant 4 hour drive to Savannah. When we got there we immediately went for a photowalk and had the best time. Everything is so historic there! Not as historic as my beloved NOLA but still very genteel. At one point we were in one of the numerous squares and found a wedding had just taken place. A couple approached as I was taking pictures wondering if the ceremony had ended. They thought I was the photographer After some small talk where I set the record straight they saw me take aim at E, who was probably about 10 yards from me taking a pic of a statue. The wife of the couple remarked, “you’re taking a picture of that man taking a picture?”. I laughed and explained that E was my husband and that I always take pictures of him. In fact, since I was a photographer, he was more often than not my model and be damned what the tabloids say, Brad Pitt is NOT the most photographed man in the world. My husband is. )

So I dedicate this post to him, for being my faithful and loyal model always willing to “hold still the light is just right” for me so I can get the shot. He lets me experiment and sometimes make mistakes that are neither flattering towards him or me. Thank you my Lovie! You are my Brad Pitt.

Here are some pics of the most photographed man in America in Georgia.

We Stopped at Cracker Barrell for lunch on the way to Savannah. E is deciding betweens biscuits and chicken

We dropped our bags and hit the streets right after we checked in but first I made him pose by the window of our room. I was going for the Rembrandt thing, but I think I made him look like a realtor

AKA Rico Suave

Debonaire

Oh sure he looks innocent but I’m not even going to repeat what he just said before I took this

Looks like a scene from a movie to me. Must be Oceans 14

The dark and mysterious stranger….

Here’s some cool stuff we ran into on our walk…

I think a pitbull and a bear got together to make this beast

We heard music and ran into the CC Express Cloggers! I’d never seen clogging before it was so much fun we stopped and photographed them for about 30 minutes. These women are in shape!

And then we went on our way. I don’t know what’s with me and The Exorcist but these stairs reminded me of them…Maybe because is Friday the 13th

Loved this building

Here were the wedding musicians

Here was Benjamin Franklin. Random, I know

And a squirrel who looked embarassed for Benjamin Franklin

Ran across this sign. I can’t figure out if Blimpie likes the Girl Scouts or if it’s a commentary about the Girl Scouts

This pic was E’s idea and I loved the way it turned out. Who knew? More CLS stuff!

We ended the night with a wonderful dinner…my favorite? The wild mushroom strudel and red wine…mmmm

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

WV

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Photo (Sleep) Walking in New Orleans…aka the Haunted Hotel Room

12Nov09

Last week was definitely a sleep deprived week.
During PartnerCon by Pictage I stayed at the event location. It was a wonderful hotel where any request at all to the staff was met with “It would be my pleasure”. The only downside was that my room faced Bourbon Street and as anyone who has been to Bourbon Street knows….it doesn’t shut down. Well, it might but not until folks my age have long gone to bed. The first night I was there coincided with a New Orleans Saints game. They were playing the Ravens – And won! The Saints have had and undefeated season. Now I’m not a religious woman but I think The Saints having a winning season is listed as one of the signs of the “End of Days” the Pentecostals like to reference so much. Not that I’m not thrilled for The Saints, but it does leave me a little worried……

Onward though.

The point I was making was that it was extremely loud that night and I heard drumming and music into the wee hours of the morning. The next day, I would have been groggy had I not been so excited about the conference! I sailed through the day but was stick-a-fork-in-me-I’m-done by the end of the day. I retreated to my room and climbed into bed relishing the silence. Ahhh, that was the stuff. After room service arrived with my seafood gumbo (I decided to be a pescatarian during this trip as being a strict vegetarian is just too hard around all that fresh seafood) and I had all that creole goodness digesting in my belly I was looking forward to dropping off effortlessly into blissful REM. That’s just about the time the drums started up. I almost couldn’t believe it. I wanted to cry. I tried to drown it out and after about 3 hours I gave up and stuffed the earplugs that came in my welcome bag into my ears. I hate the feeling of anything in my ears, but it did help and I was able to wedge some sleep in between the hours of I-can’t-believe-I’m-still-up-thirty and 4 AM. Throwing salt into the wound of my bloodshot eyes were two facts. The first was I was in Central time – meaning 5 o’clock Central time felt like 6 o’clock Eastern time (home time). BUT it was the first few days after Daylight Savings Time – meaning 4 o’clock CDT was 6 o’clock EST.

Have I lost you? Do you even care at this point?

Regardless – I had sacrificed sleep again. The second day of the conference was just as good if not better than the first and this is probably due to in no small part, the photo workshop I went to hosted by Jeff and Erin Youngren – As I discussed in my ParnterCon Review a couple of posts down. Fast forwarding to that evening. I did sleep more but that had more to do with the wine I drank than the lack of noise from the street. By the time Thursday rolled around I was running on excitement and adrenaline….

And that’s when Ginger Snapps came for a visit from Baton Rouge! And the first thing she said to me? “I hope you know we aren’t going to sleep much”. I was amazed at her clairvoyance.

Now, I don’t know about you, but being a woman I easily get intimidated walking around taking photos, especially in New Orleans, especially at night. It was SO nice to have a friend to walk around with! As much for the security as the camaraderie. We had a GREAT time taking pictures of the French Quarter at night and you’ll see them below. We wrapped up our nighttime walk around 11:00 or so and went back to the room. I was pretty exhausted and ready to let myself float away regardless of any distractions. We were in bed, lights out by 11:30. I was so tired I let the music below just carry me and my consciousness. Somewhere my brain was thinking “Just go with it and don’t fight it”…and it was working! It was wonderful!

Until, inexplicably the alarm clock went off at 12:00.

Loudly.

The clock was closest to the bed Ginger was sleeping in and I heard her blindly fumbling for the “off” switch or at least a merciful “snooze” anything to stop the intrusion the alarm was rudely introducing to the night. She finally got it and we returned to bed. It took a while but I found the groove again and floated in and out taking little sips of sleep for the rest of the night.

At 6 am my brain woke up and forced the rest of me to follow suit. Ginger confessed she had not slept well because of all the street noise. Funny, because I didn’t think it was so bad and then realized I’d started getting used to it, and poor Ginger was freshly initiated. We got up, showered and dressed and hit the streets by 7:00 AM. I wanted to show her the light in the city at that time the same way the Youngrens had shown us a couple of days prior. I did and the light was still great. We even went to the same street we had gone to during the workshop and shot each other. (I love how violent photography is…You get to “take” peoples’ pictures and schedule shots and shootings ). Using each other as models was a good exercise. In a low stress environment we got to play with lighting and poses. I really like a lot of the shots I got of Ginger but I also learned what I did wrong and how to avoid it. I felt bad for Ginger while she was shooting me. I’m about as natural and fluid in front of the camera as the Tinman without his oil can. I mean, I’m bad. And while sometimes I can look good, most times I just look goofy. It leaves me wondering if I look that goofy all the time. I’m so much cooler in my head.

After our initial modely posey thing we walked all over the Quarter again taking pictures. I truly love New Orleans.

We finished up the Quarter at one of the intriguing cemetaries. If you are unfamiliar with how it works in NOLA, let me tell you. Since NOLA is below sea level and the water table is 6′ below the surface, residents cannot bury their dead in the ground. Everything must be above ground which makes for some interesting gravesites as you’ll see below.

Our last place before my battery died was the Garden District and as proof of this city’s comeback, we stumbled upon a set, either TV or movie I’m not sure, where they had wrapped shooting. I don’t know what was shoot or who was in it, but we got to see all the equipment.

Enjoy the pictures below and know that I love New Orleans!

WV

I have been going to New Orleans for most of my life and the following images capture what I love about the city. It’s old, original, grungy and authentic.

These remind me of the movie Saw for some reason

New Orleans has its share of street urchins. Some of whom have read too much Anne Rice


This reminded me of the Exorcist for some reason. Lots of spookiness in the Quarter at night


For me, I can actually feel the history oozing out of the walls in some parts of the French Quarter



OK, break in spooky photos courtesy of random homeless guy asking us to take his picture. It is the French Quarter afterall

Back to the spookiness

Touchdown Jesus


I don’t know why I like this pic so much but I do!

Walking back to the hotel. Love how everyone has a balcony

The lights of Bourbon Street

Night Tours

Jackson Square was beautiful at night and we found a new Nikon Creative Lighting System….wait until the cars almost pass by before taking a picture so you can use their headlights as a light source!

St Louis Cathedral has always reminded me of Disney World

The band beneath my window and the drunks who love them

MORNING TIME! My favorite portrait taken by Ginger Snapps!

My favorite I took of Ginger Snapps

Street Shots

Love the Grunge and the History



St Louis Cathedral in the daylight


Hardest working Donkey in the business

I think Brad and Angelina live here…just kidding

Loved this doorknob and the lock reminded me of what I learned during a haunted history tour. The living used to install the lock upside down after a loved one died. It was supposed to confuse them and they couldn’t unlock the door and get in the house. Actually a night in the French Quarter is enough to leave unable to use a key to get in the house too.

Still with me? These are a lot of pictures I know but we’re almost done. Here is one of the cemetary we visited. I really just included this picture because in the reflection I look skinny

This was an unmarked site but apparently voodoo followers knew that this was a voodoo grave. Since it was so close to Halloween I think folks must have gathered and left offerings.

Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau is reportedly in this tomb. There is controversy as to whether she is really in there or not. I’m not sure what the triple “X”s mean but if you know please email me so I can include it in the captions.


Another unmarked tomb of a voodoo practioner.

and another

Enough with the voodoo. Here are some God fearing graves. Most of them were all in French so I didn’t undestand all of what I was reading





Some bling for you




Last one

And right before my battery died I got the shot of the No Parking sign.
That’s it! You made it to the end! Thanks for looking and if you have any feedback i.e. were there too many picture, let me know! Thanks everyone!

Filed under: Personal, photography   |  2 Comments
Tags: Cemetary, French Quarter, Ginger Snapps, I love New Orleans, Jackson Square, Jeff and Erin Youngren, Marie Laveau, PartnerCon, photography, Pictage, St Louis Cathedral, The Saints, Voo Doo, voodoo

Good Bye, Mom. Thank You

11Nov09

A year ago today my mother died. Six weeks later I discovered I had a leaky aortic heart valve. I guess, in a sense, my heart was broken. My mother was the backbone of our family and shaped who we were both as individuals and as a family. When she passed our family sort of died and we were left with three strangers trying to get a feel for how and if it was worth interacting with each other. The change wasn’t immediate but it was quick. After my mom’s funeral my sister refused to help at the party (is that what it’s called when everyone comes over to the deceased’s house and eats and drinks?) leaving me scrambling to find the paper plates, forks, knives and spoons – insisting that since I was going back to Florida she would be left doing the heavy emotional lifting after I was gone. I stayed for 3 weeks after with my dad, and together we worked our way through several cheap but tasty vintages. Both drowning our sorrows and comforting each other with Mom stories. Though I tried to stay close after I left we soon were distanced by time and my dad’s preoccupation with finding someone to fill the gaping hole my mother’s death had created.

My mother’s death.

Those words are so strange still to write. I refuse to canonize my mother. She was a strong and good woman but she could be difficult. We locked horns more than we got along and I grew up both craving and rebelling against her approval. What can I say. I was no picnic to raise. It seems I went from terrible twos to tumultuous twenties in an eyeblink and can scarcely remember a time when she would call my name, “Wendy” without a “damnit” in front of it. I deserved it. I’m not going to lie. I can’t imagine what it was like to deal with my antics. I do feel a sort of comfort in the fact that while my own daughter can be defiant and difficult, I have no doubt of her love for me (no matter what she says) and I believe my mother knew how much I loved her – no matter what I said to the contrary.

What I want this post to convey is my gratitude towards my mother. She kept us together. And by us I mean me, my sister, father, and even my daughter. She taught me right from wrong – whether I chose right or wrong is a different matter. She taught me proper grammar and grace. She was a force to be reckoned with and looked death in the eye not just once, but three times. Two of those times she won enduring radiation, chemotherapy and a mastectomy to come out the victor. But I guess none of us win in the end. I just wish she’d had more time. I do feel she was robbed of at least 15 more years. Right after her death I just imagined her pissed off somewhere going “What? What just happened!” – If you don’t know, my mother’s death was sudden. She checked into the hospital 11/1 and died 11/11. It was cancer, back for a 3rd time and this time it just attacked everything and her body couldn’t respond so it shut down. Like when your hard drive is under attack from too many viruses.

Memories of my mom.

I guess I had memories of my mom when she was alive too so it’s not so weird to write that. What is sort of weird is that I have two sets of Mom memories. One is before cancer. The other is after cancer. Truthfully, the mom before cancer was nicer. I can remember shopping trips and girl time lunches as a young adult (in between my rebellious acting out phases), and as a child I can remember her sitting on the floor and coloring with me or playing with my circus figures. Often the butt of my dad’s jokes – not cruel ones, mind you – she took it in stride with a tap on my father’s arm and an “Oh Jim”. I also remember she and my dad on the patio every weekend with a bottle (or two) of wine sitting in front of the BBQ pit while my dad burned the chicken (again). They would talk all night. Then later go to bed. It wasn’t until years later that I figured out what that telltale “tink” sound meant when my dad closed their bedroom door. (ewwww! Even now…ewwww!)

Cancer had a weird effect on my mother.

You always hear stories about cancer survivors having a new lease on life. On making a decision to live life to its fullest and love every day like it’s their last. Somehow my mom went in a different direction. While not 180 degrees from that it was more like 120 degrees. My mother took that opportunity to decide she wasn’t going to put up with sh*t anymore. If she didn’t want to do anything she wouldn’t. No longer would she put up with my father’s ribbing and her patience overall was diminished. It was nuts. She became, I don’t know….determined. Determined to live HER life the way SHE wanted to. Later, after round 2 with cancer she became more difficult. This time she had chemo and chemo is nothing nice. It’s not like the movies where a made up but bald actress lies resting in her sleepmatic bed. Real chemo leaves you with no hair anywhere…not only are you bald but you lose your eyelashes and eyebrows. And when you think about it, those are the things that make you look normal. It was a small bitter blessing that Mom’s eyesite diminished during this time because if she had seen the way my dad had drawn in her eyebrows, boy would he have gotten it! Think Bette Davis always asking a question. The chemo left her with neuropathy. Most times after that, she was unpleasant because most times she was in pain. For seven years she lived in constant pain. And I know you’re thinking we should have been sensitive to that and understood…and we did. But we were human and sometimes we got tired of her shortness and, well, bitchiness. But we were always in awe of her. I mean, who does that? Who lives in pain and conquers it? Truthfully, I think we became a little scared of her too. She seemed larger than life and we began to orbit around her as she had her own gravitational pull with her family…..

And then she died.

Yep, still weird.

And when she died we three little stars orbiting planet Mom had nothing holding us together…and we were lost.

We still struggle to find something else to ground us, to give us direction.

The only thing that’s certain is our home planet is gone…am I making it clear with the analogy here? I feel like I should start my next paragraph with a “It was a dark and stormy night”….

This past year has been an exercise in learning how to think of her. So many times I’ve reached for my phone to call her or thought to myself that I needed to relay the latest Tess (my daughter) story. But I can’t.

She simply is no more.

There are no more present tense verbs for her and while that seems obvious, it’s a different way to think. She only was and from here on out she will only be “was”. Weird. I know we all go that way in the end and those with stronger faith than I are ok with that. For those middle of the road types like me, it’s more bothersome. I did inherit my mother’s bible – I think it was a conspiracy between my father and sister trying to get me to read it, and maybe I will….Time will tell…It won’t change that I loved my mother and miss her terribly.

WV

Mom

 

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Tags: death, grief, Mom, Mom died

Review of Pictage’s NOLA PartnerCon 2009

10Nov09

I don’t even know where to begin this post! The past 10 days have been a whirlwind of activity! From Baton Rouge to visit my dad, Mississippi to visit my mother’s gravesite, New Orleans for Pictage’s PartnerCon, Photowalks with Ginger Snapps, Atlanta and Savannah for a romantic weekend with E….I’m exhausted still and reminded that my bones are working on 43 years. I literally took thousands upon thousands of pictures and rather than try to post them all one blog post I’ve decided I’m going to parse them out over this week. Otherwise my fingers will fall off and you will doze off!

I pretty much covered my visit up until PartnerCon and since this was my first one I thought I would describe it in better detail. As I mentioned previously, I didn’t know anyone there. So making this a successful journey I had to fight the demons of my terribly shy and stuttery past and try to make friends with folks. As it turned out there were no worries there. I can honestly say that I did not meet one unfriendly person and I made it a point to meet someone new every day – another one for you, Mom! (For those who don’t know me, when my family first moved back to the states after living in Europe for a few years, I was so shy that I didn’t talk to anyone for months. My mother finally sent me packing to school with the mission of talking to at least one new person every day for a week. True to form, Mother knew best and before I knew it I had a group of friends and a social life in no time after that ). Anywho, the folks I met were either just starting out on their journey, like me, or well on their way and at the conference for networking or fine tuning. Either way, folks were there to help. The newbies supported each other and the old pros offered advice and suggestions. It was a truly productive environment. Most notably, the folks I met the first night were the ones I wound up bumping into again and again. So, Will, Sarah, and Garth, thanks for everything! My new friend Connie was also there but our schedules barely matched up and I only bumped into her briefly. I wish we’d had more time to hang out!

Specifically, getting into the conference the first day I started off in Jason Aten’s “Starting Out Right” and listened to the voice of experience telling me things that made made sense in a clear and practical manner. I will implement his suggestions. Next I went to Scarlett Lillian’s “Find the Fabulous in Each Bride and Groom”. I hadn’t heard of Scarlett before, and though I’ve never met Jasmine Star, she reminds me of an East coast Florida girl version of her. Scarlett’s talk answered my Photographer’s Identity conundrum 3 seconds into the session. After that I was hooked on every word. The answer – let every woman know she has an inner supermodel and it’s my job to showcase her. Plain and simple. Have the heart of a servant and you will not fail. (That last part was mine Yay me!). After Scarlett I of course had to go to rock star Mike Colon’s talk. I don’t know what I like better, the fact that Mike, by all accounts, seems to be just a regular person with no commanding presence (which when you think about it could work against a photojournalist style photographer) or the fact that he is utterly unimpressed with his “celebrity” status. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t a little starstruck when I saw him in the halls and passed him quickly by barely making eye contact. I’m such a nerd. After Mike was another celebrity photographer, although I had not heard of him. Denis Reggie gave an Oprah style “My Favorite Things” presentation that was akin to having the privilege of picking the brain of a Donald Trump, Stephen Hawkings love child. Anything that just happens to fall off of this man you want to pay attention to. While I could relate to him the least, I was able to glean a wealth of information from his experience. That closed out the first day and since the Monday night before had been a NOLA Saints game, AND my room faced Bourbon Street – meaning that revelers were out until wee hours in the morning – trust me I know – I went straight to my room and into a coma until the morning. (Well that was the plan anyway. I almost burst into tears when I heard the same music and drumming I heard the night before. I understand why my room came with ear plugs….and yes, I did use them.)

The next morning I was up bright and early for my photo workshop with Erin and Jeff Youngren. I touched on this in the post below and won’t go into too much detail here other than it was another great opportunity to shoot fabulous looking people in one of the most interesting cities in America. These workshops also help to boost my confidence as I – against the advice of every professional I’ve met – compare my work to other togs. I mean, I don’t suck. I see that. And the more times I press the shutter, the more experience I have and more knowledge I can tap into to “get the shot” and to get the effects I want to get. Numerous shots of the workshop follow.

After the workshop I hit Jamie Karlin and Micheal Kress’s “Mitzvah Boot Camp” which chipped away at the tip of the iceberg of this family event that most gentiles don’t understand. There is a wealth of information that I still need to learn about this rite of passage but it’s one in which I can provide my services and become part of the family tradition. It is the untapped resource for many photographers and I appreciated the openness and familiarity of this session. Next up I went to Zach and Jody Gray’s impromptu talk. The original speakers had some sort of conflict so the Grays graciously filled the spot and were candid and open about the road to their success. They were a definite inspiration and I couldn’t help but think how that could be E&I…granted we’re the Grays 20 years later but everything they shared made sense and nothing, thankfully, was rocket science. Next up for me was Jay Goldman. Many of the sessions that I wanted to attend conflicted with each other and this was one of them. Dane Sanders was speaking at the same time and I really wanted to see Dane, but I have Dane’s book and Jay’s topic, Flash photography, is one which befuddles me much of the time. Boy was I in for a treat too. Jay was hysterical. Another celebrity too…He’s been on America’s Next Top Model as a photog. It was great learning from greats. I rounded the day out with Roberto Valenzuela’s “Harnessing Talent Through Deliberate Practice”. This speech delivered as promised. Roberto’s disciplined approach offered a roadmap to becoming a better photographer. No if’s, ands or buts…He told you what you need to do and how you need to do it. I was both inspired and intimidated by his gift as an artist. We had a wonderful dinner that night and I was sure to drink a glass or two of wine to help drown out the revelers below my window. It worked.

Thursday morning started with a 2 hour speech by Gary Fong. This guy is incredible. I bought and promptly left in my room upon checkout the next day, his book, The Accidental Millionaire. I think that’s probably a sign…LOL. But more importantly I think Gary is an accidental millionaire like – I dunno clever analogies escape me now – but I don’t think anyone that focused accidentally becomes rich. Gary is, in many ways, ahead of his time and acutely attuned to business opportunities. I, on the other hand, am acutely attuned to reality TV. SIGH.

After Gary we, the volunteers, piled into buses and were shuttled off to the West Bank of NOLA to help the families affected by Hurricane Katrina. Pictage offered this event to anyone of the victims of this storm by taking portraits for families who may have lost theirs during the storm. It felt good to give back to a city that’s given so much and to a state that I call home…..

That details my experience with the conference. I got my money’s worth and then some. The people were friendly, the food wonderful (of course, it was Louisiana!), and ideas and creativity were exchanged without any of the snarkiness or “I’m better than you-ness” that sometimes occurs when creative people get together. I left the conference relatively unscathed. I sacrificed sleep for sure, as those below me laughed and danced and drank. I lost a memory card and a camera battery (thus justifying my Gobee bag purchase Yay again!), and left Gary Fong’s book in my room. But I would do it all in a second. But I won’t. I will do it again in a year when Pictage returns to NOLA for the 2010 conference. I hope to see you there!

Below are many more pics from the shoot and many more can be found on my Flickr.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about when Ginger Snapps came a callin’ in NOLA and our night and day of shooting photos. Thanks for reading this far!

WV

This is goofy of Zach but loved Jody’s look

different white balance..see how it changes the skin tones?

Filed under: photography   |  5 Comments
Tags: Denis Reggie, Erin and Jeff Youngren, Gray Photography, hurricane Katrina, Jamie Karlin, Jason Aten, Jay Goldman, Michael Kress, Mike Colon, NOLA, PartnerCon, photography, photography workshops, Pictage, Roberto Valenzuela, Scarlett Lillian, Zach and Jody Gray

PartnerCon is Coming back to New Orleans Next Year!!

05Nov09

When Jim Collins announced that yesterday the room erupted in applause. I knew the Big Easy would pull through! Who couldn’t love this city? After being in S. FL for so long I forgot the old charm this city exudes. It also has the drunks, like the one following our small group around yesterday while we were shooting in the quarter. I didn’t get a shot of him but he kept running into the frame with his can of Budweiser at 7:00 AM in the morning. I did get these shots of Zach and Jody Gray though. Zach and Jody are photographers who agreed to be models for a day and allowed 25 almost rabid photogs to shoot them all over The Quarter. The light in early morning N.O. is amazing. I’ve never seen it until now. Go figure. Never been up that early in N.O. either While these shots aren’t fully edited I wanted to throw them up here because I’m a kid with absolutely no patience. Did I just use the right spelling of that word? Sorry, my brain still as a few cobwebs from the morning. Have met some faboosh folks here and I’ll talk more about them later. Still more conferences to go to and still helping out at the Katrina charity event later this afternoon!

Here are some – don’t judge me they aren’t fully edited – pics from yesterday…

Jody has fabulous cheekbones to photograph and I felt they looked more old Hollywood in B&W

Loved the look on her face

A shop owner saw we were a group of togs on a shoot and invited us into her courtyard to take pics. Did I mention this was a great city?

The almost kiss….

Wanted to throw some colors ones up so you can better see the light at that time of morning….

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Tags: New Orleans, PartnerCon, photography, Pictage, Portrait, Wedding, Zach and Jody Gray

Wendy’s School of Cool

04Nov09

Just a quick note to let you know I didn’t fall of the end of the earth…been super busy with PartnerCon in NOLA. First one of these I’ve been to. I forgot how lovely and eloquent I am around people I don’t know. The good news is I haven’t snorted yet in front of anyone. I have stopped a few conversations with my half sentences that seem to trail off towards the end. I like to recover from those with a knowing laugh to instill confidence. Wouldn’t you want to hang out with me?

Here’s a picture of my French Bulldog, Petie because the way I can clear a room reminds me of Petie after she got into the baby food.

Going on a shoot early this morning with the Youngrens. I can’t wait to see what I’ll get!

WV

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Wooden Shoes and Misspelled Headstones

02Nov09

My friend Ginger Snapps took this picture of me after my haircut at The Refinery Thanks G!

Wow! What a weekend and what a week that lies ahead! (PartnerCon..what?) Friday afternoon I flew into New Orleans from Ft. Lauderdale. It was the first time flying with all of my lenses so the trip required a last minute trip to Bestbuy to grab a Lowepro backpack with all sorts of neat compartments for lenses and doohickies, and a compass in the stock (I made that last part up.). The trip was uneventful save for a bumpy landing and hour long rainy, dark car ride from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. E met me in New Orleans, though, so I didn’t have to make the ride alone. I’m in Louisiana for the PartnerCon conference but also to go through my mother’s things. My mother died 11/11/08 and my dad is moving soon, so it was time to go through her things and the things that accumulate in parents’ attics. We didn’t finish what we set out to do but we started. We did get sidetracked and made a few trips down memory lane. In between dividing up my mother’s paintings and sorting through her jewelry my dad handed me a large box to go through. I cannot describe the horrors that awaited in that one box. I found my old jewelry box from when I was a teenager and when I opened it I saw, glaring back at me, burning my corneas hundreds of pairs of bright or neon colored circa 1983 earrings, necklaces, rings…everything. Oh-my-God it was horrible. Back in the day I thought I was so avante garde wearing not two, but thee pair of earrings and….wait for it….some that didn’t match……What can I say? Crazazy times.. Also in the box was my extensive collection of unicorns. Yep. Airbrushed van quality unicorns in all forms, although most were glass or porcelain. I have no idea what I’m going to do with this stuff. The pure kitsch of it almost makes me want to keep it…But I’ve already committed to keeping every Mad magazine I’ve ever bought (I am convinced they will become collectors items and I can sell them to pay for Tess’s college tuition) so I don’t know where I’ll find the room. Also in the box…my wooden shoes from when we lived in Holland when I was a child. What I remember most about those shoes is that 1. you couldn’t wear them and 2. Sinter Klas (Santa Claus) would leave toys in them around Christmastime. What memories! That was about all we accomplished on Saturday. I left at around 11:00 for a haircut and color like I always do when I’m in town. Garrett Lemieux gives the best hair! If you live in Baton Rouge go to The Refinery and Garrett will hook you up. He’s the best. Later Dad, E, my tog friend GingerSnapps went to Perkins Rowe had ourselves a Photowalk. It’s a great area and we only ran into one Jam/Jelly type lady who didn’t want us to take pictures of the merchandise that was prominently displayed to the public in the front window (my words not hers). Which promptly incurred a reaction in Ginger to walk up to the display case and start taking pictures. The rest of the walk was uneventful except for when we saw a security guard walk up to us. Ginger was sure the Jam lady had sent him and confessed what she had done (proudly). The security guard had, in fact, absolutely no idea what Ginger was talking about so we quickly engaged him in conversation about cameras as he told us he was a Nikon shooter as well. My favorite pic from the walk (aside from the ones of my dad who at 70 looks marvelous) is the chandelier and you’ll see it below.

Sunday my sister bailed on more box tackling so Dad, E and I went to see Mom’s new place. It’s a long drive and it’s in Mississippi (I know, I know), but it’s quaint and near the beach. It was weird seeing my mom’s name cut into the stone with her birth and death date and we couldn’t really positively remember where her ashes were buried but we had the general idea. We hung around a bit and I talked to Mom and said all the things that I had been thinking and wanted to say. Cried a little then said goodbye. It was weird leaving her there. I mean, she’d been there for almost a year and I know she’s not really “there” but it was weird nonetheless. I did leave something for her though. Never a flower person, it just didn’t seem appropriate, so before we left the house I grabbed a handful of her favorite Dove Dark candies. I love you, Mom.

After visiting with Mom, Dad showed me where the stone cutter had misspelled his mother’s name. My grandmother was always “Maw Maw” although I knew she went by Marjorie a lot and that her real name was Margaret. Well, did I mention the cemetary was in Mississippi? When Dad pointed Maw Maw’s name out I saw “Margret”. I just gasped. What do you do? There is no eraser when you cut something into a stone. I’ll say this…at least he spelled it like it sounds!

Leaving the ground I noticed a typically MS. stone and it’s included in a picture below. Too funny. While I think the cemetary is pretty and quaint, I told E I didn’t want to be buried there. We’re sticking with our original plan…..Whoever goes first is cremated and keeps the ashes. When the other one goes then our kids have to put bot sets of ashes in one urn and shake it up, like 007 likes his martinis! Then and only then can we be scattered some in Louisiana, some in Florida, some in places yet to be determined because we plan on living a long time together

That leads us up to today! I’m still in Baton Rouge but will be leaving soon for PartnerCon in New Orleans!!! What a treat to have a conference on my old stomping ground! I can’t wait to post those pictures! Below are some from this weekend! Enjoy!

WV

My wooden shoes. They were sooo uncomfortable.

There’s no meaning behind this picture it was just pretty so I took it in my Dad’s backyard

My friend, Ginger Snapps! Would you tell this woman not to take pictures?

if you did, this is what would happen….

and this

and then this happens…Hey E stop chimping you see the security guard behind you?

and then E would say, “what?”

and then E would say, “I’m stickin’ it to the man!” and go on chimping

but none of that really happened. What did happen though is my dad…this guy

Did a good job of demonstrating where I got my cool from. Here he is checking to see if the building is level….I also see now where I got that wagon I’m draggin’

Here’s my favorite pic from the day

Sunday we went to the cemetary and here’s Mom’s name

Here’s the chocolate in lieu of flowers

Here is proof we were in Mississippi

Katrina inflicted a lot of damage at the grounds and not everything has been put back together…

And here’s one of E just because I love him so…

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Tags: Baton Rouge, Cemetary, Ginger Snapps, New Orleans, PartnerCon, Perkins Rowe

Don’t Hate on my Monkey Feet

29Oct09

Well, PartnerCon in New Orleans is right around the corner! I fly back home tomorrow evening and it will be good to be back in the Red Stick. Cooler weather if nothing else! I’ll check ino The Plaza (I feel so fancy) on Monday and the conference will start Tuesday. Since I only wear flip flops or running shoes here I decided it was necessary to buy a pair of good walking shoes that will look good with jeans for next week.

I love buying shoes. I love pretty shoes. I love fashionable shoes (but not the kind that are secretly correction shoes – that one was for you, Mom). I love all shoes. My problem though, intraweb, is that I have ugly monkey feet. It’s true. It’s the thing I hate most about my body – I hate it more than my big rear end. If I had my choice between changing my feet or my rear, well….I’d buy sheets to cover my feet and lipo my fat butt, who am I kidding. But for the point of this post, suffice it to say…I hate my feet. When I was a child the doctor even commented on how wide they were. Is there anything LESS lady-like? ugh. They’re horrible. Today, though, I got some new kicks (Three new pair! I hope my husband doesn’t read this part. It’s in parenthesis. I’m sure he won’t see it.) for the conference and like the true hillbilly I am from the sticks, I can’t help but keep trying them on and walking around. What’s wrong with me? Every hour or so I’ll climb out of my tree and put another pair on.

And true to form, I must photograph them. You’ll notice I’m only sharing the pictures of those that cover the monkey feet completely. I haven’t worked up the nerve to show you my UNCOVERED monkey feet. (To make matters worse I’m a runner, so you know there’s nothing good going on there. You will never see me with a French manicure on my monkey feet with missing toenails…have I ruined your appetite yet?).

Without further ado…my new shoes!

PS Ignore the ghostly white legs. You may want to turn down the brightness on your monitor. NOTE TO SELF: How can your legs be white when you run in the sun every day?

WV

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Tags: monkey feet, new shoes, PartnerCon, Pictage