Dahlias

Dahlia tubers won't last the winter in the cold New England ground so I dig them up every fall and store them in my root cellar. These are my favorite flower. Belle of Barmera and Otto's Thrill dinnerplate dahlias to be more specific. I grow them every year. And I grew them a few years ago for my wedding. I carried one as my "bouquet" and it was huge, at least the size of a traditional bouquet. The layers in a dahlia matched nicely to the layers in my dress. And the guys wore smaller dahlias. (I know all you guys are finding this post fascinating. But actually I think the only guy that visits my blog is my husband anyway so we're all good.) 

2¢

One of my photography teachers told me that if you get one good shot out of a roll of film, then it was a good day shooting. This has stuck with me over the years. So for every 30 digital captures, not all will be good, maybe not even one will be good. And not all should be good. (If you think you have 20 great shots on one roll, definitely look again.) So, my point I guess, take more than one shot, especially when shooting kids. Kids move alot, they move quickly, they blink, they grimace, they talk, they talk, they talk. It's impossible to get that one special photograph if you only give yourself one try.

(2¢ post series is me offering up my mostly useless, sometimes helpful photo tips. enjoy!)

Thanksgiving

As a new mom, I wanted to create a couple holiday traditions for my family, my own family, unique to us. We love popovers, fell in love with them years ago on a trip to Acadia National Park at Jordan Pond. So now popovers, smothered in butter and raspberry jam, on Thanksgiving morning are a must. My two year old calls them cupcakes. He ate four cupcakes. And the other new tradition is picking vegetables and herbs from the garden for Thanksgiving dinner. We used our own herbs and ate our own butternut squash and carrots. My son wanted more cupcakes, fewer carrots, but at least he helped pull them from the garden. Made me smile! The first food my son ever ate was butternut squash I grew especially for him. 

SHOOT: Park (outtakes)

Outtakes from a recent shoot. I was obsessed with the activity under this one tree.

OLD (personal) WORK: Cinque Terre, Italy

Caught myself remembering the first of many trips to Italy today. 1994 I graduated from college then went on a 4 month trip all over Europe. This trip changed the direction of my life.

OLD [personal] WORK: infrared and holga

I was thinking about my trips over the years to Utah, Arizona and California today too.

  

The first shot was taken on the Lost Coast in Northern California. Best trip ever! We hiked up and down the coast. Elk were scattered all around our tent every morning, their munching two feet from our tent waking us. This one large bull was off to the side one morning, scraping his antlers on a eucalyptus tree with the fog hovering behind him. I used kodak infrared film and an old beat-up pentax. The bottom two shots were taken with Ilford SFX film — holga on the left and pentax on the right.

SHOOT: Trampoline (my favorite shot)

SHOOT: Trampoline

Okay, so no bruises, no concussions, no casualties... huge success! Absolutely loved the kids! (and that's me shooting in the bottom photo, I'm the oldest kid in the group)

Gourmet Gone!

Well another one bites the dust. Gourmet Magazine is no more. I never produced any work for this magazine but I certainly drooled over their food pics and followed plenty of their recipes (not well) and tore out countless pages. So many beautiful photographs were created by killer shooters. It was a great magazine and I'm shocked that it's gone. Another great one, Cookie Magazine, closed last month. Total loss to the industry! While even Newsweek is in danger. Their ad revenue plunged 48 percent in less than a year.  

CASTING for... (this is a tough one) A Playful Child

I'm searching for a child that likes to play. I know, I know, you're thinking this will be impossible to find. And I need two of them between the ages of four to seven. Brother and sister would be ideal, but not necessary, and should be available for an hour shoot between Nov 15-Dec 6th and live in the Boston area. If interested please email me asap at kim@flippygirl.com.   

(In return, I'll get some portrait shots of your child along with some nice prints.)

SHOOT: Pink Umbrella