I need to shoot. to take out my camera and create. it’s nagging at me – to continue to tell my story. to figure out the next set of work. 

no time to think. to conceptualize. to create sets in my head and figure out how to materialize them. 

to create stylized phases of an overall session. to identify model models and get hair and makeup scheduled. 

I need to shoot. to take out my camera and create.

I’m officially another year older. hooray!! this was my first non FB birthday in 8-9 years and wow, it’s enlightening. a few friends reached out, family called and M was of course right by my side. this is what a real birthday feels like. real in the sense that those who really love and care about you know your special day and reach out. thank you to all who did!! 

the birthday weekend stared with a photography workshop in big sur California. landscapes & nudes. one I’m very familiar with and one I’ve never shot. we took a drive down the coast on Thursday to check in to the accommodations. the place was awful. no tv  or phone (which I could deal with), dirty carpet and a serious mildew/mold smell in the room which I could not deal with. M came along on this adventure and his bags barely hit the floor before he said – nope, I’m outta here!  we checked out minutes after we had checked in and headed to Carmel in search of lodging. on the way there way the kick off incident of the weekend. 

traffic. merging into traffic the car behind us honks. that was their mistake. unless there is an emergency of some sort – it’s best to not honk at Mr M while he’s behind the wheel. so the honked at us legally and politely merging into their land with all the cars ahead of us. M, brakes – he doesn’t like to get honked at. we start to move, they honk again and he brakes again and I hear “crash”. the car behind them hits them and whatever hurry they were in has now been delayed because of an accident. don’t honk at M – unless it’s really an emergency! 

we found a great place in Carmel, met up with the photography group for a presentation and dinner and the. got ready for a full day of shooting on this amazing ranch in big sur. nudes are new to me. portraits and capturing a woman’s beauty is not. it was a great day. really hot so we had to work in as many open shade areas as we could find. we had one model who had a very nostalgic look to her and an African American model who was sweet.  

the ranch was amazing here is a video of the view from the yard.  

 Saturday had an even earlier start. 6am to catch sunrise at the beach and we got fully socked in with fog. The morning was still beautiful to me. I love soft foggy mornings at the beach, they have personality! we headed down the coast to shoot along the massive rocks off the coast. pretty scary to climb around on the rocks with my gear, but pretty spectacular to get images from behind waves crashing along the cliffs. so worth it!!

the afternoon was spent visiting the famous Edward Weston’s family home, his darkroom and viewing four generations of work that has come from his son, nephew, grandson and now great grandson. Weston’s work has always been some of my favorite BW work so it was beyond words to be standing in his home, and in his darkroom looking at the things he used to create his work. we left there to shoot sunset at a local public beach and were turned away because the beach was full. so while the rest of the group went on to hunt for a location to shoot sunset – M and I headed back to the ranch to enjoy it alone. we walked a cattle path, ran into a cow and sat and watched the sun sink into the Pacific Ocean. my final sunset of my 50th year was perfect. 

we had a great birthday breakfast at Pebble Beach, and headed back to SF so I could unpack and repack for my next adventure. 

I am completing the third week in my class with Candela, and felt like the lesson we’ve been working on was an important one to share. it really applies to life in general, but I’ll explain it as it relates to photography. 

we were asked to make a list of the rules we’ve learned or heard we should follow in photography.  I made my list as it relates to my style of shooting – women’s portraiture. my list was long. MUCH longer than anyone else’s list in my class. 👀 

  
my list included HAVE FUN, but it also includes a lot of what I watch for and try to correct while shooting to make my editing time less. these rules help produce my style. but there are A LOT of them. 

I was encouraged to let go of my rules – and that made me want to clutch them even tighter. “what will happen to my style if I start letting hands or toes go all willy-nilly, and allow shoulders to be hunched or hide a beautiful neck!” my instructors response was “maybe a new style will present itself, maybe you will discover a new way to express yourself.” 

I think in life we get comfortable with our routines. we don’t step out of our boxes, and put ourselves in uncomfortable situations as a way to learn and grow.  this could be as simple as not spending a day in the nearest big city, because it’s too big and crowded. it could be putting off or not even thinking about visitng a foreign country because we fear the cultural difference. it could be not signing up for a class to learn something new because we think we’ll not be good at it. 

so I was encouraged to break a rule. just one from my list – and that was doable for me. baby steps! I chose to focus on focus. to let go of my need to have my subject in sharp focus. I woke M up at the crack of dawn (actually before) to watch the sunrise at the beach, so I could break a rule or two. 

   
 
focus and stillness broken here!   

 so the results were new for me. little works of dream-like landscapes with a painterly feeling. a new expression, a new way to capture my surroundings, a new way to create work! and that was only a couple rules broken – who know what else I can discover by breaking even more rules. 😳

what rules can you break in your life? what new discoveries can you make about yourself? it’s never too late – go break some rules! 

xoxo – natalie

im taking a class online about inspiration, and an assignment we had recently was to take a close look at the things in our home that we have special connections to – and then photograph them in beautiful natural light. we spend a lot of time out in the world searching for beautiful light, waiting for it, waking up before sunrise to capture it, or setting it up and creating it artificially. this exercise was to shot it within the 4 walls that we live in.  

    
    
    
   
it was a fun exercise and the results surprised me. my everyday objects seem to stand out a bit different in these photographs.  what do you think?
xo – natalie

I’d love to share some work from the watertank in Motherwell last month. I really think this is some of my most creative work. yay!

Steller Stories

   
xo! 

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a raisin in oatmeal — describes my experience growing up in the late 60’s in the Pacific NW at a time when blacks were just beginning to move to the west coast, and not many had made it to the northern most corner of the US. my all white environment was all I knew, and my speech pattern still reflects it.  however, I was not always accepted in that environment – and I felt isolated more than included. as I grew up, got my drivers license and could seek out people who looked like me, I found again that acceptance wasn’t easy because our foundational experiences were so different. these images are a part of a series where I explore self acceptance for the two sides of who I am. #selfLove. #tallieimages
   
          
thank you for following my journey….

xo – natalie 

took a quick trip north to stand in front of my first gallery piece. crazy to think that a piece of my work was printed, framed and hanging on the wall of an art gallery – so I had to see it for myself. 

plane tickets – check; hotel – check; family meeting us in Portland – check! everything was ready – except come to find out the gallery has very limited hours. Thursday and Friday noon – 5. 

plans were in motion, so we made the trip anyway. I didn’t get to walk right up to my image, but we did see it through the window!! I’m grateful for the opportunity and hope that on Th/ Fri’s through August 20, others will get to see my work. 

Portland – Black Box Gallery 811 E Burnside. 

thank you to dear friends Dotcy and Vanessa for making the trip and trying to stop by the gallery!! xo! 
   
           

there is some excitement in my world mainly coming from anticipation of upcoming events. 

first is my first submission to Portland Photolucia’s Critical Mass. thousands of photographers world wide at every level submit work to be reviewed and voted on by over 200 esteemed international photography professionals. there is a screening process that narrows the field to 200, and then to the top 50 who receive a series of awards and distribution of their work. the submission closed at noon today (7/28), so the party train has left the station. I’m excited to be on it and to learn as much as I can as I go. 

second is my pending return to Motherwell. this magical ranch in the Colorado Rockies is where my photographic journey completely changed. I’m only a few days away from “Rocky Mountain High”. can’t wait. 

third, and final… I’ve had my first image accepted into a gallery exhibition. if you are in Portland August 1-20 stop by Blackbox Gallery.  look for Grace framed and hanging on a wall!  if not, take a swing by the website. http://www.blackboxgallery.com

I’m vibrating!!

xo!