my love of film has awakened, again. I’m back. OLD camera (new to me), mechanical, noisy, lego-like in how it’s pieces fit together and I LOVE IT! first images from the Hasselblad are below. the detail, the textures, the depth and range of tones are rich and velvety. ohhh, hassey – I see a long future ahead for us. ❤
<click each image to enlarge and enjoy>
xo
some days are just hard. challenges, roadblocks, obstacles have been popping up and try to bring me down all day. what is happening? I’m having the hardest time being a duck today and just letting this all roll off my back.
xo
I’ve loved this image from the moment I shot it. there are those split seconds where you just know its a good one – this was one.
this is me. it is my work, but it is also how I have felt and how I feel on occasion.
in my work there is a repeated visual of curling up. I see it now that I’ve been through my recent set of critiques. curling, going inward, the body made circular, womb-like. I think it’s something for me to explore. as an introvert I immediately relate it to my need to recharge by going inward, but maybe there is something else to it.
I’m reading ‘Quiet, the Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking’ by Susan Cain, and it’s fascinating how much it’s telling me about me, about my struggle to always be “on” or “to push myself out there” – where I’m not comfortable at all. it’s fascinating how clearly she describes the world as over time becoming a place based in extroversion. current day example — Tony Robbins makes millions on selling the idea of success tied to being extroverted.
I personally know there is power in calm, quiet approaches – but in a world that is constantly yelling it can be hard to be seen or heard.
I’m not quite half way through the book, and I am hopeful that she will have guidance and insight on how to use my Quiet for good!
this is me. it is my work, and it is hanging in my house. the first fine art piece that I’ve framed and hung.
happy thursday
xo
my first professional set of critiques happen in a few days.
select 20 images – print only (which makes me very happy), and get ready for six professional photographers – with 15-30 years experience to one at a time, sit and go through your work.
augh.
breathe.
freak out.
I’m ready because without this I won’t know.
here we go………
he is my rock, my example for what a man should be. he is opinionated, hard on the outside but compassionate on the inside. he works hard, and has instilled the “always do your best” attitude in myself and my siblings. he lives life by doing. maintains a young heart by staying connected and molding the youngest members of our family, but his years of living life have created concrete beliefs and attitudes that are his and his alone. they are what give him character and make him my dad.
his smile, his laugh, his hand on your shoulder. they are the things I don’t take for granted. his wisdom, words of guidance (even when it’s not exactly what you want to hear) and words of encouragement are jewels to be treasured.
happy birthday dad! here’s to another year….
xo
it’s a rainy Friday morning and I’m dressed in all gray (and black of course). it fits the day and fits my mood. kind of low key, cozy, and relaxed.
earlier this week was just the opposite. I got my first image published on the cover of the everything bloom newsletter.
there was dancing and singing!!
to be published in as many places as possible, that fit my esthetic of course is the goal this year. online and print.
cheers to the first one!!
xo
2/20/15 update:
second feature!!
it’s over. you know when it’s time to let go, to move forward, to cut the weight that’s been holding you back.
that time has come. for me and Facebook, and this has been a long time coming. something I’ve contemplated for a year. I’ve taken baby steps. not posting for a week. turning off the notifications badge so I wouldn’t be nagged to click that cute blue icon. I’ve cleaned up my friends list. cut down the groups I’m a part of. but you’ve won every time FB.
you are the first thing I check when I wake up. (ugh I hate admitting that), but I need to know what’s happening in the world of my friends and peer photographers. the Aussies always post while I’m sleeping and I love my Aussie friends! how many likes have images I’ve posted in private groups received, or what feedback/critique have I been given? let’s go back to my friends. who are my “friends”? some are people I’ve known a lifetime. some are people I haven’t seen in over 15 years, and some are people I’ve never met but we share a common interest. I’ll miss you, but I’m not actually going anywhere (physically). find me, let’s stay connected!
FB you are addicting, but not productive. yes, I’ve learned things. I’ve found people to mentor me, I’ve been inspired by the groups I belong to…but I can find all of that outside of your walls. I’ve been supported “online”, and felt the FB swell of birthday love. it’s great, but wouldn’t it be better if it were a phone call or personal text message? it’s so easy, it’s too easy.
you have billions in your web. and I think it might be nice to not be one of them. to take my life back. to stop being bombarded by your cheeky ads that combine my attending UW and loving the Seahawks into cutesy saying on sweatshirts I’ll never buy. being without you might be hard at first, but I have a feeling the balance will come.
your constant privacy changes, and page layout updates are maddening. you’ve slowed down on those changes, thank you, but I don’t have to be a part of any of it. I don’t want you to think there haven’t been good times – it’s been fun, but we my friend, are at the end of our road.
to my family and “friends”, you can all follow and find me in a few places on the web. I think “real” connections are in order.
2015 is my year of simplification, and this is a big one.
follow this blog. this is where I’ll be most! general musings. bus ride updates, announcements – don’t miss out. I’d love to have your energy with me.
website: http://www.tallieimages.com — the photography, book mark it.
online galleries: shop.tallieimages.com (this will be linked to the website soon)
instagram: http://www.instagram.com/tallieimages (business) http://www.instagram.com/tallienatt (personal)
500px.com: tallie http://www.500px.com/tallie
vsco.com: tallienat [http://tallienat.vsco.co/1]
pinterest.com: tallienat [mix of business and personal boards]
ello: http://www.ello.co/tallie-nat periodically I’ll post here. (let me know if you need an invite)
I have a tumblr and a two twitter accts (find me), but I rarely use them and if that changes it will be on the blog.
last but not least – old fashioned email: tallieimages at gmail dot com
I turn the lights off on both my personal and business pages February 1st at midnight.
xo
natalie
concept 1 will be born tomorrow. I’m nervous. excited. anxious. it’s all the normal emotions I have before a shoot. I am prepared – I think. the concept is clear, the mood board is done, the models are secure, I’ve had a meeting with hair and makeup (Becky you are going to rock this!), my biggest cheerleader is on board and has a crew lined up to help him set up my vision.
concept 1: in between. we’ve all been in that space. adolescence: not a child not an adult. separated: not married in the true sense of it, but not single. that in between state is a state all on it’s own. it’s recognized and acknowledged, but it’s still in between. my first expression of ‘in between’ will reflect my upbringing in an all white community and my internal struggle feeling accepted by my black community. I was influenced, and imprinted by my childhood community but never fully accepted. I am accepted by the black community to a point (I believe). The ‘Oreo’ nickname I was given still fits – but I prefer to think of my middle as a swirl. I see who I am when I look in a mirror and that is the state I accept – the blended inside, and non-blended outside.
black/white, in black and white. beach shoot, at 7am and there may be rain….
xo
I don’t think I’ve been this excited to visit a new place since Paris.
4 days in Hawaii with my baby girl. it’s always been a dream of mine to travel with my kids. one on one. a trip to somewhere far away, where we connect, experience and learn about a new culture, or just relax and catch up with each other.
I’d say South Africa was the first of these trips. it included friends, and family – but I was there with my kids!
Hawaii will be my first trip and Taylor’s second. Maui will be a first for both of us.
day one.
flight: earrrrrly! out of San Jose to get a direct flight and avoid a 10 hour trip (layovers suck). left home at 5:20am to make a 7:45am boarding. made it no prob.
I’ve found that traveling alone gives me LOTS of time to observe. I’m attracted to the elderly on planes. maybe because I’m confined and have to pay attention. maybe because when I sit near a restroom, they are always there, maybe because I am entering their bracket. who knows. I just know I want to talk to them. to learn their story. to understand what they’d tell me about me at my age or about them at my age.
landed, waited for Taylor to land and headed to our paradise home for there next 4 days. there are lots of kids here which is great, and fortunate for them. I can’t imagine the lifestyle they live on a day to day basis where the Four Seasons is a hotel choice for their family vacation. the grounds are like the garden of Eden if I had to imagine what it might have looked like. beautifully manicured gardens, fountains, fragrant plumeria and smiles from all the staff, all the time. I love that they come from behind the desk to hand you a key or map. the service feels like Nordstrom – back in the day.
we’ve taken a spa where we were cocooned and floated and rubbed down with Shea Butter, so we are two super soft chocolate sisters (yes we have been mistaken for sisters – don’t worry Taylor, it used to happen to me too with grandma. You come from a good gene pool). and we hung out in the eucalyptus steam room that made scary guttural sound every time it delivered steam which made us giggle like fourth graders.
day 2.
today it’s off to explore some nearby towns, get the souvenir purchasing out of the way and take in some downtime. beach time. nothing time.
paddle boards. I can see them float by in the ocean from our patio. no one falls down on their paddle boards. I hope I don’t fall.
so there was no paddle boarding, but there was a lot of body surfing. weeeee! so much fun to jump and play in the waves of the pacific ocean. what was not so much fun is the screaming tooth ache I landed with. it’s progressively gotten worse, and forced a mainland call to my dentist for help. looks like dental surgery for an incorrectly placed root canal is in my near future. GAH! popping antibiotics chased by probiotics, tylenol and ibuprofen was not how I envisioned these four days – but a lot of pain is not going to keep me from having a great time with Miss Taylor.
Speaking of the daughter — I think she has enjoyed everything so far. She is a wonder to watch, and I still love to just watch her sleep. It was cute when she was a baby, and it might be kind of creepy now – but I’m her mom, what can I say. She is trying hard to just relax and be in the moment, which is hard knowing that the day after we return to real life she starts the final leg of her engineering degree. She is as prepared as she’s going to get, and I have every confidence in her to stick it out and do well. This whole trip is a celebration of her perseverance. Her “stick-to-it-ness”, her ability to stay focused on her end goal and learn how big mistakes or lack of making a decision along the way impact the overall arrival time. She WILL get this done, and we WILL party party party to celebrate her success.
we found the “serenity pool” (sans kiddo’s) with the swim up bar and we swam up a few times. made chair reservations for tomorrow – this will be where we are if anyone needs us. 🙂
dinner at Spago, and called it a night as we could barely stay awake (the downfall of a lot of sun, and a swim up bar)
day three.
early morning beach walk. it’s my thing to be on out and about before the sun comes up when I travel. I love the feeling of a foreign place with its still asleep — at the beginning of a new day. today, I walked the beach, took a few beautiful images and headed back up to the hotel for breakfast where taylor joined me. we had our second spa experience where we each had “trim and tone” appointments. this was hands down the best spa treatment I’ve ever had. I am a huge fan of vichy showers and this included a full body dry brushing, application of an oil infused with ginger, and cardamon, and a dusting with volcanic ash that was scrubbed into my skin. lymphatic system improvement, blood flow, circulation and reduction of cellulite. it smelled amazing, felt amazing and included a vichy shower. heaven. [maui wins for best body treatment, and cape town still holds the award for best pedicure]
serenity now. the pool was our afternoon campsite. people on their phones, on iPads & kindles, wearing headphones, on laptops and reading books (the old fashioned way). this is how we relax. in the pool, take a lap, swim up grab a refreshment and back to your lounge chair for your choice of entertainment. serenity – no keiki’s – now.
day four.
whirlybird, chopper, copter, eggbeater. yes, we rode in one – over the entire island of Maui. it was the thing I wanted to do most, and the thing Taylor wanted to do least but we met in the middle and had a really fun time. did you know there were varietals of plants from all over the world growing on Maui. Things naturally show up through ocean storms and thrive. there are trees from Africa, Japan, Australia, and the native Kukui Nut. We flew over the dormant volcano, past breathtaking waterfalls and saw the desert, farmland, lush tropical jungle, and beautiful beaches. We even flew over Oprah’s house and her private 3-4 mile long driveway that gets her from the beach to her mountain retreat without having to travel around the island (that’s what having “Oprah status” will get you),
Dinner at Mama’s fish house was accompanied by the best sunset of the trip. Refreshing cocktails and creamy exotic curries and the freshest fish next to my daddy’s salmon.
Oh – I forgot to mention the plumeria. Joshua did an amazing job creating lasting artwork for Taylor and I to remember this trip forever.
day five.
Final morning, final breakfast, and an earthquake. At 1AM (hawaiian time) I woke up. No reason, just wide awake in the middle of the night. I checked my phone and a CNN notification about a 6.0 earthquake just north of San Francisco sent me into a mini panic. 4:15am, no one was going to answer a phone, or a text from me, but I still tried to reach home to get details and make sure everyone was okay. Facebook became my window into what was going on in SF, and nearby towns. Friends in Napa seemed to be the most affected, but the long enduring rolling was felt as far south as San Jose.
Four shooting stars, seven peach slices, two amazing spa treatments, five wonderful days and four balmy nights. thank you Taylor for sharing this experience with me. I can’t wait for our next one…..where should we go?
final day! and I was worn out. exhausted. couldn’t tell you the day of the week and really wanted to go home.
we packed, ate snacks, cleaned, organized gifts and I slept! with a 9am flight we were up and ready to go by 5.
amazing trip, beautiful city, I time in my life I will never forget. I think we left enough to do for another visit – preferably in the spring/summer.
thank you M for making the last 10
days a easy, pleasurable experience. thank you for allowing me to see Paris through your eyes, and thank you for taking care of me!
love you!
she said, saw and ate 