My First Photoshoot Guinea Pig: Ben Miranda

This spring, I am attempting to get more experience in shooting photos of folks who are taller than 3-and-a-half feet. A few of my friends have volunteered for this experiment, and I had my first shoot with one of them Sunday afternoon. It was with Ben Miranda, my friend from the Detholz!.

We shot for a couple hours in the Lincoln Square area, mainly on the grounds of Waters Academy, which has a community garden. We did some typical portrait shots, like the one above, but I wanted to do something a little more interesting.

Luckily, Ben was happy to oblige with some interesting props and poses. This is one of my favorites.

I was especially happy with the shots taken in front of the very colorful fieldhouse next to the garden in the school.

All in all, it was a great learning experience for me, and I look forward to doing some more shoots in the coming weeks. Ben was such a good sport about it all, and it was a lot of fun. You can see some of my other favorite shots in the slideshow below. To see all the shots from the session, you can visit my more "serious" Flickr account.

To A Kick-Ass Kimchi Mama in the Twin Cities Area

I know that these have not been the best of times for you, and for all that you're going through, I am truly sorry. You've been on my mind a lot lately, although I've lacked the words to express my thoughts.

I have so much respect for you--the compassionate way you parent, the intelligence and wit you exhibit in your writings, the sweet, encouraging comments you leave for your many friends, the strength and courage you've shown by choosing a new life for you and your daughter. You are someone I would be proud to call my friend and uhnni.

I believe that you will overcome the adversities that life throws your way, but if you ever feel small and forlorn, know this--you are NOT alone. We've got your back. You know who we are.

Those two words pretty much sum it up. You Rock, Mama Nabi, and don't you forget it.

How to Dismantle Fear

I recently saw this on my beloved inspiration Jen Lemen's Flickr stream, and it hit me like a timely prophetic word. Dismantle Fear. DISMANTLE. FEAR. Yes, THAT is what I need to do. Take apart my fears one by one, render them powerless in my life. And maybe in doing so gain some hiddens morsels of insight as to who I am and where these fears have grown from and how to transplant courage and hope and trust and joy into those places where fear once had its roots.

Obviously, this will be no overnight task. You see, I am a woman of many fears. Spending your most formative years in a fundamentalist cult, being hurt in ways no child should ever be hurt, failing at relationships that you thought would last forever, watching your dad waste away before your very eyes. These are things that tend to plant seeds of fear in a person, seeds that eventually grow into stubborn weeds.

Well, I've started my personal process of Dismantling Fear, and I've decided to begin with the Fear of Not Being Worthy Of the Company I Keep. The lovely and talented Tracey of Mother May I presented me with the perfect opportunity to do this by inviting me to contribute to a new online community blog of women photographers called Shutter Sisters. When I looked at the list of amazing women who had already joined forces with Tracey, my first reaction was, "There's no way I'm good enough to be one of them. I'm just a cheesy mommyblogger!" I began my email to decline Tracey's offer. But then I realized that I have avoided being a part of anything that would potentially push my limits a bit and maybe, just maybe, make me GROW a little. I've always been so afraid of not being good enough. And yet, I knew from reading the blogs of these women that while they are intimidatingly talented, they are also kind and supportive and encouraging. So I said Yes to Tracey! And now I'm a Shutter Sister!

I am giddy with the prospects of collaborating with these women and other Shutter Sisters from all over the world, cyber and real. Please check us out! Better yet, join us!

I'm The Luckiest Girl On the Upper North Side

And why am I so lucky, you ask? Cuz I got to spend an evening out. At Uncommon Ground. With just girls. And not just any girls, mind you. I had the special treat of an evening with the inimitable Bella of Beyond the Map and Leigh of Mere Mortal. Although we had never met before last night, these two women have been a source of inspiration and hope for me in so many ways, through their words, their courage, their struggles, their honesty...

We talked and talked and laughed and laughed. I was surprised at how comfortable I felt, being the one who borders on social anxiety disorder. I mean, I really, REALLY had fun! Hopefully, we'll get to do this again, although Leigh was only visiting from Arizona. But Bella lives in Chicago. In fact, we're practically neighbors! Hopefully, we'll be grabbing lattes together at Metropolis often.

Date Night @ the Ian Moore Show

Monday night was a special treat for us. Our friend Ian Moore was in town playing a CD release show with a full band(!), so we got Ted's bro Dave to babysit, and we had ourselves a bona fide date. Normally, we would take Cadence to see her Uncle Ian play, but I happened to know that his full band shows get LOUD. Plus, it was a later show than normal for Ian. We braved the rain and the traffic on Ashland, did a Trader Joe's run for some hummus and cheap wine (per Ian and the band's request), and made our way to Martyr's where the show was.

Ted got to get a very short game of pinball in right before the opening band started. I'm not sure why there is a pinball machine in the music room, as that whackety-wack can get pretty loud.

Local act Brice Woodall opened the show. We were quite surprised to see what looked like Jim Cooper (of the Detholz!, Baby Teeth, Bobby Conn, etc) on DRUMS. Turns out it's not Jim, but he sure could be his double if he wanted to be. I mean, down to the pattern that his facial hair made and everything.

Ted and I have seen Ian play his solo acoustic shows numerous times, and they are always amazing. With all the indie rockers saturating the music world these days, it can be hard to find someone who has passion, creativity AND true musical talent. That's why it's always such a treat to see Ian play.

We were excited to see a full-band show, as this is a rare occurrence here in the Midwest, since most of the folks who play with him live in Texas. I caught a full-band show down in Austin, TX back in 2002, but Ted had never seen one before last night, so he was especially expectant. And needless to say it was a totally awesome show.

Ian always amazes me with how full his sound is when he's playing solo or w/ just one backup musician. So with a full band, the sound is even more amazing. And the musicians traveling with him on this tour are really seasoned players.

Ian's latest CD 'To Be Loved' is out on Justice Records. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this album. It is Ian's best yet. I was happy to see that some of the songs he's been performing live for several years have finally made it onto an album version.

It was really great to be able to hear these songs live with a full band. I don't know when Ian will make it out to Chicago with a full band, so I'm glad Ted and I got the chance to see them.

The show was totally awesome. The thing I love about Ian's shows is that even as he performs, he is such a huge music fan himself, and he plays some really great cover songs. That's how I discovered the music of Neutral Milk Hotel and the solo work of Chris Bell (of Big Star). At this show, he also covered Teenage Fan Club's 'Start Again' from one of their older albums.

Here's something weird that happened during the show. While I was taking this photo above (which I have to credit Ian's Chicago merch man Gary Overstreet for asking me to take) from the merch booth, my cellphone began to vibrate. When I took it out of my pocket, the CallerID said it was Ian calling me. So there I was looking at Ian playing his encore on stage, and then I looked back to my phone which was telling me that Ian was calling me at that very moment. It was kinda surreal. I went out to take the call because I was too curious to see what would happen. Now here's the really crazy part. When I picked up, it was some woman talking. But she wasn't talking to me. She was carrying on a conversation with someone else. When I asked her who she was, it was obvious she couldn't hear me, which freaked me out and I hung up. It was like Ian's phone was chanelling this woman's phone conversation and sending it to my phone. Like how totally weird is that?!

I don't usually take photos at Ian's shows, since he normally plays at Schubas and although it's my favorite music room in the city, it kinda sucks for photos. Martyr's had better lighting, especially for a full band show.

After the show, we gave Ian his Trader Joe's loot, as well as a few bottles of Ted's homebrew. We had to hurry home to Cadence, so we couldn't hang out more, but it was good to get a chance to catch up a little. I can see that Ian is really happy with the new album and enjoying this tour, so that was good to see. It was also nice to have an evening out, just Ted and I.

You can see the rest of my photos from Ian's show over here.