Best Shot(s) Monday--Kids and Robotic Houswives

Folks, I took hundreds of photos this weekend at two photoshoots, and I am mentally and physically exhausted (but in a good, satisfying way). A few of my favorite shots, however, are more snap-shotty candids of other people's kids. Like Caely here with her totally kick-ass skull tattoo. I like me a good color combo, and that fuschia and green is one of my favorites.

And then there's this cute shot of Rudden, Caely and Cadence. They were nice enough to pause their flurry of fun to pose for one group shot. Otherwise, I'd have a bunch of blurs. Not that I have anything against blurs, but it's nice to get a shot in which you can actually make out faces once in a while.

And then there's this shot of my cousin's baby Eden, who is now a toddler already (!!!) and who is extremely photogenic. It's already hard to remember when Cadence was this little.

Which brings us to the Robotic Housewives portion of this post. I had the pleasure of doing a photoshoot for my friend Jessica Hannah's performance installation titled Showroom No. 6. The slideshow above is of some of my favorite shots from the shoot. You can see the entire set on my other Flickr account. This was Jessica's graduate thesis for Columbia College's Interdisciplinary Art and Media department. Here's a description from her website:

"Her thesis work explores identity struggles, her subject being robotic housewives. Showroom No.6 is an installation/durational performance involving six live women displayed in the 1950s-era showroom of Renaldi Industries, a fictional manufacturer of robotic companions. Six phones allow audience members to hear the inner monologue of each female robot; lifting the phone receiver actives each robot to life. A video catalog details other companionship options provided by the company."

I also did a photoshoot Sunday afternoon of my friend Ben (of Detholz! notoriety), but I haven't had a chance to go through all of those yet.

I've gotten some of my friends to volunteer as guinea pigs for photoshoots (Ben was the first) because I'm trying to get more experience shooting grownups. With just these two photoshoots, I've already learned a lot, and I'm excited to be pushing my limits as a photographer!

You can see more folk's Best Shot's on Tracey' Mother May I.

Over On Shutter Sisters Today

Hi, folks. I've got a post up on Shutter Sisters today. Check it out:

Small Is Beautiful

Over on Shutter Sisters Today

Hi, y'all. I'm posting the 3rd Sunday of the month in addition to the 1st Sunday over on Shutter Sisters. My latest post called Just Shoot It is up now.

Uptown Girl (For an Hour)

I know I've complained and complained about the brutal winter we've had in Chicago before, so for once I am happy to report that the temperatures actually SOARED into the 50's yesterday. And thank goodness, as I've been itching to hit the streets for a photoshoot.

The winter's been extra hard on me, as it's left me uninspired to take photos of anything or anyone. Except for the occasional shots of Cadence and friends, it's been a dry spell for me shutterbug-wise. And I've especially missed one of my favorite activities--street photography.

Thanks to the time change this week, I had about an hour-and-a-half of natural light left after I got home from work last night, and I immediately rushed out with my camera. I kept things simple with just my 30mm lens since I HATE changing lenses. I didn't know where I was going to go shoot when I got in my car. I wanted to visit my favorite haunts in Wicker Park, but traffic on Clark Street was a bear, and the light wasn't getting any brighter, so I headed on over to New Chinatown in Uptown, by Argyle and Broadway.

If you live on the Northside of Chicago and get a hankering for pho or dim sum or a Chinese bakery, this is the place to go. The neighborhood is also called Little Vietnam or Little Cambodia, as many of the shops and restaurants and residents have connections to Southeast Asia, as opposed to mainland China.

While I was shooting some photos, I happened to hear someone calling my name. It was one of my best friends, John, who was riding his bike down Argyle on his way to a bar called Big Chicks on Sheridan. Funny thing was, I had left a message on John's answering machine that morning telling him I'd be doing a photoshoot that evening. I didn't say where, and he never even got the message as he hadn't been home all day, so it was quite a pleasant surprise to run into him.

I feel a bit rusty when it comes to shooting, so I'm going to have to do a bunch more of these photoshoots. Back when I was a single gal living alone on the Wicker Park/Bucktown border, I did a photoshoot wherever I went. I think that was a little extreme, and now (especially with a kid) I recognize the need to put away the camera sometimes and just let things BE. But still, I can't help feeling a bit nostalgic about those days...

I'll post some other photos from last night in a slideshow below so you don't have to keep scrolling forever. Just click on the photo to go to the next one, or click on a thumbnail to see that photo.

Is it a Photo? Is it a Painting?

Cadenza, originally uploaded by t i m o (a.k.a. Tim Lowly).

So my friend Tim Lowly, husband of our church's wonderful pastor Sherrie Lowly and instigator for the Tim Lowly Ensemble which Ted drums for, also happens to be a talented and well-respected painter. He is a teacher/artist-in-residence at North Park University, where he also directs the gallery. I have been a fan of Tim's paintings for as long as I've known him. His images often resonate with the deepest places of my heart, and someday I'm going to scrape together enough money to buy me one of his works.

Lately, however, he's been making more and more art in Photoshop with photos he's taken. The stuff is pretty amazing. He posted the "photo" above of Cadence on his Flickr stream, and I absolutely love it. I'm not a big fan of drastic Photoshop alterations (I can't even get simple textures down), but the stuff that Tim does just makes my jaw drop. I highly recommend mosing on over there and having a looksy. He also posts his paintings and drawings, which are also amazing.