Sally Arquette, February 6th, 1984

This is dedicated to my mother in law, a woman whom I have never met, but whose strength, creativity, style, courage, humor, maternal love and love for life is never forgotten.

As a young single mother, raising two boys while struggling with breast cancer, Sally reminded her boys every day of their importance to this world. She taught them not to wallow in loss but turn it into gain for others. Brave as she was, she feared the unknown of the future for her children. Who would be there to comfort them, who would be there to give them hope.

She never saw her children past their adolescence.

With a determination to create a positive legacy in his mother's name, Nick created the non profit, "Walk With Sally" which mentors children whose family's are coping with cancer. Because of this program, so many mother's have felt a sense of ease, knowing that their children were being supported emotionally and were not alone.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Talk to your doctor to make sure you are doing all you can to detect breast cancer as early as possible. Early detection greatly increases your chances of surviving breast cancer. While you are at it, forward this to your best friend or wife or sister to make sure she is doing the same.

For more information on screening, treatment and donating please contact the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Walk With Sally and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

A few friends are posting pink today as well;

• Mrs. Blandings,
• Tartanscot,
• Pigtown Design,
• House of Beauty and Culture,
• for the love of a house,
• a day that is desert,
• gems on glamour,
• Victoria Thorne
• north side four
• katie d-i-d
• papillon linens
• Marys verandah
• hill country house girl
  

~ let me know if you'll be joining us so that I can ad your link.

glamour shots

Fashion illustration mixed in with a little late 70s glam vibe. Great prints over at jkl design.

naturally delicious

color palette: 100% whole wheat goodness

source: marie claire maison

source: apartment therapy sf

source: desire to inspire

source: sweet home style

last two photos: tom scheerer

Field Trip to Keatley's Place

I am working on an On Assignment post for later this week, but photographer John Keatley has an OA post up right now.

In it, he details his portrait of writer/director Josh Hornbeck. It's a nice walk-thru on building depth and character with light -- in a small room with light walls. Lord knows we see enough of those. At least the guy was not assigned to be shot working at a computer.

Had a chance to meet and have lunch with John in Seattle last week, where he showed me two of his city's great attractions -- fresh seafood and The Gum Wall.

One was yummy. The other, um, not so much.

-30-

FYI: DIY RPCube PDQ

Do you have one of those new RadioPopper JrX "Studio" model receivers? Tired of waiting for the upcoming RPCube, so you can remotely control Nikon flash power levels?

There is a lively discussion on how to roll your own (pretty easily and cheaply) happening in the Strobist Flickr group discussion board.

All you need is an SC-17 or a multi-flash sync cord (or generic equivalents of either) and a stereo miniplug. (And just one $10.50 multi-flash cord will make two "cubes".)

(Photo: azreloaded)

poster child

Always on the look out for affordable art, I was thrilled to have found this fantastic website. Founder Sonja Teri started this on-line comprehensive gallery of exclusive, limited edition, silk screened poster art.

The art ranges from work by Guerrilla artists such as Taki 183 {famous for his Graffiti art on 183rd street in Washington Heights } to the Octogenarian David Weidman, probably best known for creating 'Mr Magoo' and 'Rocky and Bullwinkle'.

Poster Child Prints.

featured in "In Her Shoes" at High Heeled Foot in the Door this week...

I was so flattered when Camilla at 'High Heeled Foot in The Door' asked me to be a part of her on going, 'In her shoes' series. When she first asked me back in May, the day that I chose to shoot {and every day is different for me} turned into a complete day of calamity.

Around noon, Nick, tore his Achilles tendon, jumping the fence to chase after our dog ~who had escaped. I was working with a client and had to abruptly leave after receiving a panicked phone call. In retrospect, this would have been a great day to document, lots of excitement, emergency surgery, casts, crutches and pain meds.

So, this time around I documented a rather mellow day. Nobody was hurt, full of sunshine and bike rides {and a bit of work}. Check in again as my partners at The Skirted Round Table will be submitting their own dalies as part of this charming feature Camilla's wondeful blog.

Boot Camp 2, Assignment 4: Results

Greetings from the final assignment of Boot Camp 2, in which you were asked to examine a transportation theme in the assignment, "What Moves You."

Some really nice stuff came in on this one, and I left notes on about two dozen pictures among the entries. Now comes the hard part -- getting them down to the finalists -- and one winner.
__________


But First, a Brief Commercial Message

No, not one of those pre-roll video things Vanity Fair forces you to sit through before you watch an Annie BTS. No, this commercial was shot by our own Ken Brown, for the Blackhawk (Car) Museum near San Francisco. Ken's the guy that did that amazing gull wing pic a ways back:



Pretty neat concept -- and shot on a 5D Mk II.


And Now, the Finalists

Add an extra "n" to lighting and things start to get even more interesting. Reader Carl Williams not only had the nerve to risk getting fried, but knew when to say when on the lighting.

Dark car, dark sky -- it's a low key pic, left that way. I might have popped a little light on the ground behind the car (a ways back) to separate the tires and sides a little.

But when the weather gets like this, I am probably at home hiding in the basement anyway. So what do I know.


This one, by M. W. Scott, is just delicious. It's an antique Polish scooter, with both paint and lighting to die for. Really nice composition, and the light details the bike's shape and texture beautifully.

One SB-80, through a shower curtain, proving that a modicum of creativity will let you do a lot with a little.


Saw a few of these, and BookGuy's was my favorite. It's understated, he let the car lights handle the road, nice sharp face -- a lot going on in a graphically arresting photo.

There are actually two light sources hitting the face. Two Sto-Fen'd SB-600's -- one on the far left dash and another in the passenger's seat. And those dual light sources give it a nice, 3-D shape.


Alex Pounds left significant areas of this photo unlit -- which to me makes the photo from a lighting perspective. Little snoot above the hands to augment the ambient window light coming from camera right, and even a flash under the sheets to paint a little detail from there.

I might have kissed a little more up into the face, but that could also have killed the draw of her overall body attitude, too. Wouldn't know till I saw it.

But in the end, this photo was not about lighting technique. It let the interpretation of the theme shine instead. Very nice, Alex.

(As an aside, you sure as heck won't catch me necked under a sheet with a Yongnuo YN460. After seeing this video, I would not put my nuggies anywhere near one of those demon-possessed things.)


This one is subtle, and I like it.

R.J. Bledsoe used a ground-mounted Vivitar 285 behind the biker to ape a little low, late light. This was essentially a dynamic landscape, but it fit the theme in its own way and stove out in the bunch.

I like that R. J. left the tones low and did not let the light call attention to itself. It is so easy to keep going and make the photo about the light, but adding more lighting pizzazz is not always the path to a better photo.


A little less subtle is this surfer photo by Haristobald, whom you may remember from this very cool swimming pool video.

The flash is actually on the board, in several layers of plastic bags. It made for a beautiful image when that light mixed with the sunset and waves. Please take a moment to check out his set from the shoot, in which he includes a setup shot.


Even less subtle is this shot by Darren Chang, who details cars in Malaysia. He shot two photos -- one with the hood down and one hood up -- and erased the former to the latter using layers in Photoshop.

I tried the same thing with my Scion XA and it's power source, but the two chipmunks under the hood did not photograph so well. (They are pretty dark and greased up by now.)

Seriously, how much money could you make shooting cars for hot rodders and tuners this way?

My 8-year-old described it in one word: Want.


And the Winner Is . . .

I loved every single one of these finalists -- beautiful photos, all. But only one walks home with the starving student light kit, a Speedlight Prokit 6 Reflector kit, the Strobist Gel/LumiQuest FXtra combo kit, a set of Strobist DVDs, the Trade Secret cards.

There was one photo that I kept going back to: This one.

Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims

This is in support for those who have been affected by the Typhoon Ondoy here in the Philippines.


To those who want to donate, please do so by visiting this link: BarrioSiete Official Forum



Quoting from their post:

My fellow bloggers, readers and lurkers; it breaks our heart seeing all these images and watching the videos coming from Manila – the wrath and devastation not only to properties but also to the lives of our fellow Filipinos. Tropical typhoon Ondoy is not only creating havoc but also bringing epic floods in the Metropolitan Manila area.

In the spirit of Barrio Siete, I invite you all to join our Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims. Very simply:

1.) Make a donation to our Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims. If you can’t, then help us by making this viral and create an entry entitled: “Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims“. A link to this original entry will be appreciated where your readers can make a donation. Please leave us a note in the comment section if you are joining so we can list your entry, in case the pingback doesn’t work.

2.) Invite other bloggers to join our “Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims”

3.) We will list the names of the donors in a worksheets, their organization and/or their websites, unless they prefer to be anonymous.

4.) The listing will be updated regularly and will be posted here in Barrio Siete Dot com.

5.) We are only accepting monetary donations in currencies accepted by Paypal.

6.) All donations will be remitted only to the Philippine National Red Cross in Manila. (We have not made any contact with them yet.)

Chocolateworld.net is gathering blogs and websites of those who will support and post about this. You can visit it and leave your link.

If you have a blog or a site, please don't hesitate to post about this.

God bless the Philippines!

You Reign | Citipointe: Video, Lyrics, Music Monday

You Reign Citipointe Music Video

You Reign by Citipointe Lyrics

Verse:
Over star filled skies
Over all created life
What was always meant to be
Your glory reigning over me

Pre-Chorus:
You're above
Anything thrown my way
Victorious
I live to stand in You always.

Chorus:
You reign
Over all the earth we sing it
You reign
Justice and peace you bring it
You reign
Holy one, You Reign

Bridge:
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
Jesus reign over me

Source: MusiCoop

I Do What I Don't Want To Do

I Do What I Don't Want To Do

How many times did you feel that way? Right now, that's what I am feeling. I don't know. I really don't.

I can just relate to what the Apostle Paul had said in his letters to the Romans:

 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.  I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.  So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. [Romans 7:14 - 15 (New Living Translation)]

I believe that this experience will surely result to more praises to GOD! So please pray for me...

I can boldly say, apart from God's grace and love, I AM NOTHING!

Blessings to you more! May God's grace truly overflow in your life :-)

peace out

Bounceman: A Hero For Our TIme.

Editing through the results for Boot Camp 2, Assignment 4, which will be up on Monday. (Some nice stuff in there!)

In the meantime, this is one of the video entries in LIME's ongoing "Bounce Competition," which you can learn more about here.

And, um, thanks for not making those pants any tighter.

[UPDATE: At some point, the guy who played Bounceman is gonna be walking down the street in Belgium somewhere and someone is gonna come up to him and ask, "Are you Bounceman?"

Bonus points if he stares at them for a moment, turns his head sharply and gallops away . . .]

-30-

holiday decorating on the skirted round table

Here we go again, third day of fall and the design blogs are in full throttle dishing out the holiday decorating goodness. It's one big frenzied competition! The bloggers are hyperventilating as they crank out one idea packed post after another. Read all about it.

Or listen as the three of us, who aren't personally big holiday decorators, chat about what we do, or don't do in this arena.

Two Grinches and one Jewish girl talk about Holiday decorating. Bring it...

he takes stuff from his house and sticks it outside.

then takes pictures.




Which, amazingly, turn out looking kind of cool in that really, static motion, inanimate object becomes living thing, sort of way { ya ok, whatever. }

Suddenly, task lighting become a research group on a hiking expedition through Antarctica,

or campers looking for the car keys Ron dropped last night after one too many 'brewski's

Vintage telephones becomes beached, animals in the frozen tundra.

Funny and beautiful.

The delightful work of Rune Guneriussen. See more here, much more.

He knows and He remembers!

Revelations 2:1-7 is the letter to the Church in Ephesus. This passage is famous on the point of the Ephesians forsaking their first Love for the Lord. It's even entitled "The Loveless Church" from New King James Version. If you're like me I'm easily drawn to the Title's point in reading the passage.

This changed when my Pastor preached about this last Sunday.

Here's the passage from Revelations 2:1-7

The Loveless Church

1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

But here's the new revelation:

Did you notice verses 2 and 3? The first time I read this, I thought to myself this is just a "background" of what the Church of Ephesus was before they lost their first love. But actually, it also talks about God's nature and love towards the Church.

HE KNOWS!

Yes! You read it right! He knows! God said in verses 2 and 3 that HE knows their works, their labor, their patience, their perseverance and the many more good things they have done for Him!

What am I trying to say?

I'm saying GOD knows and GOD remembers everything we've done in the past for Him. He remembers our little act of kindness, our labor in the ministry, every tear we cried, every prayer we uttered, every step we took to visit a friend, every cent we gave to those who are need. Yes! Everything is accounted for. Every labor we've done has been written down and will never be in vain! 1 Cor. 15:58

And this even though just like the Ephesians, He's no longer our first love. He remembers the good even if we've failed him a lot of times already! He took notice FIRST of the good things before the bad.

That's how GOD is. He loves us so much that no matter how idolatrous and even though we always go and look for other "lovers", He remains to be the greatest lover. The lover who never forgets.

As a TL during coaching sessions, we are asked to start with recognition then the Areas for Improvement (weaknesses of the agents) and then end it with Recognition again so that agent leaves with a light and happy heart.

Now, notice what GOD said after the telling Ephesians they've lost their first love:

But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Rev. 2:6

Now I think that's just sweet. Isn't it?

Light is Not Your Problem.

Here's a little news flash for the majority of the people reading this site right now -- yours truly included:

Your lighting is probably not what is holding you back. A trained monkey can learn how to light. It is the stuff which your lighting is supposed to be secondary to that is holding you back.

It is your ideas -- or lack of them -- that is holding you back. Ditto, your ability to create a moment within the environment of all of that nifty light you have set up.

Who or what are you going to shoot? How are you going to approach it? Why? How are you going to create the personal intersection between subject and photographer that allows for even the possibility of a great photo to happen? How can you coax a moment of visual candor out of them?

That, for me, is the hard part.





So when I see a video of a photographer whom I really respect talking holistically about what goes into his or her photography, I am gonna watch it. Repeatedly. Even more so when the photographer in question is Dan Winters, my favorite photographer working today.

This video really got me thinking on several levels. But I would be curious to know how it caused you to think about your approach, too. So I want to open the comments up to that.

This interview is from FLYP, a wonderfully diverse multimedia magazine, of which you can see more here. And if you are not familiar with Dan Winters, his website is here.

-30-

the pallies

This little video melted my heart just a little.

Now go. Give your little pallie a hug and a kiss.

Debuting Today: Best Camera

Ed. Note: Today's post has nothing to do with flash. But if you are a photographer who uses an iPhone, I'm pretty sure you're gonna like it.

Hit the jump for more on Chase Jarvis' new app: "The Best Camera" ...
__________


As if continually bouncing from one advertising campaign to the next weren't enough, Seattle photographer Chase Jarvis and his folks also have been hard at work creating the sweetest iPhone app yet for photographers.

I have been watching that sneaky little bast guy cranking out all of those cool, artsy photos with his phone and wondering why the hell my phone wouldn't make photos like that. Turns out, he was playing with a juiced ball. (Well, plus he is a better photographer than I am.)

I got to play with it in Seattle this last weekend and it rocks. Long story short, it gives you creative control over your iPhone photos like never before, with lots of stackable filters that you can apply to your images right in the phone.

As if that is not enough, there is also instant, one-button sharing of your images with all of the popular social media platforms -- and a dedicated, real-time site which showcases a stream of all of the tweaked images as they swim up into the web.

Not a bad deal for three clams.

He's even created an art photography book just to show what is possible with an iPhone, the right software and way too many copies of the creativity gene.

My first reaction: Why didn't I think of that?

Congrats to Chase. Best Camera is a fantastic idea, beautifully executed. Full info at Chase's blog.

it's the one about headboards... and a bonus how-to video

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to spend some time at The One and Only hotel in Mexico.

Along with those gorgeous Galbraith and Paul fabrics every where, was this insane, Colcha covered headboard.

I covet the covered headboard. Anytime I see a great one I pull it for my overflowing file.

in my collecting, I've realized a few things. I love nailheads on rectangular headboards {although I've seen them on more curvilinear shapes, I don't love them as much when they're not in a neat little marching row}

actually that's not true, I like the nailheads here.

I don't like a headboard to be too big or puffy. Tight, and a thin-ish profile works for me.
did someone say 'curvilinear'? {off topic, but I love those, monogrammed orange euro shams}

tall is good, you want to be able to see the head board when the pillows are up against it. But keep in mind, if you have a pitched ceiling, you don't necessarily want a really tall headboard.

nailheads and swoopiness. I'm begining to like it the more I write this post. Sometimes you have to lay it all out before you can see it

I love this headboard, even though it's a naked headboard.

These last few are late additions as more than a few of us have headboards on the brain. Found these over at smittendesigns.com. thanks reader, 'elly e' for the headsup.

I had forgotten about this little twin set {above} I've always loved this shot. Not only are the colors lickable, those monogrammed shams, slay. I'm guessing but don't know for sure that they're Leontine.

Back to that Colcha covered headboard that I coveted......What I didn't know was that headboard- the one that I met in Mexico, had an established fan base. {It appeared in Cookie magazine in '05} And Grace Bonney of design*sponge, was one of them.

So inspired was she, that she went out and made herself one. Watch here as she recreates her own version of the One and Only headboard.