the beauty of film

photos, words

I’m discovering more and more just how much I love the analog medium. With fewer shots per roll/film pack, you have to think about the shot so much more – and that’s really teaching me to think much more about each shot.

I’m learning to be competent in the darkroom too: rolling the film, mixing the chemicals, timing the processes, cutting the negatives, making contact sheets, using the enlarger, and, the best part, in my opinion – developing the prints. Gently sloshing the liquid in the tray, and watching the image grow on the paper is so magical.

A few collages of some recent film photos. 35mm color film, 35mm b&w film, 120 color, 120 b&w, 35mm color reversal, and The Impossible Project Polaroid film.

I’m now offering all-film photoshoots: color reversal film (slide film), true black and white, and polaroid instant film. Contact me about a booking!

my warby parkers

photos, words

I just got new glasses from Warby Parker! The Zagg frame, in Tennessee Whiskey. I really love the split-color plastic frame, with dark tortoise on top and crystal on bottom.

Warby Parker sells designer frames, prescription lenses included, for only $95. And for each pair sold, they give a pair of eyeglasses to someone in need.

taken with expired fujichrome 100 color reversal film

Page CXVI + Derek Webb in concert

photographic journeys, photos, words

Opening night in Dallas of Derek Webb’s CTRL tour for his new album: September 27th, 2012.

Page CXVI had the first set (they do re-imaginings of hymns, making them accessible and known again), and then they played with Derek for the Ctrl album.

The show was held at the Prophet Bar in the Deep Ellum area of downtown Dallas.

Page CXVI started the night off with powerful hymns and worship. (The fact that their name, Page 116, comes from that page of The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis, where Aslan sings the world into existence is AWESOME. I mean, that this band of people who love Jesus and are singing their hearts out worshiping him and making these beautiful hymns and pieces of music, has such a cool backstory to their name? So cool. )

Stage lighting.

Latifah, vocalist for Page CXVI.

I love that their hymns lead to such genuine worship.

A couple shots I took of my friends before the show started.

Derek Webb.

A small moment of reality.

Intensity.

Derek’s new album CTRL is insanely cool. It’s thought provoking, and epic, and beautiful, all in the right places. But for a much better review of it, click here.

I think I’m still processing how to understand it, and I don’t know that I’ll ever have just the right words to describe it.

My personal belief is that CTRL is intended to fit together with Nexus by Sola-Mi, a concept album by Derek Webb. (Find Sola-Mi on Noisetrade here.) They fit together really well, and their stories kind of complete each other. Read about this idea here. And more is to be found if you explore deeper, according to Ryan Getz’s interview of Derek Webb. I’m looking forward to a treasure hunt similar to what led up to the releases of both Webb’s Stockholm Syndrome and Nexus, if that’s what might happen. (Read about the pre-puzzle for Sola-Mi here.)

Page CXVI is made up of Latifah Phillips, lead vocalist and pianist, her husband Reid, guitarist, and Dann Stockton, drummer. Another music project of theirs is The Autumn Film.

Basically, I love this music. I loved the experience of hearing them live; I love that I can take photos of things that I love. It was a good night.

Page CXVI // free music on their site

The Autumn Film // free music on Noisetrade

Derek Webb // free music on Noisetrade

Nexus//Sola-Mi //entire album on Noisetrade

Go take a listen.

PS: @WILLDAL on Twitter instagrammed this photo of the concert. And that’s my head front and center! Fun to discover.

pumpkins

photos, words

They herald the arrival of fall! I have lots of plans for pumpkins – enjoying their beauty and uniqueness, of course, and pumpkin soup, and carved/painted pumpkins, and pumpkin spice lattes :)

Did you know you can buy prints of my photos on Society6, as well as laptop skins, stationary cards, and iPhone cases? It makes me so happy! Of course, a sale or two would make me even more happy : )
http://society6.com/Elicia

fika

food, thoughts, words

Kinfolk Magazine. A publication from creatives across the world. Like a small book. Published 4 times a year, and chock full of good reads, spread with dreamy and gorgeous photos, and dripping with inspiration.

Fika // going out for coffee, a Scandinavian term. This article in Kinfolk Vol. 1 resonated with me, perhaps because I’m Swedish, perhaps because I love friends, and perhaps because I love sharing food with friends. Perhaps a bit of all three. Fika is about coffee being more than just a quick caffeine fix; it’s about stopping and appreciating the moment of togetherness.

source: kinfolk magazine

my handpainted shoes

photos, stories, words

These shoes… I never imagined what they would do! I hand painted these coral ombre sneakers for a friend, because I wanted to give her a unique gift. Before I gave them away, I took some photos of them. I thought I might list them on my Etsy shop, just to see if anyone would be interested. They were fun to make, so why not? They sat in the shop for a few weeks, mostly unnoticed; a few views, favorites, and treasuries here and there.

Some time later, an ecstatic email from my sister popped up in my inbox. She forwarded an Etsy Finds newsletter to me and across the top she said “YOU ARE ON HERE!!!!!!!”

The result of my excitement? Jumping up, dancing around the house, telling everyone… never did I imagine one of my items would be in the Etsy newsletter! I was so excited.

Now this little pair of shoes has thousands of views, hundreds of favorites, and is in dozens of treasuries. And I’ve had a few sales too :)

And then last week… I discovered that my shoes were in Etsy’s 4th of July newsletter too!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/98170151/coral-ombre-fade-sneakers

of chocolate cake

a day in the life, recipes, stories, words

So: this is mostly for my future reference. Or just to get this out of my head.

It’s ridiculous how many links I follow to find crazy things on the web… and I can never remember how I find things!

Like, I almost went through 16 pages of chocolate cake recipes on Bon Appetit because I thought that’s where I found the recipe for my chocolate birthday cake back in February…. and then I realized where the recipe actually was. On the recipe blog of this cool girl who lives in NYC and shoots all her food photos WITH FILM. So impressive. They’re beautiful photos. But, that’s where the chocolate cake recipe was from. The enormous, three layer, batter too big for the bowl cake. Right here. And the tinier vanilla three layer cake I made that for that party also was from that blog. My cake was small because I think I 2/3rds the recipe or something. (I am aware that the above sentence is not proper grammar.)

It was a great party, by the way. My 18th birthday, it had to be good. Go stalk my celebrations here.

And since I’m talking recipes: these are the best brownies ever, and this pie is amazing. And my Mom made a granola recipe from the Bon Appetit magazine today, and it made me so happy. Surfers Granola, accompanied by Surfin’ USA by the Beach Boys.

My goodness this post is quilted with links. Did you know that all of the fireworks in San Diego went off at once? HAH

Happy July, enjoy your summer, and don’t forget to wear your sunscreen! (Today was Safety Day at the pool… I’m a swim instructor. It’s great.)

handpainted canvas shoes :: coral ombre

a day in the life, how-to, photos, words

I love the ombre trend. And coral too! So I combined these two beautiful things in a pair of handpainted shoes that I made for a friend.

It was extraordinarily easy. I basically did a coral base coat, then while it was still wet (so the paint could mix a little) I layered the white paint. At the local craft store I got the brush-on permanent, washable fabric paint that I used(Tulip brand soft paint, in Velveteen Red and Matte White.) Then I just touched up the areas that needed it.

I didn’t even tape anything off, I just freehanded everything. For clean up, I used nail polish remover and a Q-tip to wipe off the paint that had migrated onto the rubber sole and the holes for the shoe laces.

Coral shoes! I need to make some for me now.

my leetle terranium

a day in the life, how-to, photos, words

Succulents always seemed so tiny and cute – and terraniums were so lovely and charming.

Then last week or so I stayed up late researching them, and I decided that I needed to make one. I work at a local farmers market, so I picked up a succulent and some moss there. Then a few days later I got a round glass vase and a cork coaster to go underneath, and then another succulent.

Today I assembled it! First I added rocks, then some charcoal, then a small layer of moss, then soil, and then my succulents! And lastly some decorative moss. And if I find some dinosaurs or small people to live there too, I’ll add them.

I read a very helpful how-to about terraniums at Apartment Therapy.

The cluster of three succulents is called a Hen and Chicks plant (Echeveria spp.) The taller green green one is an Elephant Bush (Portulacaria afra).