Graffiti Wall – Alice in Wonderland Update

Our family saw Alice in Wonderland this past weekend… favorite line: “I think I must be bonkers”… the response “all the best people are”.

On Tuesday, March 6, the Alice in Wonderland graffiti wall on Market Street, downtown Tacoma was finally completed! I was able to capture pictures of their progress and then the final masterpiece. You can see the first stage here, if you missed it.

As far as I could tell there was a total of 4 working on this wall at various times.

They have amazing talent and we are blessed to have them share it with us.

I have enjoyed watching the images develop and transform.

Just when I think they are done with a section, I come back the next day to find more detail added.

Up close and personal with art…

… the last time we saw these guys they had light green clothing on…

And drum roll please… it’s finally done and it’s AMAZING!!!  Grab some coffee next door at Satellite or a smoothy at Smooth&Juicey… Joe says the PB&J smoothy is to die for!

The detail is just incredible.

… so cool! What a masterpiece, don’t you think?

Some of the same artists painted the characters from the movie UP on the graffiti garages down on Broadway … you might want to check those out too, but they are filled with cars during the week, so wait for the weekend and maybe you will catch some new pieces as the artists are developing them.

Awesome work!!!! Can’t wait to see more.

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Suzy – Anytime Portraits

Really now, how many of us have a beautiful portrait of ourselves other than when we were graduating from high school or getting married?  We just don’t take the time to do something like that for ourselves or the people we love.  I know I don’t have one… and quite frankly I understand why people shy away from doing this.  I would be afraid of not having deleting rights, or someone capturing a picture I won’t like of myself, or the photographer won’t be sensitive to those things that I really want to downplay in a photo. Because I know how I feel, I am extremely sensitive to others and really watch for the most flattering angles, I coach you through positions and we laugh a lot… I share images along the way, all in the attempt to make you feel confident that we are capturing you the way YOU want to be captured.

Suzy calls these her “Cougar Portraits”… she is so funny! Maybe we can open a whole new market for fabulous photos over 30, or maybe 40… not sure what the age limit is on the “Cougar” category :D.

I also try to turn the images into fine art pieces… not just snapshots that anyone could take from their point and shoot. I spend time finding the right affect for each photo, so they are special in every way.

I usually take hundreds of images in just a short period of time. I think Suzy and I spent about an hour on this shoot and I left with 500 images, which then got trimmed down to about 70. This next image was both of our favorites and you need to click on it to take a closer look… the bracelet and earrings were my mom’s and the necklaces were Suzy’s. It was fun planning this session out.

I love the vintage look. I grabbed a mirror off my wall, stuffed a bunch of pillows and blankets into a garbage bag and we were off to our location.

To prepare for my shoots I always first get into the “mood”.. I look for inspiration in magazines or review past thoughts I have journaled. I look around my house and see if there is anything I can use. I ask my client to do the same and see if they have any vision… if not, I am comfortable planning the whole thing. My mind is usually overactive with photo ideas, so I am glad to take that fully on and I LOVE doing it!

Suzy brought a couple of fabulous dresses and I grabbed a few scarves to add some interest. Did I already say that we laughed a lot! I just love her! She is honest and makes me smile.

Her blue eyes just popped out with the beautiful light coming in from the “window.”

There are just so many I would like to share, but will keep it to just a few more…

Promise, almost done… love how the necklaces stand out in this image…

Can you blame me?

Aren’t these fun? What I have enjoyed lately is finding my own style, not trying to emulate someone else’s style, but just doing what I love and envision. It is comfortable to get there and I am excited to explore that some more.

This is Suzy’s author pic, now she just needs to write a book.

I will leave you with one final image… xoxoxo

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Graffiti – It’s My Favorite!

I know I have told you this before, but I will tell you again, I have always loved art. It’s just in my blood. As a child I remember wanting to take painting classes down by Titlow Beach, but that just never happened. I continued my love through the years in the form of pencil drawings, charcoals and pastels. I quit for a long time, but that changed when my kids were young and I saw that they enjoyed watching me draw cartoons for them. It became a tradition while on vacations for me to draw cartoons and have them color them. I enjoyed doing it and they loved getting them. I have not looked at an art book or picked up a pencil to draw in over a year now, but I have admired other’s art and I could sit and watch artists paint all day. I would probably freak them out, the weird lady that is always watching… so I don’t linger long :)…

This past weekend I got word that the Market Street Graffiti wall was being revamped. This is just one of the walls I use for my portraits. I love the colors and admire the artist’s pieces.

When I arrived they were well on their way…

This wall looked like this the last time I saw it…

I have used it many, many times!

I love that I now have a new wall to work with…

I even got a chance to talk to a few of the artists. My question to them… how do you feel when another artist comes and covers over your piece? These same artists also worked on the graffiti garages (look here, here, here and here) I use and their work is covered much more often in those areas.

The answer… it’s hard to think about all the work that goes into a piece and then it simply gets painted over by the next person who comes along… it is ok with them as long as the replacement is another quality piece and they try to improve on it.

This wall is owned by Thane, so does not get changed until he arranges it. Nice to know this will not get ruined anytime soon.

I am always curious about the paint that they use, it is so bright!

Among the paint… another love of mine… coffee… Satellite coffee! Right on the other side of this wall is Satellite and Smooth ‘N Juicey (in this case that is the correct spelling). You should definitely check them out! Good stuff!

I will miss the old one…

but will look forward to using the new one!

I might run down later today and see if it’s finished yet… will post an update if it is :D.

P.S. I encourage you to find what YOU love and incorporate it into your photography! It’s a good way to bring out your originality and be different! Enjoy! 😉

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Scavenger Hunt #5 – Lock or Something Locked

I started the day off without a lock picture and ended it with too many! Joe and I decided to make an adventure out of it and go to one of our favorite spots in Tacoma, antique row. We have lived here all our lives and have a love for this city and all that it has to offer.

We walked the streets in search of a special lock, but instead captured all kinds of images along the way. I make cards from many of the photos I take, so might as well turn some of these into cards for future family gatherings.

The Old Elks Building is one of my favorite places. You will notice it a lot in my shoots, but every time I go there I see more destruction and it just makes me sad.

Within the last week orange paint now spots the historic staircase.

A trail of rose stems along it with a broken vase…

A Valentine’s message I could not fully read…

And one red rose…

We spotted a few more locks on some of the closed antique stores…

Then walked to the graffiti garage I love so much!

We even got to watch one of the artist making some new graffiti.

We walked through all 3 garages admiring the work of so many.

There was even a fresh Valentine’s message.

We found some art on the floors too. This one will be a card for sure.

After hitting a few of the open shops we headed back home, but not without a few more stops along the way.

Can you see the opossum hiding in the tree?

Not far from our house is a lock smith with some pretty cool old safes in the front of his shop.

Loved the vintage vibe of them!

I grew up collecting antiques. My mom frequented garage sales and estate sales, then when I met Joe I introduced him and we have continued the collecting together.

Not everyone thinks that old stuff is cool, but we do!

We have been watching that show, American Pickers, lately… so cool!

Last lock image for the day…

Thanks for stopping by!

Next photo scavenger hunt theme: Pain – something that shows pain, but is not a person.

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Just for Fun – Random Photography

I used this black ice cream chair in Karly’s shoot. It used to be in my room growing up, but it was white back then. My sister has the matching one.  We shared  a room growing up, her side always clean, mine messy… it used to drive her nuts!  She would be proud of how clean I keep my room now :).

When I am on a portrait shoot there is no guessing on what else I might take a picture of.  Sometimes it is only the subject, but many times there are other things that catch my eye and I have to get a quick shot.  I have used many past images for cards and others, like these just sit on my computer and no one ever gets to see, so I thought I would share with you (and maybe make some more cards with some).

Beware, I take pictures of things that strike me as funny, even if it is on you! Hee hee

I love the look of rusted iron.

I know it’s just a traffic light, but I like it.

Joe doesn’t even know when I sneak a pic of him.  I captured this during the shoot of Joely and Steph.

And sometimes he does… I love the Canon 70-200 2.8L lens for these types of shots. I always use that lens when shooting railroad shots too.  I think Joe must be the only guy from high school that has MORE hair than he did back then!

Things like this just jump out at me.

I make anniversary cards from images like this one… the gum wall in Seattle’s Pike Place Market.

Amanda comes along occasionally… sometimes she lets me take a picture and sometimes not!

Abby had these great red shoes, so we had to get creative with them.

I thought this was funny while on a senior shoot with Kayla.

Sometimes it’s of people I don’t even know… just because… shhhh, we will just keep that between us, K?

I LOVE animals, so I have lots of images of dogs, cats, birds and squirrels.

Hope you have a great day!!
{{Hugs}}

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