beautiful..

i met alexis about 3 1/2 years ago at santa monica gymnastics center, where we both coached. i was a newcomer to los angeles at the time and meeting people in the gymnastics community was a much needed home away from home. alexis and i soon realized that we grew up just a couple of hours away from each other in michigan and were probably unknowingly at many of the same gymnastics competitions. how funny that our paths finally crossed as adults so many years later on the other side of the country. alexis traveled in for this photo session from las vegas on the last possible weekend before she'll have to stay put and wait for her little guy to arrive. we were so lucky to have missed the rain by one day. it was totally worth tromping down the muddy path, as we were delighted to see such clear skies and green landscapes that can only result from a rainy winter in LA.

i've been envisioning these maternity photographs for quite some time, patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity.. and this was it. the first image is one that i specifically had in mind, a simple and serene moment in time, the shape of the hillsides ever so subtly echoing the beautiful form of an expecting mother.

as i look at these photographs, i am at a loss for words. it fills me with great honor to be asked to document such special moments in life. i am so appreciative to be able to spend time with lovely people in magical places like this one.

thanks so much, alexis and justin!

i wish..

i wish i could paint my name on the purple one. just putting it out there.

[Photographs taken in Big Sur, California, March 2009]

my favorite place to be..

if i had to pick a favorite place in LA, it would be this spot above the city where i stand, catching my breath after a steep climb. i can't count how many times i've stood here, and yet only now and then do i sit on this bench and swing my legs, fully realizing how far i've come.

[photographs taken with my diana camera, June 2009, at Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles]

utterly grateful..

There is a still, quiet beauty all around us, every day… if we are open to seeing it. Photography is a gift that has inspired me, since I was a kid, to take notice and appreciate life’s subtleties…those heart-wrenchingly beautiful moments in ordinary life that make you pause and feel utterly grateful.Those are the moments I strive to capture.

i have been on inspiration overload lately, a combination of a lot things coming together and helping me makes sense of the world, or at least my teeny tiny sliver of it. the combination of solitude with daily hiking and walks, weekly yoga classes, and a lot of writing. it's amazing how suddenly a burst of clarity can arise after months of diligence, stillness... and nurturing of one's self.

as i was re-discovering my intention with photography and refining my artist statement above, i realized there are so many photographs i have taken over the years that are collecting virtual mold in their plain yellow folders stacked on my c:drive. so i am going to make a point to share a few now and then, those moments that have made me pause and take notice of the beauty around us.

[photographs taken at Malibu Creek State Park, March 2009]

detroit art

I shot these images for Luke Emeott of Allied Fabrication Systems back in September.. it's pretty great to have such talented, inspiring friends. These posters are each screen printed by Luke using materials and paper from Michigan and can be purchased on their Etsy Shop. If you are in the Detroit area and want to purchase an original screen printed poster, they are (as far as I know) still available at Bureau of Urban Living.

Detroit City Map Screen Printed Art Poster by Luke Emeott

happy friday

"i am at the beach alone, quite literally.pondering why i haven't done this before. listening to the waves as they pound in unexpectedly, yet like clockwork. as i look down at my page, the sound intimidates me and fills me with a rush of energy. 'i'm alive,' my heart says."

-excerpt from my journal

Fine Art Photograph | Carmel, California 

i went to sit and write at the beach this morning following a yoga class i took at Bhakti Yoga Shala. a happy and peaceful friday, indeed.

do something nice for yourself this weekend... you deserve it.

[photograph taken in Carmel, California, June 2009]