NYC trip

My images from my week in New York a few weeks ago are somewhat random. The main reason for this is that it was HOT. I cannot stress enough how unbelievably, horridly hot it was for the first few days. Ugh! 100 degrees in Manhattan seems much, much hotter than 100 degrees here in California. I've found that people who've grown up on the East Coast (or in the South) can't stand dry heat; those of us who grew up in California, however, have a terrible time with humidity. I'll take dry heat anytime!

I don't mean to complain; I'm just not used to going somewhere where you just never want to have to go outside. I always think we have extreme weather here (flooding, wildfires, earthquakes, heat waves, frosts), but then I am reminded that, you know, I'm not going to ever die from exposure.

Anyway, it was still a lovely trip... but since my favorite part of visiting Manhattan is just wandering around on foot, I found myself spending several hours with no thought in my mind other than "too. hot. much. too. hot." Phew!

I was in town to meet with a few photo editors, as well as to visit with friends and my brother. I didn't have time to do anything "cultural" outside of sampling a few cupcake bakeries. One of them was the Magnolia Bakery, which I was afraid to visit because of the crazy SATC mania in effect, but we happened upon the newer branch on the west side, and it was delicious, cool, and beautiful inside.





Austin and his girlfriend Emily took great care of me on my trip - picking me up at the airport, arranging a sublet for me, and meeting me for lunch and cupcakes. You guys are the best!





I guess it's probably geeky, but I really, really, really love the subway system. It's just amazing to me (perhaps it's because here in California we have to drive everywhere?), and I never seem to get tired of it. I try to hide my glee at riding the trains around (so cheap! So efficient! So thorough! So crumbly and modern-ancient and urban! So open-all-night!), but with the air-conditioning on the trains, I don't think I was the only one super happy to be riding the A train for miles.



Let's see, the week is a bit of a blur, but I did get to meet up with a friend I haven't seen since high school (that's, ahem, 11 years now, yikes!), and Noah was just as I remembered! Except, living in Williamsburg, getting married, and turning 30 like the rest of us.



Brooklyn...



Bedford...



Harlem... visiting Austin and Emily in their apartment. Over and over again I had the sensation of entering an air-conditioned room and going, "ahhh..." with relief. Only to realize 10 minutes later that I was still sweating, and that the room was actually 88 degrees - it just felt much colder than the 100 degree air outside. Ugh!



I'm a country girl with a husband and a lot of stuff, so it was nice to have a week with my own teensy big-city apartment. My own peephole! My own door call thingy! Told you, geek alert.





It's just that these huge underground urban places amaze me... They're like another world, and I am so very fascinated by them.





I also got to visit another lovely high school friend, Emily (I know it's confusing, with several Emilies), with her new pup Cody!





Emily and Chris convinced me to play some Rock Band... and now I want my own setup. Dangerous and so fun!



As we were winding down, though, the weather suddenly broke and lightning started crashing, winds started gusting... and I thought, I'd better get on "home"! This image from the apartment window doesn't do the crazy lightning justice, but it seemed a little apocalyptic.



However, the rain and the winds cooled everything down to a much more manageable mid 80s for the rest of the week... ahhh. Which was good, because I still had more schlepping around midtown to do!



On my visit with Larry and Angela, I saw these great treats in a bakery window:





And had to take a sort-of-creepy picture of Larry in his teensy hallway:



The next day, I had a meeting in a tall building near Battery Park with a stunning view. It was interesting to see the World Trade Center area reconstruction from up above (though I had to wonder if someone was going to arrest me or at least take my camera), but mostly I loved to look out to the river, Jersey, and the sea.





One last image of myself (since no one was there to take my photo, sniff sniff) chillin in Washington Square park before meeting up with friends. It was a lovely day to be out (as evidenced by the snugglers on the grass behind me), though the park is totally under construction. The next day it was time for me to go, and (despite a 2 hour sit on the runway of JFK) I was home before I knew it. It was a lovely, whirlwind visit, and I can't wait to go back, although it was also just about the right amount of time for me to spend among millions of other people. I told you, I'm a country and small town girl... and my next trip involves cabins, lakes, rivers and redwoods!

shoot day with Paige and Jude!, Petaluma, California

(click the above image for the slideshow!)

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph, and be photographed by, two beautiful and talented photographers in Petaluma: Jude Mooney and Paige Green. We had a blast, and I had fun being a model (!) for much of the afternoon, running around a junk yard, jumping up and down in a park, and riding a bicycle up and down the street I used to live on.



When I had my turn, though, I wanted to do a very simple café shoot for lifestyle stock and promotional stuff. I envisioned some clean, lovely shots of Jude holding a mug of coffee and turning towards the window light (I hadn't met Paige before, so I mostly had Jude in mind). I'm really happy with the cafe shots:









Then we moved to another cafe - this one with yummy lunch and treats!







I was happy to have the chance to get to know Paige better, and to photograph her beautiful coloring with the blue, red and black of this scene:









And more of the lovely Jude again - practicing her one raised eyebrow for me:









Scandal!





Later, back at the house, I caught a few shots of Jude and her daughter, Dixie, as well as some of my favorite shots of the day - portraits of Dixie with her bike in the backyard (by special request from Dixie herself!).











And my favorite shot from the whole day (which Jude describes as "very Jessamyn", and I think I have to agree!):



Plus Paige's cute shoes and socks.



I had such a wonderful and invigorating time, both as model and photographer, and can't wait to do it again!