double exposures and ghosts

This is a weird, kind of intense story I wasn't sure about sharing... but the people who have seen the photos and heard the story seem pretty blown away, so I'm hoping it will be okay here.

When we were on our trip to Mendocino I shot some film of pretty, rainy trees and things for fun. Some of the films rolls had been around for close to a decade - I was saving certain film types (including Agfa Ultra 50, which is apparently so obscure that I can't even find a good link explaining it to you!) for "a rainy day", and on this trip I realized 1. that it was indeed raining and 2. some of these film stocks had been expired for 8 years. Time to play around!

So I shot some rolls, and upon getting this roll of the aforementioned Ultra 50 back, realized that it had already been partially shot. This sometimes happens if you don't rewind the tail of the film into the canister fully or mark it "shot", so no big deal... at first I just thought I had shot over something I didn't remember shooting, so there are faint flickers of something on this shot of the Mendocino house:



Then I realized what the subject the photos is: a friend of many friends, Dave... who died in the summer of 2008. He's holding his baby daughter, my friend Ava, in the photos, and she just turned 9. So these photos are old!





The weirdest part, to me, is that I never took photos of Dave (I only knew him a bit) - these must have been originally taken by my friend Sara. We used to share a darkroom and a house, so it makes sense that she would've passed along any expired rolls of film she didn't want to me, and didn't remember shooting some frames on this roll. But it was still quite startling to find photos that I never shot, of a friend who had died over a year ago, and on a film stock (50 speed color negative) that you would normally never use for portraiture... it's just too slow, and the colors are too saturated.



This one is like one of those trompe l'oeil posters... now it's a bed of lavender... now it's Dave reaching out from somewhere... so weird:







What do you think? Do we need more pretty wedding pictures on here?

film shots at the beach, Sonoma County coast

Kind of a weird post, but it's a gray rainy day, so somehow it makes sense to post these photos of the gray beach (though it was actually extremely hot when I took these in late August) covered in random dead and strange stuff. It was hot and still at the beach (so rare) and we found lots of bones and pieces of animals. And it really, really smelled (especially to this pregnant lady!)





















More VERY pretty wedding photos coming soon, I promise : )

Mendocino minivacation, the Allen House, Mendocino

We had a wonderful, short break in early October for Devon's birthday. Just the two of us in one of my favorite places in the world, which my aunt and uncle have owned since the 70s. Rest, relaxation, redwoods, and rain. It was perfect!







I had been grumbling about wanting to take a trip to New England in the spring or fall, which are some of my busiest months. Then I realized that Mendocino is kind of the Bay Area's New England - quaint, cold, hippy/ funky/ traditional, and bursting with amazing fall color.















The house isn't fancy or fussy, but it is very well kept, clean, and filled with beautiful, simple things.







We took a few halfhearted trips into town (the house is about 10 miles outside of the town of Mendocino, in a redwood forest, not on the coast), but the cold rain and laziness drove us to stay mostly on the property, building big fires and snuggling up. Here's a shot of town, almost looking out onto the coast:













There's a great tree house, the best swing, and these rings that Devon got a little workout on:







Ahh. I can't wait to go back!

The property is available for rental, and is the perfect place for a family vacation or reunion, or a rehearsal dinner if your wedding is in the area. Or, if you're kind of low key like us, even a bachelor or bachelorette party kind of thing (not to mention a honeymoon!). We spent one of our honeymoons there in the spring of 2006, and it was a very different season - perfect weather, shining sun, green green grass - but equally amazing and lovely!

Encaustics by Ghostbee - a unique new product!

At long last, I'm ready to share a newer product I'm offering. In collaboration with my wonderful painter friend, Meredith, of Ghostbee, I can now create very unique, custom art piece from your favorite photo. This product is called "encaustic" - and it involves mounting your favorite image to board, and painting it with a special blend of (locally sourced) beeswax and resin and an optional painted tint or graphics. The result enriches and transforms the images so that they have a new, etheral dimension (and a delicious beeswax smell!), texture, and depth.



You really need to see them in person to get the full effect - I have some small pieces that I can easily bring around to share, so let me know if you'd like to take a look!





From Ghostbee's site: "Encaustic is an ancient painting method, combining beewax, tree resin, and pigments to create a luminous, durable, and beautiful finished product... Encaustic paintings are extremely archival and long lasting. They do not yellow with age, and are impervious to moisture. The most famous encaustics are the Fayum Portraits of Ancient Egypt. They were painted in the first century A.D., and they still look as fresh as they did the day they were made."





I had some samples made from favorite images, and am so happy with how they look. I have several on my walls, and have given others as gifts.









If you're interested in ordering an encaustic piece for your home, or as a gift, just contact me to order and we'll go over the details. There are certain images that work better than others. I'm dying to find the time to shoot some new portraits of Devon and I to use to order some encaustic pieces!