I’m not sure how often we’ll be able to visit our favorite vegetarian/vegan restaurant now that we’re moving, so I’m just taking a moment to appreciate (and share) a few memories from our most recent visit because it’s on my mind.
I am also currently obsessing over the idea of back-lit (and I guess side-light, if we’re being technical here) food.
I seem to forget that with a bigger city the odds of fellow geeks getting geek about the same things increases. Small Town Sara never dreamed that there would be anything more than a comic book section in the back corner of a book store where she might happen to stumble upon someone, excitedly discuss things for a bit, and then move on. Well, Small Town Sara is sort of only just now realizing that she doesn’t live in a small town anymore.
Enter The Silver Snail. Last week Krysta and I we wandering downtown after meeting up at the Magic Oven with Julie and as we were crossing the street we saw the sign for “Silver Snail Comics & Cafe”. And there was a cut out TARDIS in the window. And that was that. We went in.
Inside people were gaming at their tables, there were statues of comic heroes (Batman OH MY GOSH), and an amazing metal replica of R2-D2, and a map of Middle Earth on the wall. It was AWESOME. I couldn’t stop vocalizing how cool everything was, I knew everyone in the cafe was pretty desensitized to the whole idea- but to me, seeing all the 20 sided die and cards littering tables was something I never thought I’d see! We sat and talked about life, swapped lenses for fun, and Krysta asked me if I’d Gibson Tuck her hair (I said yes, of course!). It was a great time and a fabulous way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I’m definitely know where I’m bringing my sister and friends when they visit again.
Instagram is growing on me more and more each day. I wish there was a better way for me to organize the photos for myself, because I love to organize (perhaps even over-organize) everything in my life.
Looking back a lot happened in just the last two months. We had spring, followed by a week of really weird freezing rain and sunlight, and back to winter again. Target opened in Canada (just in time to help decorate the new studio space- which also happened this month). We’re also moving to a new city which is like a bigger version of Traverse City, the town I moved here from (and my mother and sisters still live).
Tom and I have a few “must take pictures of” before we leave checklist, and of course I’ll be sharing those as well. It’s crazy to think that five years ago we were meeting in person for the first time after knowing each other for seven years online. It’s crazy to think that five years ago we were living in a 350 sq ft space just to be together, and now we’ll be leaving our very first apartment together. It’s bittersweet, I’m excited and also a little sad. (But mostly excited for our new adventure together.)
I do not spend enough time in downtown Toronto. Effective immediately (Haha, this sounds so strange- like my life is a business plan or something.) I’d like to amend my 2013 goal list to include visiting downtown at least once a month. I always have such a fantastic time when I do.
The Little Toronto Photo club had a meet up at The Magic Oven, a small pizzeria tucked in beside a camera shop, with delicious personal pan pizzas as well as desserts! They even use dairy free cheese alternatives! HUZZAH DELICIOUS. (This is where I fist pump the sky.)
One of our goals this year was to really emerse ourselves in our city. I think it’s easy to take it for granted. But ever since we have started making more time to explore Portland, we have been so much happier. We have eaten the best food, met the sweetest people and rediscovered the beauty of where we live… It’s amazing.
mmm, those desserts look awesome 
Last weekend it was freezing, (no joke- it was 2°C) but it didn’t take long for Natalya to warm everyone around her. Within minutes she was calling Tom “the hubs” and referencing Tom’s father (who was kindly there pouring everyone warm coffee every two minutes- thanks, Jim!) “pops”. I like to think I’m pretty friendly and sociable but Natalya took it to the next level! After our shoot I felt like we’d known each other for five years and needed to schedule a lunch to catch up, yet I’d only known her for about twenty minutes. We talked about marrying young, our love for Milton, and the importance of remaining positive. Despite my shaking hands and visible breath, I had an amazing time capturing Natalya. And I mean, how many people show up to to their shoot in such a wildly awesome hat?
Gorgeous! (The hat IS wildly fabulous, but the cape is pretty fantastic too!)
She is incredibly charming. Can’t decide if her smile or her gorgeous eyes are more enchanting! x
It’s gloomy, rainy, and bitterly cold today as we’re caught in Winter’s death rattle. Maybe you can enjoy these days like we do, with warm cats on laps and fresh fruit. (Pardon my nightie.)
Gorgeous photos, as always! (Your nail color is awesome, btw.)
I’m enjoying a Caturday right at this exact moment. Except instead of a sweet strawberry sharing kind of moment, my 10-week-old kitten stole a chunk of scrambled eggs right off my plate.
Heya,
bit random, but I was listening to William Tyler’s New Album, and i thought as you like instrumental music, you might like it.
There’s s stream here!
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/william-tyler-impossible-truth
also there is a new Lee Miller Archive, launched today for her Birthday which you might like too, http://www.leemiller.co.uk/component/Main/17ToA3p1yfaBss9G2InA3w..a
Anyhoow, back I go now to editing with your actions,
Love from Dublin,
Aoife
When I look back on my living spaces, I consistently regret not taking enough photos of my spaces, especially as they change. Last night we brought home a new stove pot because I accidentally ruined our last one by forgetting it on the stove and when we arrived home I completely rearranged the kitchen. But I kinda wish I’d taken a picture of the way it was before, because I’d like to keep those memories. I want to preserve our apartment as it changes so I can look back when we had our very first apartment and didn’t know a thing about decorating.
The same thing happened in my bedroom a few weeks ago. After Tom and I tossed around the idea of moving, I made it a slow moving goal to slowly clear out a lot of excess stuff we’ve accumulated. I started with the bedroom, clearing out a lot of old make up and junk in our bookshelf. Most of it was make up I didn’t use on a daily basis and old things I brought with me when I immigrated to Canada that I just kind of panic-packed. (Oh, you’ve probably panic packed before. You know, when you go on vacation and open your suitcase and say, I brought the ___ but forgot my underpants?)
The result left me with a barren top shelf that I ended up really enjoying personalizing.
Steph has a new hair color every few months. She has a love an insatiable love for Dragon Ball Z, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, horror movies, soda and ice cream. She’s been smoking since she was thirteen, loves anything and everything about dogs, and has an incredibly boisterous laugh. For our shoot together we talked about being ourselves and what “portrait” means. I had so much fun walking around her neighborhood, seeing her old art school, and photographing little snippets of things that are important to how she defines herself. It makes me wonder what I would want in my portraits. (Probably Tom and the cats, for one.) But I wonder- if you had forty minutes to take me somewhere, where would we go? Your favorite coffee shop? Would I be snapping your favorite drink and maybe your laptop? Perhaps your knitting station, or your child’s crib? It’s fun to think about the little things that we hold as a part of ourselves, isn’t it? (OH I KNOW, I’d have a CAMERA- duh. But maybe that’s too easy of an answer.)
This post is for specifically for reader Amy (hi Amy!), but it’s also for anyone who, like me, was afraid to add a flash to their gear list due to that whole “natural light shooter” thing. After realizing I’d be shooting a lot more personal events in lighting conditions I can’t control, I invested in one- and BOY IT IS SO AWESOME SERIOUSLY GUYS. Yeah, exactly. But, since I’m still a natural light snob in secret (ok, you got me), here are some tips on how to use this bad boy so it doesn’t look like you shot someone face on with your flash. Because that rarely ever looks flattering. In fact I think it’s safe to say that it never looks flattering.
With mountable flashes, you are able to point the light in different directions so you can bounce the light, which is what we’re going to do today. There are a lot of different directions you can send the light (even behind you!) so you can bounce light no matter where you are trying to shoot and what exactly surrounds you. It can create a lot of different looks and is really fun to experiment with, but we’re going to keep it simple today and start with a basic one: bouncing from above with a mini reflector strapped to the top of the flash.
Those of you that have been shooting in natural light for a while may have just leaned back from your monitor (or phone) and knowingly whispered, “Oooh.” because you know what we’re doing. If not, that’s okay, we’ll break it down. Just like we use reflectors to control the natural light from the sun by redirecting it back at our subject, we can do the same with the flash light. It creates light that is not so harsh as light from the flash pointed straight forward, and when paired with even a little bit of natural light- suddenly it looks like there are skylights in the roof and your subject being back-lit isn’t a bummer, it’s actually FABULOUS.
Examples, you ask? (Poor Tom was talking to me while I was doing this, sorry baby!) On the left we have Tom with no flash and no reflector. Now before we all get flash happy I feel like I should say if you’re doing portrait work in the comfort of your studio or even outside, you can stick with the reflectors to bounce real natural light, but I wanted to show you guys that (at least for me at this point) the flash is great for indoor events and receptions at weddings where you’re not in control of the lighting situation. Examples time, really. Notice how when shot with the flash straight on you can see shiny spots on Tom’s face like he’s just been doing five minutes of cardio? (The shadows his face will cast shot this way are really dark too, if you’ll notice under his chin.) I think Morn’s expression aptly depicts how I feel about straight on flash too. Thanks for that, Morn.
But when we tilt it up and bounce it from the ceiling and from the reflector -Whoa- suddenly it looks like I had four hands and was able to hold a huge reflector while still shooting. Cool, right?
Here are some other examples I took for you guys so you could see bouncing the flash light does in a working environment.
You can grab a small reflector for your flash at your local camera shop, on Amazon, or even make one out of paper or those stiff white folders you can get at any office supply store. Happy flashing! (I’ve been waiting this whole time to say that.)
I’m so glad to see this post! I was amazed with the light from that bridal party and was curious how you did that. I love seeing how you capture photos, so I hope you’ll keep posting photographer tools and tips!
Joseph got me a Lightscoop for Christmas and it’s just lovely. I never had even though about flash, but it is makes it so nice and smooth. I was actually thinking about making a post about my lovely Lightscoop the other day. We were watching a PBS documentary about photojournalists, and while I went into another room they began talking about how much they love their Lightscoops. Joseph wrote it down, and I was totally surprised by it on Christmas! I never would have known to buy on myself (until this post, that is), so I was very thankful!
This weekend I had the pleasure of saving the memories of a bridal shower. The bridesmaids have known the bride-to-be since they were in the seventh grade, and they went all out for her. The theme of the party was a collection of Helen’s favorite things, they had trays of delicious healthy snacks, hummus, fresh salmon, fruit, carrot cake and cupcakes, and even a tea bar. We joked that the whole event looked like a Pinterest board, but you could tell these girls put everything into it and everything was full of heart. When I had moments alone with the bridesmaids one-on-one, they all said the same thing. “Helen is so worth it.”
I think that speaks volumes, when a group of five girls all say the same thing about a person. It was an amazing friendship I was able to catch a glimpse of on Saturday. Congratulations, bridesmaids, on throwing a stunning shower, and congratulations to Helen, may you and your Charles have many long years of happiness ahead.
I don’t fancy myself a concert photographer by any means, in fact the only other real experience I had with it was seeing Yann Tiersen in Ireland, but I really wanted to share my images of Abney Park last spring at World Steam. I was excited that Abney Park was playing because while I had no idea about a lot of what was happening at World Steam, there is a song from Abney Park on my workout playlist. I enjoy their music because a good lot of it is 1940s swing style meets rock, and what’s there not to like about old mixing in with the new?
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These photos are great! You got a pretty great range if colour compared to most concert photography.
I think I’m going to check these guys out!
Great photos! I love the one where the singer seems to be looking at you.
I hope today was wonderful for you, wherever you might be.
This could be the cutest thing ever! I love the bubbles and your cat looks so fascinated by them. Just adorable!
I wonder how my dogs would reacted to them?!
awwwwwww, your cat is gorgeous! You truly have talent with taking his photos! Thank you for sharing so much!! I am going to share and of course all credit to you. hehehe Love the bubble video! My Cats HATE them when they burst on them, LOL
Jennifer • 16 May 2013
Oooh, I see a new theme here! I like it. I recently changed mine too (again!). I seriously love that teapot with the tea candle attachment underneath to keep it warm. It’s like fondue! Only for a teapot! Brilliant!
Vickie • 17 May 2013
gorgeous, love the teacup photo