shutter to think

sichuan wedding

This wedding photographer continued to take pictures during the sichuan earthquake.

a turbulent wedding day...
http://blog.photoshelter.com/2008/05/a-wedding-in-sichuan.html

and if you can read chinese, here's the story;
http://news.sohu.com/20080517/n256926605.shtml

the photographer's blog and photos -
http://www.xanga.com/lelandwong/657607591/photographing-a-wedding-and-then-an-earthquake.html

!the mojito revolution!

the new army -
across from an old printing shop that holly and I stumbled upon, we saw these kids playing bang bang in the street with toy guns. in front of a yellow wall and door way, holly photographed portraits of the kids while i shot candidly from the sidelines. a man comes up to us, i thought to question why we were photographing kids with guns, but what he said surprised me: "They are getting ready for the Americans when they invade."

!the mojito revolution!

beisbol -
when music and dancing is the rhythm and soul of life on this island, baseball is passion. it's what makes them feel free, like in the motion and movement of dancing. it gives them something to dance to and something to cheer for when there's little else. baseball is everywhere. in the streets, on the tv, or empty fields. its in conversations over peso pizza, or debates in the plaza. so when holly smacked the ball down center field, it gave us something to cheer about too. we cheered for each other. i can't believe she hit the ball! my turn. clank! the kids couldn't see the ball as Holly and I ran around bases after sunset. There were only two. First and third. the important ones in this barren field in vinales. i can't believe we hit the ball!

Holly smacks one down center field -

Homeplate -

At bat -

The players -

Waiting -

!the mojito revolution!

i was feeling a little low-confident one day in vinales riding in our little white rental car...whats the name, the wheels were so little that they looked like buttons. i was wierded out on this shooting spree and since i had never really gone on a shooting trip before with other photographers, it was my first time. yeah. it made me feel wierd.

jeje or eheheheh. anyhoo, i love my friend holly. and holly i'm sorry i was a poop. but it only lasted for 1/2 the day right!! i was feeling like my picture-taking was sucking. i was out of the groove. totally out of the groove. like off the track and in the ditch (another story). ultimately what it was, i was feeling shitty because i thought my pictures looked like crap. what i was seeing looked like crap. does that make sense? or so i thought. its all about confidence. my eyes and my head sometimes conflict.

so she pushed me out of our little white jellybean car and i hopped onto this bus. its not your ordinary bus. it was a tonka truck bus. it was so cool. i hopped in with my bad spanish and just starting talking. asking where the bus was going, where they were going (they were a bunch of teenagers in the tonka truck). they were laughing at me probably thinking how silly i am that i'm in there with them taking pictures of them laughing about having their picture taken, realizing that my friend holly is driving the little white jellybean car behind us. but i swear to god, i was chasing laughter. it was all i needed to entirely lift my spirits.

so then they had the truck stop for me. the truck skidded to a stop, spilling fish water all over the feet of this mom, who's child was sleeping next to her. that's a bummer. fish water.

oooh i just realized. why didn't i take a picture of holly in the jelly bean behind the tonka truck!!!! why!!!!!

The Mojito Revolution!

What Abel said in an interview. This is a man who has been waiting his lifetime to leave an island. He arrived as a boy and will leave as an old man. He's obligation to help his ailing father and to keep a business afloat, to make the Chinese dream a success only proved a disappointment when the Revolution happened. They then lost everything, including their only ticket back to China: just enough money. He held my hands and said: Go and live the life I never had. Abel awaits his Cuban wife and the right papers to reunite with his son in Costa Rica.

"What is written on your arm is in the past. It is not who you are in the future."

The Mojito Revolution!

What Cuba told me is that there are two realities on the island like their two economies. And then there's my perception versus what I saw. Cuba's layers are as textual as the crumbling buildings in Habana. Outside my window, this is what I saw:

This Sunday, My Photography Exhibit

Come and drink good wine and see some pictures at my first exhibit!

"Aqui Somos Puro Rojo" Exhibit -
Featuring photographs mostly from the Quetzaltenango department of Guatemala.

Sunday, May 4, 2008, 4 - 7pm
Ceja Tasting Salon
1248 First Street
Napa, CA 94559
(707) 255-3954
http://www.cejavineyards.com

www.liannemiltonphotography.com

Hope to see you!

Lianne

Donate!

Second posting: Reaching out to you all seeing this!! I swim on april 12.

As a photojournalist, I cover issues and events that highlight others in their humanitarian efforts. But for the first time, I'm putting down the cameras and notebook, and jumping back into the water to swim laps in support of the humanitarian programs of SurfAid. This is my first time participating in a fundraiser and one that I am so excited to do! I was a competitive swimmer for nearly half my life so naturally I would splash at the chance to do something like this!

Worldwide, 10 million children die each year from preventable diseases. I'm participating in Swim 4 Life to raise money and awareness for SurfAid International's life-saving programs.

Thank you, in advance for your support of me and my efforts to reduce death and suffering from preventable disease in isolated regions of the world.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Lianne

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support SurfAid International

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You may have to copy and paste the link into your browser:
http://www.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=262464&u=262464-206968810&e=1578465023

my tribute to into the wild

i just saw the movie. incredible! So i thought i post some pictures from my holga.

dunes -

seashells -

river -

accident! a photo of trees...dunno what's up with the color -

Las Fiestas en Michoacan, Mx

[update 6/25/08 - at the request of the napa valley register photo editor i had to take down the pictures i photographed for my project. the project will eventually be published in july. hopefully they will be back up after publication and also on my web portfolio].

I am working on a project for my newspaper about how some of our Napa Valley families celebrate Christmas back in their hometowns in the state of Michoacan, Mx. The story is also about why they send money to help improve their villages that they've left for a future in the United States. Here are some pictures showing families from Napa celebrating fiestas....a preview to my story for the end of January sometime.

Tradition -

El Toro -

Fireworks -

Comida -

Beso -

Going to Mass -

La Danza -

Boy w/Tacadi Mask -