shutter to think

beach lovin' in Rio de Janeiro

A little late for Dia dos Namorados, or Valentines Day, though I'm not one who celebrates, but i love these images of my friends Ale and Patxi, two journalists who spent just over three months working in Rio. I also love film, and shooting with my old film camera. 

Guatemala's food insecurity

While famine rages in Somalia, many other countries face hardships also due to the rise in food prices and climate change. This is very much the case in Guatemala, where farmers can no longer predict the time to plant and harvest production is very small. Heavy rains and long droughts prevent healthy growth of crops, in particular maize, where the cost of corn rose 40% since last year. There is plenty of food in Guatemala, a country where half the population lives in poverty and violence is 4x more then Mexico. However most of the food production is for export (mostly to the US).  Small farmers are especially vulnerable, where half the crop is for family consumption and the other half to sell at the markets. This year, many small farmers have produce low yields of crops mainly due to extreme weather (heavy rains, and long droughts).

Here are two images from my film edit. the scans are low res until i can get home to make higher quality scans, but was anxious to share since i haven't posted on my blog in a few weeks.

Chinatown, SF

Some gems I scanned from a roll I shot in Chinatown, San Francisco.

as winter fades

...two of my favorite cities. winter in NY and winter in SF, photographed nearly in the same week.

my first roll ...

of my new camera. its here!!! I recently bought an amazing camera, im sooo thrilled about it. I felt like i was back in college eagerly awaiting my rolls of film to come out of the c-41 machine. here's my test shoot of my friend Valer.

birthday snaps

Here's couple of snaps taken during my birthday last week that I spent with my boyfriend, our dog Reese, and a couple friends in Monterrey. We also went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, which had an impressive salt water tank and sea horse exhibit. :o ). but the rest of the exhibits or habitats were smaller then expected. We also were scouting surf & skate spots, and checking out the beaches during the beautiful evening light. We then stopped at the Lone Cypress Tree, a famous 200-year-old Cypress, along the 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach. (equipment: a dusty old 500C Hasselblad, the popular Holga, and trusty G11).

film: cambodia

i'm falling in love with shooting film again! for me, in particular, its the format and texture. here's a scene from the angkor area of siem reap, cambodia. what i'm wondering: whats your favorite medium format camera? why? how does it make you work differently? are you running around with a light meter around your neck? This summer I'll be experimenting with more 6x6. even with this holga, from which I shot this frame, the concept of timing and moment is moreso emphasized for me when i shoot film. sadly 220 will be gone. so the idea to make 12 perfect shots (if possible with 120) is a good challenge.

Japantown's New People for the New York Times

This place is amazing...and its the kind of hipster boost Japantown needed to spice it up the old neighborhood. There has been so much happening in Japan over the years - in their arts scene, fashion, music...that we don't hear much of in the mainstream. (maybe thats a good thing). Several of Japan's fashion designers make their first U.S. stop right here in San Francisco. Their designs and clothes are seen very seldom outside of Japan. There's also an all-Japanese cinema, which was featuring a film when i was there so i didn't get to take a peek during my assignment. I was thrilled to receive this assignment, not just because its been years since I've been to the neighborhood, but also to see a bit of modern-day Japan right here in the City.

Here are my outtakes:

surfer portraits

Editorial and stock portraits of a local San Francisco surfer at Ocean Beach.

film festival

I am not a blogger of events of my life, but I"m trying to stay connected by documenting bits and pieces of happenings around me. I wish it were more exciting and really not a reflection of my life, but I'd rather it be a reflection of the people and situations around me. Hopefully this will progress into something more interesting into the new year.

The other night i attended one night of the film noir film festival at the gorgeous Castro Theater, in SF. The two films we saw featured the actor John Garfield, who according to wikipedia, "was especially adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles." It couldn't have been written better by me. He was blacklisted during the Communist Scare, and soon died of a heart attack, apparently from the buildup of stress in trying to prove his love and patriotism for America.

The films were full of suspense, comedy, probably due to the era, and in some way truly comical. I wish I had a pen & paper for all the great one-liners.

 

 

 

hassie pixs

i'm updating my archive....actually completely redoing but its making me look at images that i overlooked. such as these from an old hasselblad. i stumbled across a quinceanera, not surprising on a saturday morning in Napa, but the family let me photographed them, including the mariachi. I would love to photograph weddings with this camera.

 

surf film

every time i see a new surf flick out there that catches my eye, i think this is the direction that i want my photography to head towards. the color, the sounds, the movement and plus the storytelling.

here's a trailer to new film about women and their spirit of love for the ocean.

film production & props

Business assignment on redevelopment plans on the old army base where this Oakland's film industry is located and how they may loose their warehouses, for the SF Chron. Currently they were not building any sets, unfortunately, as its all about timing, but found a quirky spot for this portrait.

http://www.sfchronicle.us/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/28/BU86190CQU.DTL&type=newsbayarea

And some outtakes that weren't used:

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 -