Photography, like writing, is something that each and every person could excel at if they simply give themselves the chance. The more I’ve been able to develop my craft as a photographer, the more I’ve come to realize that we all have an eye for excellent pictures because we’re all attracted to the simple beauties that this world has to offer. Over the course of the past year I’ve managed to snap, edit and proudly publish more pictures than ever before – and for someone like me, that’s a feet in itself! Whether it’s my friends, my cats, the neighborhood kids running in sprinklers or a butterfly perfectly perched on a window sill – I’ve had cameras in hand, ready to capture it all. Though not as malleable as the other subjects, nature definitely can stun and surprise me better than the rest. The silhouette of a tree and waves crashing on the beach are each so magical in their own right, but hands down – nothing will compare to my love of manipulating the light of the perfect sunset. So, without further ado – these are my favorite sunset snaps from the last seven months and the second round in my ‘Stunning Sunsets‘ series; enjoy! =)
I’d been waiting two months for last night to come to fruition.
Back in April, a good friend of mine gave me a very valid heads up that one of my favorite DJs would be playing a secret show at an intimate Southern California venue; since then, the interwebs have seen ample speculation about who this Mystery DJ would be.
The venue in question is Orange County’s hub of House – Focus OC. Once a week, a Tapas of Newport Beach is transformed into a mecca of music and an escape for everyone wishing they could time travel from Monday to Friday with the snap of their fingers. They’ve gotten some incredible DJs over the last few years and totally too many for me to list off – but of the ones I’ve actually seen there, I’ve yet to be disappointed.
Mark Farina and Collette both gave phenomenal shows last year at Focus’ 9th Anniversary Party and the gentlemen of Dusky proved that they’ve mastered moving the dancefloor. So, when it came time to purchase tickets for this year’s 10th anniversary show – who was I kidding? So in! I’ve tried to pay little to no mind to the rumors but come the fuck on, how could you not be the least bit enticed?! So, I did what any rational EDM maven would do – buy two tickets and hope for the best; life’s more fun with a partner in crime, and going to concerts? Doubly so.
From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with both fresh and familiar faces; Focus has a knack for attracting some of the most down to earth, friendly, music loving people to the west of the 405 and last night was definitely no different. I mobbed down with two of my favorite partners-in-crime – just add them to my collection of attractive, intelligent blondes if you will – and we were beyond stoked to bounce around to the tunes of Wobs, Josh Billings and Non-Fiction while everyone was getting settled.
Then, at midnight – it was time for the man, the myth, the legend:
For the last few months, Kaskade has been on his ‘Redux’ tour around the United States, hitting his favorite major cities for some intimate gigs – and last night was certainly no different. I’ve seen Kaskade a handful of times – each has been energetic, lively and entrancing; last night at Focus I got something completely different and it’s precisely what I’ve been craving from him: seductive basslines, delicate transitions and the bass – so much bass! His next tour, titled ‘Atmospheres: Big Rooms, Small Tour‘ is set to follow a similar format to his Redux tour, bringing him back to his true deep house roots. Pre-sales went up today at noon in each time zone – LA, Chicago, New York and Miami – and tickets formally go on sale this Friday – if this sounds up your ally, grab your tickets now or you’ll be walking those empty streets alone at 4am.
In my last Watercooler post, I alluded to the strange weather we’ve been garnering in Los Angeles over the past few weeks: rain, wind, extreme heat, fog; if you ask me, the weather is either bi-polar or going through menopause, but I digress.
As a whole, it’s been feeling a lot more like Summer lately – so I’m simply going to take that feeling and run with it; here are my favorite sunny snapshots from the last few months =)
Over the last decade, I’ve developed a knack for capturing events ‘in-the-moment’: confetti at concerts, priceless interactions between friends and the nuanced emotions of animals. You name it, I’ve probably at least attempted to capture it. The only difference between me then and me now is experience, age, wisdom and dedication; so, kind of a lot. You’d think that with so many moving pieces, shooting people and animals would be on the more difficult end of the spectrum – but that would be completely false. With animate objects, you can engage them into acting, or even reacting – either way, they engage the camera in a symbiotic relationship. When you’re trying to take a picture of a dandelion or mural – you can’t exactly ask it to shift into the light, or angle themselves in another direction. It’s all up to you to be creative, which is where I shine. I love taking something that exists and manipulating the image into something bigger: bolder, colorful, lively; and I feel like sunsets are the perfect subject to demonstrate this.
I don’t know if you can tell from my posts over the past month but I’m a sucker for bright lights and any excuse to gather my family and friends together with a ton of alcohol; okay, so maybe not a ton but you get the picture – the holidays are the perfect reason to don your seasons best and spread the joy with the people you covet and love. My mother was raised Methodist and my father had the first Bar Mitzvah in Corvallis, Oregon. But, being the fact-checking, science-loving, algorithm-solving people they are – I was more or less raised non-denominational which makes it slightly ironic that I love the holidays so much. In fact, I was raised on Native American and African folktalkes – but within the Venn diagram of religion and culture are beautiful morals and values you can pick and choose to take with you; and I’d like to think I took a lot of them.
For me, the holidays are a few things: firstly, they’re a time of travel – typically either to San Francisco or Portland, and with travel comes retrospection and introspection; secondly, they’re that time of the year where everyone smiles at strangers, holds the door for each other and just flat our exchanges pleasantries; and last but not least, they’re the perfect excuse to dress yourself, your house, your pets and your trees to the 9’s with festive flair and lavish lighting.
These are some of my favorite pictures I’ve been snapping around Los Angeles and Hollywood while I get into the holiday groove; hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Holiday nails and a holiday drink!
Decorations at the Disney Studio Lot
Hollywood & Highland getting into the Holiday Spirit
Lights at the Farmer’s Market
More decorations on the Disney Lot
The Disney Tree
Hanukkah Nails
The Grove in Black and White thanks to the new Willow Filter
My beautiful, loving cat back home – Mr JJ – passed away last weekend after 18 amazing years of love and life; there isn’t a day that’s gone by that he hasn’t crossed my mind….
While I was in San Francisco last weekend, my step-mother and I took a lovely stroll through the streets of Chinatown. Our primary mission was steamed pork buns and a new purse, but we ended up roaming around for over three hours – simply breathing in the city and taking in the beautiful Autumn afternoon.
Our first stop was to check out the architecture at the Wells Fargo at Post & Montgomery; the inside of the bank has great big columns, tall ceilings and sweeping archways – but my favorite part was the ceiling outside of the bank.
Next, we ventured off into the heart of Chinatown. Los Angeles doesn’t exactly get the same seasonal shift as we do up in San Francisco, so it was lovely to see some color, both hanging from buildings as well as in the trees, against the grey sky that morning.
Found this little creature outside of an apartment complex and it looked so menacing and comical at the same time –
The one thing that struck me was how nostalgic Chinatown made me for Shanghai; especially stumbling across scenes like below where older women laughing and conversing while tending to their markets.
I’m a sucker for fabulous street art, so it’s only logical that I’d accidentally stumble across the remnants of a Banksy. I was actually admiring the fantastic dragon mural when a friend pointed out that it wrapped around another artists piece. There are apparently 5 more Banksy’s in the city – next time I venture back I’m making it a goal to visit all of them!
By midday, the sun had scattered the clouds away and it had turned into a lovely 70° afternoon; perfect temperature for our leisurely walk.
Last but certainly not least, I found this mural when we were finally on our way out…
The Bouncy Kitty 
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