An Iconic Letterpress Moment

Also a mysterious one. My husband came across this image on Tumblr:

She's working on a floor model platen press (so, like mine, but bigger) and all I have to say is, Look at those shoes!

Kinfolk: ice cream + flowers

What a brilliant idea. I was at the San Francisco Ferry Building earlier today and checked out the latest issue of Kinfolk at the Heath outpost. I'm always in awe of Kinfolk's general beauty (Heath's too), but this ice cream/floral spread is exceptionally beautiful. I think the prettiest shots are not even pictured here.

All images courtesy of Kinfolk. Also, check out Amy Merrick's website and blog for more of her lovely floral stylings.

Photographing the Everyday

The lovely Kate of JetKat Photo offered a morning workshop for photographing children at her home this past Sunday and donated all proceeds to charity: water. We spent a lovely morning breakfasting, learning new techniques, and practice-shooting in Kate's beautiful home.

The workshop was the perfect opportunity for me to finally spend some time with my Nikon D90, which I didn't have too long before my daughter was born. I spent the time playing with the aperture and manual focus settings so that I can finally start achieving the kind of images I've been after: more light-filled and with blurred backgrounds, hopefully to the benefit of my daughter, and also my letterpress work (which I've been quite busy with as of late!).

Here's a few of my practice shots:

Conveniently, I went from the workshop to lunch with my family and got a little more practice with my main subject these days:

Kari Herer: flora and illustration series

I came across photographer Kari Herer quite some time ago via Design*Sponge, and loved her first for her photographs of flowers (peonies!) and then for her series of rabbit illustrations, which she's kindly given me permission to include here. Imagine my excitement at seeing rabbits and, well, roses.

All of Kari's prints some are sold here on Etsy.

Portraits from the Past

It's that time of year again, and the Vintage Paper Fair came and left Golden Gate Park's Hall of Flowers the first weekend in January. I was able to swing by for an hour Saturday morning and found many, many postcard vendors, but not much in the way of other ephemera. This year I was mostly looking forward to sorting through boxes of unlabeled, lost-in-time images. My interest was piqued by these two. What, do you imagine, are their stories?

It would be wonderful to sleep in a bed, in a tent, filled with light, no? 

Nine Symptoms of Falling in Love

Photo series by Dan Estabrook, Nine Symptoms, salt prints with ink:

La Vie en Rose

In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. ~Albert Camus

I was feeling a little on the downtrodden/weary side today and splurged on some pink peonies at the grocery store. A little old lady, incidentally, told me they were her favorite flower. Then she asked how much they cost. "A little pricey," I said, feeling embarrassed. "Don't I know it," she said. "They're even expensive in New York City." For the life of me, I couldn't think why they should be cheaper in NYC.

Then when I arrived home, I found that this beautiful letterpress print by Sycamore Street Press, ordered a few weeks ago, had also arrived. Kismet.

And this is what happens when you get steam from a tea pot on your lens:

Polaroid Week

The Flickr blog reported the 'Roid Week 2010 group pool, leaving me with three days left to participate. It just happens that I recently took a stack of pictures on Polaroid film.

Unofficial Flower Week

I started this blog too early, perhaps, since I am not yet printing with my letterpress. I was joking to a friend of mine that it seems like all I want to do is post pictures of flowers and have been trying to resist.

Then, the very next morning Abby Try Again declared it unofficial flower week, so I'm getting my post in just in the nick of time. Independently of 'unofficial flower week' in the blogsphere, automatism and Roe have both recently shared lovely flower posts too.

Keeping Calm - With Wine

Inspired by the proliferation of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters currently sold as decor, this limited edition "Keep Calm and Drink Pinot" poster was purchased at our local wine bar: Internos Wine Cafe. It was created for a vintner's festival and the wine cafe has limited quantities for sale, in person.

The flowers, by the way, are rather unusual. Called pincushions, I believe, and picked up at our local grocery.

Keep Calm and Drink Pinot is a fun play on the original propaganda poster created by the British government during WWII. We have one of the Keep Calm and Carry On posters in gray, but you can buy them online and in multiple colors from sfgirlbybay's etsy shop. The poster is now public domain, and a brief history of its non-use during the war is here on Wikipedia.

The posters are trendy, yes. I will say, however, on less pleasant days or weeks, as these last couple have been, they do lend a moment of reflection and calm.

And: Other really cool, bossy prints:

~Make Art Not War
~Get Excited and Make Things

The Impossible Project

Some time ago, on my facebook profile, I posted a link about The Impossible Project - where Impossible b.v. bought an old Polaroid factory with the intent of making a new kind of analog instant film. Thank goodness, because the last packs of Polaroid sold out quickly at Urban Outfitters and are crazy expensive on eBay.

For some reason, it took me a long time to look at The Impossible Project's shop, where they're selling a collection of "rare analog Polaroid treasures" - limited edition film in cool, colorful boxes designed by Paul Giambarba. Luckily, they're still in stock.

I have a modern Polaroid, so I use the most common film stock: 600. You can still get that old school feeling:

While also being able to benefit from remarkable quality:

I'm excited to finally have some new film on the way, and excited, too, to hear the fate and future of The Impossible Project, which will be announced at a press event in NYC on March 22, 2010.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is a big weekend of holidays: Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, President's day... Whatever you celebrate, wishing you a good weekend.

 

To quote Oly: "This is not an end, it's another new beginning."

The year of the ox ended with a family brunch, a night at the San Francisco ballet, viewing the Balanchine Masterworks (lovely!), and a delicious dinner and wine with girlfriends. The year of the tiger began just as beautifully. The sun is out and the air is warm. We had waffles for breakfast, read and napped in the sun, and will hole up soon in what's got to be San Francisco's smallest and coziest pizzeria. I feel very lucky.

Signs of Spring

There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.  

                         ~ Matsuo Bashō

While the rest of the world is apparently carpeted in powder and experiencing a blizzard for the ages, sunny California is, well, mostly sunny. It's been raining a lot in San Francisco so flowers are beginning to replace the bare winter branches.

 

In the spirit of new beginnings, you'll notice I'm revamping my blog. Sometimes when stalled in one area of life, it's a good time to attack another area. I'm not quite done with the blog, and since I'm not sure when I will be (I have a lot more to learn but was helped immensely by Nichole of littlebrownpen, who takes gorgeous photographs, and sometimes of Paris!), I thought I'd leave the blog mostly up. Stay tuned.

hal lutsky's vintage paper fair

I've started out the new year with some very old paper. Hal Lutsky's Vintage Paper Fair was held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park this past weekend. The fair returns three times a year to Golden Gate Park, and also travels to Concord and the Los Angeles-area.

Not knowing what to expect, a friend and I went down to the Hall of Flowers to check out the fair. Primarily, it seems, it's a place to buy or sell vintage postcards and photos, booklets, posters, and other paper ephemera. You could easily spend all day looking through bins of sorted and categorized images, which really appealed to the writer in me. It's a great way to do period or location research, and also, in general, to find inspiration.

Here's some of what I took home, including my very favorite at the top: