Letters from Argentina

Just returned from a seven day book assignment about local culture and winemaking in Argentina. I've never visited Argentina or South America for that matter, and now I'm considering selling everything I have and buying a goat farm in the mountains in Salta. Honestly. I am in love. I never knew that stressing out grape vines and forcing them to grow in a seemingly uninhabitable location will make the wine taste even BETTER. I now have so much more respect for vines, and compared them to crazy artists: when one is put in a stressful situation to create an art that makes them extremely uncomfortable or what they aren't used to, the result can be the most beautiful thing you've ever seen (or tasted).

thank you, kathryn

Kathryn, my rep from Tidepool (Brooke is the other fabulous one) posted this quote by Paulo Coelho for me a few months ago. It's simple and true, especially in a business where you are constantly faced by creative and financial setbacks. I've always struggled with the idea that there is an "end" to our efforts, like someday we will magically be at our destination that we worked so hard to get to. There is no end, and there is no beginning; just a path, and the most important part about your goal is what you do on your journey to reach that goal. Because 'goal' in a sense, is very abstract. When we reach "it", it's no longer there, and we create a new reason to strive and struggle again and again and again.

Published by
Paulo Coelho
on November 13, 2008
in Q&A

Q: If you were offered one of your dreams to come true, what would you prefer?

A: "I don’t like to think of “being offered” a dream. I’ve learnt that this is a pointless fantasy. Reality is rather on the side of those that know that they have to “fight for their dreams”. My personal legend has always been to become a writer. I’m glad I can say that i’m fulfilling my dream. But this must not the interpreted as “the end of the line” – on the contrary – I have to commit everyday in order to stay in this path that I’ve chosen. One is constantly challenged – even by success."

france - 1982

In the new year I have been focusing on the task of cleaning house. All the time. I'm not talking about just dusting here and there, I mean I see something out of place in my office and everything around that particular item or piece of paper or photo has to be pulled, examined, rearranged, touched up, replaced, dusted, cataloged, or just thrown away. I have a collection of old odd photos that I find at flea markets, vintage stores, or just hand me downs, and as I was on a cleaning tirade, I found my favorite photo of me when I was little, which was mixed in with my anonymous photo collection. It was a lovely discovery and made my day. I love it because it reminds me of being comfortable and innocent. I don't care that I'm standing next to a cute dead rabbit (which I assume we ate for dinner), I don't care that my clothes are big and mismatched. I was so lucky to be standing there next to my dad's friend's gardener at that very moment and I didn't even know it. I was happy and little and free with the best parents in the world that took my sister and I to France every other summer and drove around Europe in a little Peujeot. What I would give to be little again, just for one day.

Ira Glass explains the importance of editing your work and killing a boring story

This is a fantastic commentary by Ira Glass (an award winning radio producer) about the power of editing. He has amazing stories and in my hours and hours in the car I often find myself leaning closer and closer to my ipod in anticipation of what's going to happen next. It really makes me wonder why in the past I pushed some projects so hard when deep down I knew that I should have killed the idea right off the bat. If it doesn't feel right, kill it. This leaves more room for better stories, projects, etc. to emerge and for one to be even more creative and get out of the toxic cycle of being mediocre.

quiet dessert

we pass the time of day to forget how time passes

ethan

I just read a quote from Catcher in the Rye where Holden Caulfield describes who the catcher in the rye is: "...all those children running about on the edge of some crazy cliff with no adults around to stop them falling over the edge..." I thought this was very pretty and I wanted to pair it with this shot of my cousin Ethan.

polaroid house

A friend of mine recently showed me a link on Flickr (which can suck you in just like Facebook sucks the life out of your eyeballs) about a house off route 5 north an hour away from LA. So, on my way back from my last visit, I found it. It was called the 'polaroid house' - nothing more than an old, dilapidated, abandoned house filled with polaroids. I didn't find it as exciting as I had hoped, but I have a thing for old houses and I brought my camera, so this is what I have for you.

big sur fire

Unless you've been hiding in a hole for the past few weeks, you've no doubt heard about the fire in Big Sur which destroyed more than 64,000 acres and over 30 houses; the biggest natural disaster in Big Sur history. One of these homes was Mike Gilson's, the owner of the Big Sur Bakery (the cookbook that I've been working on for over a year). Mike is a sweet, gentle guy and has such an inviting personality. He's someone you can be around when you're on fire with stress and within minutes, you'll feel relaxed and happy you're alive. I went to what was left of his property yesterday and we searched through some incredible belongings, one of which was a pile of "books" that if touched, would turn to dust. A couple of the only things remaining of the house were the dishwasher and bathtub.
There are so many philosophical levels in this place, one of most importance (in my opinion) is how we define 'self' through the objects we surround ourselves with. How can a human be a "person" through their stuff when all of the stuff is ash? This also brings up the question: what would you take with you from your house if you had an hour to evacuate?

the smell of fresh cut lawn…

…and other things that remind you of summer. Just got back from assignment in New York and managed to visit Tim’s family for a mini summer vacation. Perfect day at Jones Beach complete with Bomber Blueberry popscicles, watermelon, body surfing, sleeping on sheets, and at the end of the day, emptying out our sandy bathing suits with the outdoor shower. I love the things that come to mind between June and August: ice cream trucks, bike rides, sidewalk chalk, playing the driveway during a rainstorm, waking up at noon, barbeque, going to the movies in the middle of the day to escape the heat, road trips with all of the windows down, and kissing summer crushes up in the woods near the high school.

business cards

The best part about a lot of these travel shoots is simply all of the wandering around. Granted, I take hours and hours to set up the necessary people, locations, lighting, etc. to make it look effortless, but when I do scout an area, I often stumble upon these little pockets of heaven I never knew existed. Take, for example, this teeny tiny bar I found in Jack London Square in Oakland that is surrounded by modern construction scaffolding and ugly tarps. It's been around since before the 1906 earthquake and the floor was so buckled from it that the bar was at a 10 degree angle. The room was filled with layers of crap including hundreds of business cards tacked to the ceiling which, over the years, have attracted so much cigarette smoke you can hardly read them. Aren't you glad there's no smoking in bars anymore?

transition

I've been really lagging these past months on posting due to working 7 days a week and not having enough energy to sit in front of my computer screen for another 3 hours. So, today is Sunday and lo and behold, I have some time to post.
I've been working on a shoot for Sunset / the state of California up and down the coast. One of the locations was the California Academy of Science which has been under construction for the past four years and is finally opening in the fall. Upon trying to find a spot, any spot, to shoot that wasn't a complete hard hat area, I found the 'African Room' full of plastic preserved wildlife in their painted element.

chocolate and cheese

Not the Ween album, just some cheese from Cowgirl Creamery in Pt. Reyes, about an hour north of San Francisco.

more brownies, please

Just finished a packaging shoot for Tulocay & Co., a manufacturer of all-natural specialty food products in Napa, CA. It was one of those days where everything fit perfectly: the sun, the ambiance, the creative juices, and the leftover sweet stuff we got to take home.
Would you like some brownies with a nice, tall glass of milk? Here you go. How about some yummy sea salt crackers? I wish I had some stinky cheese, then my life would be perfect...

big sur bakery

I just bought a 4x5 view camera and I forgot how fun it is to shoot large format film. The age old debate of film vs. digital is based on so many factors, mainly cost and turnaround time, which is one of the reasons why I'm almost 100% digital. But when the rare opportunity arises that a client has a budget for film or that they give me a lot of creative freedom with a job, I throw in some film images for a nice treat. It makes me happy and renews my love for all things photography.
These images are of Phil, the head chef, and Michelle, the pastry chef, from the Big Sur Bakery book project, which is wrapping up this month.
I also forgot that Polaroid went out of business, so 50 sheets of film is now nearly 100 bucks. So instead of pulling polaroid like there was no tomorrow, I was thinking of $5 bills being torn up before my eyes.

ever been to Post Secret?

See it here. Make sure you have a good hour to kill, since you will surely get sucked in.

'I don't think photo booths were meant for first dates: 4.8.08' by Vanessa

Gardening at the Dragon's Gate

Wendy Johnson is a 35-year practitioner of Zen meditation and organic gardening, and was the master gardener of the Green Gulch Zen Center in Muir Beach, California (about 10 minutes past the Golden Gate Bridge). She's also the author of an amazing book, Gardening at the Dragon's Gate. I got to meet and photograph her for the New York Times last week, and she taught me to constantly stay young by surrounding yourself with positive, happy people, drinking lemon tea, and getting your hands in your compost pile.

finally, a look into the mind on the other side

I recently discovered the fabulous blog, A Photo Editor, and have been in love with it for weeks now. APE is Rob Haggart, the former photo editor for Men's Journal and Outside Magazines. In my experiences thus far as a freelance photographer, I often feel lost in a sea of industry questions, rhetorical and otherwise. It's so nice to have this information hub from someone that has experience on both sides of the table. Not only that, it's honest, straightforward, and Rob really makes a point of bringing you back to the reason why you love photography in the first place.

pomegranate fist fight

thoughtful Ben and Haley

Tim's niece and nephew, who, by the way, can beat you in chess in less than 10 moves.

thoughtful chicken

This is a work in progress, and will be part of a bigger promo coming your way sometime in early April. He's going to be paired with a couple of sunny side up eggs over crusty sourdough topped with sea salt.