"Hey.... You.... Guys...."

Emily, I am hungry, let's go get some lunch.  

Kelly,  The Getty is closed today, let's go tomorrow.

Mom, be safe driving and I love you.

Oliver, thanks for asking me to sing to you last night so you could feel better.

Kat, your baby is beautiful.

Hillary, thanks for having me over for so long, I know I am a burden.

Claire, thanks for watching Max, sorry he is such a butt.

Michelle, I am in town but not forever.

Dave C, we will have dinner.

Dad, I will see you soon.

Ash, get some sleep.

Faubus, let's make some money.

World, send me a laptop with cs4.

Diet coke, stop teasing me.

Disneyland, I want to visit soon.

Travis, sell my camera for me.

Mel, let's pick-up on skinny boys at the beach this weekend.

Utah, be good. 

D, miss you.

Jess, take shower.

Kiddos are the Kutest

Treasure hunting 

Oliver and I went hunting for treasures.  I would throw marbles and coins into the grass when he wasn't looking. 

ZOE

D's niece again.  I can't help it, she is too cute.  There are from her first birthday party.  I just want to say I love the Quebbman-Turleys,  thank you so much for feeding me all week, letting me be a part of your lives and the years of love and hospitality... know it has meant a lot to me.  

The Sun in my hair

I have been obsessed with the blossoms if you haven't noticed.  

D offered to take the camera from my hands while I was trying to get a nice sunburst to blast through my hair and she took these photos of me below.  I will admit, I hate getting my photos taken, I get awkward, fidgety, and I end up making the most horrible faces but I kinda like these ones... I think it is because I thought she was trying to take close-ups of my hair like I had asked.  Thanks D.  

This last one is my favorite. 

I like these memories

All day D carried my old notebooks around with us and read them... we had some good laughs, especially about the entries I wrote while on Ambien.  My thoughts were awesomely raw, maybe one day I will post one for all to enjoy. 

Her favorite flowers in their most beautiful stage.

I caught her trying on her Grandfathers hat.

Her Grandfathers car she road in as a child. 

Rach and Q

This beautiful couple is Rachel and Q (sorry I don't know how to spell your name)...

It was truly an easy shoot, I felt like I was working with Banana Republic models.  Thanks for thinking of me to do your engagements!  

PS  if any of you would like for me to do your engagements, weddings, family pics I would be delighted to do such a thing.  Please email me for pricing.   jessandmax@gmail.com or jesslorraine@hotmail.com

Jessica

D as me, me and max

My best friend D is in town for the week and I thought it would be fun to do a little afternoon shoot with her and max. It's called Jess and Max. It's just about me and my dog and how each of my days starts off. So D is supposed to be me in my home, my bed, my office and kitchen... although D is much, much more glamorous than I could ever be, I am happy she was down for this. In a round about way I wanted to document my mundane mornings, how max is endearingly and annoyingly at my side at every single moment. It was a lot of fun to be able to document my home and watch someone else in it.

Trees and Chickens

This afternoon I while sitting in the dining room eating Natalie's yummy brownies I saw the neighbors chickens take over the yard.  I wanted to take some pictures so I slowly crept up to them.  Most ran back to their coop to hide but some were more trusting and hung out with me for a while.  I ended up walking around forever looking at all the things I have missed before.  It had been raining all morning, everything was dripping with moisture and color.  I found myself walking slowly, watching everything like it was something new to me, I felt like Alice in Wonderland for a moment, in a different world steps away from where I am everyday.

I feel old when I feel like this, I feel like my mom when we would go hiking years ago.  She would stop and feel the grooves in each tree and tell me their names and why she likes them so much, she would be so fascinated by old Indian trails and the connection of past worlds with ours, she would keep walking to see more and I would fight to turn back so my lazy self could sit in the air conditioned car.  I always thought she was such a hippy.  I love her.

Through the lens these looked like hanging veins.  

Boots

While out today my feet saw a lot of things

Stephanie

Tomorrow I will have the pleasure of photographing Stephanie!

Paper and Process

Yesterday I found a coupon for Robert's Craft in my mailbox for 50% off of one item and 30% off on paper... I think I have already expressed my love for paper on here but I'll do it again... I love paper, I would rather go shopping for paper than clothes, I could spend hours in a craft store debating over which sheets to get and if I should get two so I wont have a hard time using one.  It's a big process, as is buying my pens, razors, and cleaning products, I run through variables multiple times until something feels perfect for purchase.

Anyway.

These are the sheets I got.  I think this has been my favorite selection I have ever made.  I bought 1 of each.

After the craft store I bound some books with the new paper.  I Love binding!  I love the process.  I love designing, cutting, sewing, gluing, pressing, waiting, cutting some more, gluing some more, smashing, smoothing, pressing and waiting.  Then after the book is done drying I open the cover, hear the glue from the spine crack into place, examine for imperfections and accept them, feel through the pages and unstick the stuck ones, close the book, admire the book and give it away.

3x4'' little cuties.

Words

"The enemy of photography is convention, the fixed rules of 'how to do', the salvation of photography comes from experiment."

-Ken Merfeld

I sometimes go through my old notebooks and reread the little quotes and side notes I had made to myself.  I found these ones and wrote them down again in my current book so I can reflect on them more often.

"A thing is not seen because it is visible, but conversely, visible because it is seen."

-Plato

(this was underlined by Diane Arbus in her copy of the works by Plato)

She escapes to the yard to vent her frustrations.

Um... I wanted this to be a lot cooler than it turned out.  I am in the process of experimentation which gives room for error.  

BLUE

It's a Joni Mitchell day.  Snowy nights and cloudy afternoons call for Joni's Blue album.  

The yard had some new blossoms this morning.  Sometimes if you look close enough at things they become a bit more magnificent.  Lunch with mom, she ate coconut korma I had tikka masala, we talked.  I usually talk a lot with her because she can be quiet, I feel bad because I go on and on as if she had slipped me speed, but most times I am with people who do all the talking and I listen, it's nice to talk sometimes.  Mom will listen for a while but she knows when my words are just words and will switch the internal channel to a worry or a rerun of the last Fox News rant.  I love her. 

Locked myself out of the house.

Drove to Natalie's work to grab her keys.

Camera was conveniently in the passenger seat.

Stuck in traffic: this was me making lemonade out of lemons.

Blissfully average

Today is going to be wonderful, I could tell by the noises outside my window.

C's words

My great friend Claire was kind enough to write an artist statement for me a while back.  I liked it a lot so I am sharing it with you.... although she makes me sound much cooler than I will ever be.

Thanks C for being so wonderfully special and supportive.  You are nothing but beautiful, creative, passionate, intelligent and thoughtful.  I ruv you.

Here it is......

Some people, when excited, wave their arms and waggle their fingers and other necessary extremities to articulate and punctuate their sentences.  Some people when joyful, dance jigs and click their heels together three times.  Some people, when distraught, lye on the floor for a time, moan un-earthly sounding moans, and later start successful careers in pop music.  Jessica, can, will, and does blink once and the sum of all sentiments, opinions and truth of living in this green world is gathered in photo form.

Jessica and her camera get along quite well.  They hold hands and skip through existence responding and reacting to the beauty and life that surrounds.  Jessica and her camera build forts under tables with blankets, make up secret passwords (using Latin and actual Latin), and tip toe softly yo be the first to see Christmas morning.  Jessica and her camera will spill enormous vats of golden light onto the audience that digest the creative nuance and dynamics that populate this artwork.

Jessica swam through blood, sweat and tears and blissfully earned her BFA in Photography from Art Center in Pasadena CA in 2006.  She began working independently as a freelance photographer as well being an editor and in house photographer for a production company.

KAKE.

My stepmom sent me an email with a link to this website

cake wrecks

I don't know why but I find these sort of things so funny.  I could watch stand up comedy for an hour and only chuckle a few times but show me natural human error and I will be rolling on the ground with tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. 

This blog is a collection of images sent from all around of poorly designed cakes, misspelled words (I should talk..) and sometimes monstrous, grotesque messes.  I was entertained for a while.  Thanks Sheila for the lead.

Easter cakes

This one makes me sad

This one kinda works because Shrek is supposed to be frumpy

I thought of Jordan, Jon and Casey when I saw this.

Two in One! Yummy

Change is good

I decided to change my template.  I was getting tired of the old one and needed something fresh.

This is what we do late at night.  We float around rooms. 

 

I have been spending a little time with this great girl who is super energetic and passionate about photography and learning more about it.  I have been sharing with her a little of the little I know and it has been a lot of fun.  I have been giving her assignments to help aid the creativity process.  Yesterday I gave her the assignment to carry her camera with her for a full day.  She was to photograph everything and anything, no censorship, no rules, just photograph her world, what inspires her and what she sees.  

I felt like doing the same.

These happened when I did the dishes and fed Max

Outside my kitchen window I have been able to watch the seasons change.  There is one plant in particular that I love, the buds start at white, turn yellow then green... the yellow is my favorite.

Carrots.  Beautiful things. 

They began having personalities of their own.

Night crawler

Dying 

Cuddle 

Left out

he he.