Chaaaaaarge!!

Alright, forward we charge, dearies. The print drive is underway.

I've added some of my favorite stuff, set the ball in motion, and updated my site. I'll upload something to Flickr shortly, email my folks & friends, and see how many awfulprints I can send out to new, happy homes.

Those who don't want to buy a print (or a postcard or anything else) or who only have a little to spare can donate directly, if they like, although I would be willing to bet that a little something will arrive in the mail to them if they include their email addresses...) The magic button is at the bottom of this post.

So that's that. If you know of anyone who might be interested in buying a print (or receiving a print, gifts are tasty good), by all means spread the word. Feels good to be fighting back, not moping. Moping is lousy, and I was doing too much of it.

rain makes things better

Can I tell you much I am soaking in the sound of the rain? The smell of hard earth slowly softening, of grapevines almost audibly slurping it up, the pitpat on fig leaves and dripdripping off lemons - it is all so lovely.

The only bad thing about it is that my little beasty cat nipped outside earlier in a dry moment and I don't like thinking of him huddled somewhere, chilly and small.

This is his first rain.

He's new.

I expect His Wetness to leap in the window at any moment, shaking one leg, then another. And I, fresh from my indoor shower, will shower him with kisses as he tends himself dry.

sometimes things get bad

I haven't been answering my phone much. I've been an armadillo, curled up in a ball. I've been pulling my head in turtle like to figure it all out on my own, but I realize this is simply not an option this time round.

I have recently been diagnosed with skin cancer. Scary as that sounds as I approach my 29th year, it looks as though it is treatable and I will be right as rain in a few months. That's the good news. The bad news is that I haven't the slightest idea how I am going to afford said treatment and not slowly slip further down in the maw of the Debt Monster, from which there is little escape. As any of you have dealt with the US health care system in any depth well knows, it is nearly impossibly expensive and a gigantic pain in the arse. Luckily, I did get insured recently, right before this diagnosis, but my coverage is limited and my expenses escalating. Monthly premiums alone top $135, and I've already racked up $440 in office visits and biopsies and the like. Makes my kitty's $250 vet bill look like small potatoes.

So what next? I already owe money to too many people who have helped me get my business started, but I'll be damned if I will let it all fall down around my ears when I am so close to making it work. I could sell my camera equipment, go back to a 9-5 somewhere I care nothing about, rewind, start back at the beginning a year from now. My folks want me to move home to Ohio to reduce expenses, leave everything behind, let cancer win and my life lose, and I won't do that either. I haven't the ability to get a loan, but am terrified to borrow from friends and family since I have no idea when I could even start paying them back, much less to add to what some of them have already given me. A little here and there adds up to alot of responsibility to alot of people, and I am scared to death to fall in this hole I see opening in the ground at my feet. I'm less scared of the cancer than I am of the debt, yet very aware that caring for myself must be my top priority.

So I've decided to start a print drive. I won't ask for money for nothing, won't borrow what I can't pay back, but I do have something to sell (other than all my worldly goods). The more photos I move, the faster I can generate cash, the better chance I have of being able to pay my bills and still get by while this is resolved. I don't know how to set it up so people can pay any amount for the print that they choose, so I'll sell at a fixed price and accept donations if anyone wants to pay more than that price. Maybe I'll try to put together a local "show" at my house, maybe the Establishment, get friends and family to come and sell stuff that way too. Maybe I'll post to Craig's List, pass out flyers at Farmer's Market, I don't know. Every little bit will help. I must find a way.

Won't give up what I've worked so hard for without a fight, not for something like this. Won't let myself sink, won't let myself drown, won't let anybody or anything tell me I should stop and play it safe. This is a hell of a hurdle, but I've got strong legs. What else is there to do?

Make a donation, get a print!

Home from Alaska, though rather swamped with work at the moment. Ah the joys of camping in 38 degree rain! Wahoo! Despite foul weather galore, there were still some stunning images to be made.

But the real reason for this update is my involvement in a relief effort for Hurricane Katrina. A group has been formed on the photo-sharing community of Flickr to auction off a variety of photographic works to benefit one of the following relief charities:

• Habitat for Humanity
• The United Way
• The Americares Foundation, and
• The Humane Society of the United States

Photographers donate a print, some even mat and frame it for the buyer, and ship it free to the winning bidder. The first round of auctions netted over $16,000 in pledges and has already completed $10,405 in verified donations thus far. How exciting is that! You don't have to be a member of Flickr to participate, and there are many images to choose from with bids ranging from about $25-$30 up. Get something amazing for your donation to a good cause!

I have offered the following three images for auction:

"Heaven & Hell"

This is one my earlier images, taken in a moment of stunning natural beauty in Yellowstone National Park, Montana. The play between light & dark, good & evil, startles me again every time I see it.

Bidding on this 12x18 archival print is currently at $150. The deadline for bids has been extended to September 30th, 8pm EST.

"Burmese Flower Girl"

A favorite from my travels in Burma, this lovely girl personifies serenity, and was a sweetheart to boot!

Bidding on this 16x20 archival print is currently at $250. The deadline for bids has been extended to September 30th, 8pm EST.

"Spirituality"

A personal favorite of mine, I love every detail of this candlelit image, from the wax on his fingers to the wildly blowing flame. The light is simply sublime.

Bidding on this 12x18 archival print is currently at $150. The deadline for bids has been extended to September 30th, 8pm EST.

drip drip drip

Soooooo I'm in Alaska, sitting in a li'l log cabinish coffee shop wearing a silly hat with ear flaps, looking out over the Alaska Range. Or I would be if I could see ANYTHING through the rain and mist and otherwise damp drippiness that has defined my last, um, week.

I was flown up to shoot a wedding in Anchorage, which went off without a hitch (erm, well, there was a hitch, but only the nuptual kind). Sun broke out for the two days of the rehearsal and the wedding (too much of it for my purposes, in fact) and the air was so clear you could see Denali, hundreds of miles away. You know it is a good thing when the locals are going gaga over it and taking pictures. And that's the last I've seen of her.

The day after the wedding dawned cold and drizzly. I hung around much longer than I intended with the wedding party peeps (some of which were friends of mine and the rest of which I now consider the same). We played around, stayed the night in a lovely cabin in Girdwood with a divine hot tub (tubbing in the rain in Alaska isn't a bad way to soak sore muscles). Went for a very very muddy, but very cool hike (in the rain) and while I took a few photos, I had to keep things dry, so the camera stayed in the pack. Didn't bring the monster pod either and the understory of a rainy forest is far too dark a place for handheld photography. Ah well. I would have died trying to keep up with my trail running friends while schlepping that thing around. :)

After a day trip up to Whittier with Phil Ackley (Mr. Lunatic Fringe for those of you on Photosig and/or Flickr) that yielded some neat shots along the way and a splash in a glacial lake (brrr!), back to Anchorage for my last comfy night's sleep, then off to Denali!

I've spent a terrifying amount of money on clothes and rain gear. I was woefully underprepared, but we won't go into that, as I'm a bit bitter about it. :/ My first night spent in 37 degree rain and the wettest coldest foots of me life, and now I have rain pants, boots, etc, to add to my arsenal. If I ever move to Oregon, I'm prepared.

The drive up the Parks Hwy towards Denali National Park was lovely, what I could see of it. Rain rain rain, so I drove much of it after dark. The trees up here have turned completely, brilliant swaths of yellow amidst the dim greens and gray of the weather. Spectacular, even in the rain. There was talk of clearing last night, but I awoke to more rain, still having not seen the lovely mountain herself since the wedding at Kincaid Park, back in Anchorage. Rats. I haven't time to stick around and wait for it to clear, so back I go.

I hope to hoof it quickly down to Anchorage, return my rental stuff to REI, and maybe trundle down to Seward for the day. Home all too soon, though I shall bask in the sun like a turtle.

Over n out. Happy trails!

fiddly dee dee and flaps of wings

Sigh. I know it is a blogger cliche to moan about what a bad blogger you are for not posting, so I shall refrain.

But my oh my has alot happened since that Allison morning! I'm a busy cat, little time for frippery, much to do much to do, so I shall make this short but sweet.

Things are churning along quite merrily in Photoland, which is amazing, but incredibly stressful. Not too long ago, I had my first portfolio showing, put together with much gnashing of teeth in one brief week. Shown with nervous stomach and unsure self, I was hired on the spot. Now I have already done three jobs photographing for RRM Design Group, a local architecture, design, and planning firm. Less than a week after that, I trucked up to Paso Robles to interview with Wildhorse Winery and less than 10 minutes later, had contracted image sales at $250 each for a new brochure they are making.

I got a crash course in invoicing clients, have become super speedy at creating new galleries and uploading my proofs, and every now and then I have to stop and smile because, damnit, it is actually happening.

It wasn't until I actually landed that first corporate client that I realized that with all my confidence, all my hard work and careful planning, I hadn't quite believed myself that it was possible. All the little voices telling me it was a pipe dream, all my fears about being a lousy business woman undermining my skill with a camera, all those doubts and intimidations had been living quietly under the surface, only to claw their way out of me right before that first interview and hover in the air between them and me. Oddly enough, I looked down at my photos, spread out on a boardroom table, able to suck me in an instant, ripe with color and alive with memories, tangible and solid for the first time, and I was calmed. Every time I would feel myself start to freak out, start to doubt, I just let myself fall into my photographs there on the table, and was reminded who I am, what I can do, and that I do it well.

So now I am in an interesting place. Cutting back on hours with the lawyer (my real bread and butter throughout the planning and developing stages of my fledgling business) to do these jobs has left me broke and gasping. There is a weeks-long delay between doing the work and getting the check (still haven't seen the first one though my first job was July 4th). Did I mention I'm also moving during all this? Just across town, but I (perhaps unwisely) decided to paint my new room, so my day starts with photos in the morning, business before noon, law work until 6, then painting and packing until late. Sometimes I remember to eat. ;) Then again, I also have close to $1500 coming in when those invoices clear, just in time to get me to Alaska. But that's a story for another time...

Allison

On Sunday, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Allison. She is the brand spankin new daughter of a friend, and she is lovely. :)

Had about an hour for the shoot, but we rather miscalculated things. She was asleep when I arrived and, of course, took a huge poo and was hungry hungry hungry. Photos schmotos - Allison wanted to fuss. While I love the pure emotion in a child's howl, I doubt the parents want nothing but crying pictures, so we shall have another little session soon soon soon. Until then, a bit of Allison for your viewing pleasure.




Isn't she perfectly lovely?