Monthly Archives: September 2009

Nudes No. 1

Ed Weston and his grandson Kim Weston are two of my favorite photographers and a huge inspiration.  So when Michelle Magdalena (a talented fine art photographer) put together a workshop at the Weston Estate, I jumped right in!  Even better, it was over the course of a few days on my birthday weekend.  I had the absolute best time – I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than doing something creative that I love and am passionate about and spend time with fellow artists, muses, great people, and a photography icon.  I mean, I was walking around in my boots at the Weston estate, Wildcat, shooting nudes, where Ed Weston shot his famous nudes and where Kim shoots now – wow, it was surreal and one of the ultimate experiences of my lifetime, truly.

It was my first time photographing nudes, and inspired by Kim’s instruction, I challenged myself to shoot in new ways: underexposing, using props, and posing models…. as well as challenging myself in post: pushing contrast and no retouching!… glorious no retouching!!… to leave the female form in it’s perfectly imperfect beautiful state.  Here’s a peek at the first of the series… lots more to come 🙂

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There are more images from other photographers who were at the workshop on this blog, here.

Let me know what you think of my first attempt… I love reading your comments!

xoxo,

Christa


Batia at the Beach, a Book

Books and pictures are two of my favorite things, so give me a good photo book, and I’m in love!  I’m a freak for good story-telling, cool design, great memories, and beautiful photographs… and my hope is that I can create an album that combines all of those things.  With every book I make, I’m thinking about what it will be like to crack the book open in fifty years or so… Will it tell a story, recall a memory?… will this 6 year old remember how much she loved that darned stuffed animal, how spirited her personality was, how much joy and hope she had, how she once ran and jumped on the beach with naked enthusiasm!…  I’m rambling, but I just can’t express how much I love books and how much I love capturing the essence of a person, a family, friends, lovers, etc… so you can retell the story another time, another day… to someone else, or your distant future all grown-up self.

This is a Cypress Album for Batia, a wonderfully silly girl, who I had the pleasure of spending a breezy summer afternoon with…

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Here are a few spread designs from her book, lovingly handcrafted by the folks at Cypress.  (The grey area isn’t part of the album, it’s just so you can see the pages 🙂

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I hope Batia opens this book one day and looks upon her childhood fondly…

I think that’s one of the best gifts you can give someone 🙂

xoxo,

Christa