Category : Mortal Muses

Have you ever shot photos throughout your day — a typical, ordinary day — to just document it and tell your story? Me neither. I’m over at Mortal Muses today sharing my Sunday through 4 images I shot with my iPhone within 24 hours. As most Sundays do, here’s how ours started after Parker was fed and walked…

I hope you click here to see the rest of my Sunday. Hope it inspires you to capture your own ordinary and beautiful days.

As the weather folks have forecasted snow for tomorrow, I’m longing for Spring. It is mid-April after all. With the fickleness of Mother Nature (no offense), I have seen glimpses of Spring’s return despite the cold and snow that have come in between.

I’m over at Mortal Muses today sharing those glimpses. Click HERE to check them out and see the rest of my urging for Spring to come.

I shoot a variety of formats — digital, Polaroid, 35mm, 120/Lomography, and iPhone. I love each of these formats for different reasons, and I appreciate that photography allows me to play in such different forms of the same craft. In shooting across these spectrums,  I often think about if there is one format I like “best.” So, being wired the way I am as a researcher, I decided to do a little experiment and shoot the same scene with multiple formats. I thought this might help me really see some of the differences and similarities across instant film, 35mm film, and digital platforms.

I hope you click HERE to see the rest of my post over at Mortal Muses where I compare and contrast three different images of this colorful rocking horse. I’d love to hear your thoughts on which you like best!

Have you ever stopped to think about the ways you walk or drive around the town/city in which you live? Do you drive/walk the SAME route every time you go to work or to the coffee shop? Inspired by Lindsey’s Mortal Muse theme for this month, “around me,” I got out and about here in Lincoln, NE. I realized how easy it is to just go about my days, walking or driving the same routes, and not venturing out onto new paths or spaces in this small city. I felt grateful to have the nudge to see what’s around me (with my 35mm camera!) for either the first time or with fresh eyes.

I hope you click over HERE to check out the rest of my post on Mortal Muses and see what else I discovered in my meandering.

I’m so excited to share with you that my dear friend and Tribe sister, Celina Wyss, and I are launching a new collaboration. Being two photographers and two devotees of all things Polaroid, Impossible Project, and instant film, you can likely guess that was our starting place. Here’s a hint…

I’m revealing our collaboration over at Mortal Muses today, so I hope you click HERE to get the full scoop!

You might have seen on Instagram this weekend that I was playing with photo transfers. Many people commented on my IG photo that they wanted to know how to make photo transfers. So…I’m over at Mortal Muses today sharing a “how-to” on doing photo transfers! I hope you click over here and check out. It’s a fun technique to try with your images.

I’m over at Mortal Muses today sharing my love for shooting self-portraits on film, particularly instant film. I’ve been working on self-portraits (in general) for about two years, and I’ve been shooting instant film for a more than a few years. Over the past 11 months or so, I have started to see these two parts of my photography come together. And I’m loving it. It’s quite a challenge, but rich with reward. And boy do I have something up my sleeve related to this…

But for now, I hope you click over to Mortal Muses and check out the rest of my post.

I’ve been searching for the words to tell you more about my trip to NYC a few weeks ago and about seeing my photograph hanging in the Impossible Project Gallery. I promised you I’d come back and tell you all about it. To be honest, I’m still struggling with describing my emotions and the experience of it all. It was surreal. And incredible. And overwhelming — in a good way.

Over the past few years, I have visited the Impossible Project NYC space two or three times. I’ve gotten the chance to meet some of the amazing people who work there (I’m talking about you, Anne, Frank, and Dave!), and I’ve seen a number of gallery shows that they have hosted in their gorgeous space on their impossibly tall walls. I’ve seen work exhibited there by some of my favorite instant photographers including Andrea Jenkins and Irene Nam. And in those times when I’ve visited and looked at the photography exhibited, I’ve whispered dreams to myself that maybe some day my photography might be hung on those walls.

And then, it happened.

When we came off the elevator (or the “hellevator” as it is known), and walked through the door, my photograph was one of the first I could see. And in that moment, it didn’t seem quite real. I felt a bit out of my body. My dear Tribe sisters were with me (so grateful for that) and I think they were able to be more present at first than I could be. So, I had to catch my breath and take my first real look. Thankfully, Melissa graciously captured photos as the experience unfolded.

The photo above reveals my happiness in the moment. It helps me see the pure joy I was feeling in seeing my self-portrait enlarged and framed, hanging on the gallery wall at the Impossible Project. In NYC! And then this photo, this is where it hit me. Really hit me. A dream realized.

I was filled with emotion. Tearful. Grateful. Humbled. Proud. Although I can’t quite articulate it in words, I was so aware of how much this means to me. Yes, I want to be a good photographer. But I really want to be a good great Polaroid and instant film photographer. To do this, I have been working hard and practicing my instant photography over the past few years. I have had many growing pains, but the process has been incredible and I’ve learned so much. I can see my growth as I look back over all the instant photos I’ve taken. I love my Polaroid cameras and everything about instant film and photography. And I adore the instant photography community. The Impossible Project makes instant photography — the very ability to still use our Polaroid cameras — and the fostering of that community exist today. So to see my own development and to be seen and acknowledged by the Impossible Project, to have “made it” on to their gallery wall, means more to me than I can adequately explain.

So thank you, Impossible Project. Thank you, Tribe sisters, for trekking to NYC to see this moment. Thank you, Melissa, for capturing this experience for me. Thank you Christy, my Mortal Muse sister, for coming and for taking the iPhone photo with both my photograph and me in it. Thank you, Universe, for all that you provide.

I’m eternally grateful. xoxo

I’m over at Mortal Muses today talking about capturing our lives mobile-y. I have been so grateful in many moments that I have a small, easy to handle camera phone to capture parts of my life that otherwise may have fallen by the wayside. Here are just a few photos from my iPhone over the past two weeks…

I hope you click through and check out the rest of my post here.

Given my affection for surprises and all things unexpected when it comes to shooting with film, you likely already know that I’d be into expired film. The unexpected surprises you discover when shooting with expired film is like a double bonus — first you have the surprise of using film and second you have the surprise of what the expired quality may have given you. I’m sharing more on expired film over at Mortal Muses today, and I’m giving away some expired film to one lucky reader. I hope you click here to check it out and enter for a chance to win some expired film to play with.