coming together

i'm really excited about the bookshelves

and nightstands we finally got. it's about time, huh? 

unfortunately, it's like pulling teeth to get me to go

furniture/home goods shopping. but today was so nice

i didn't want to do any work—even though i have quite a lot

this week. my idea was to build bookshelves out of bricks 

and large pieces of wood from home depot, but then we

found these really cheap ones at target. also,

i'm so glad jazz insisted on the container store 

at the last minute (even though i was a grump about it) 

because we found really cute night stands. 

lugging home our target bookshelves. yay! no more boxes!

awesome nightstand + awesome ikea lamps

it's loverly outside

perfect fall weather. 

i was looking out my window today, while writing,

and thinking that the weather was so perfect

that it could almost have been spring. not that fall

weather isn't good, too. but everything just seemed

so bright, cheery and fresh today. 

a perfect day for apple picking or picnics in the park.

or, even better, a picnic at this cottage in France,

that i'm daydreaming about visiting.

then i went back to writing ;)

i also enjoyed this pumpkin on a late-afternoon walk: 

 

hope you're outside enjoying the fall weather for me while

i sit at my desk!

photographer guest post

guess what? today i have a special guest, 

photographer Pey-Jing Mehrinfar of Li Mehrinfar Studios, 

who agreed to answer a few of my questions. 

as you know, i love photography, and since she is a super cool

and talented photographer, it was a perfect match:)

Here she is:

Hi Pey-Jing! Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Pey-Jing Mehrinfar of Li Mehrinfar Studios, and I shoot people and love every minute of it!

How did you get into photography?

I started playing with cameras when I was thirteen, during the era of film photography. Of course I did not know what I was doing, but I had fun. I was the paparazzo of my classmates, always snapping a picture to capture the moment. 

I purchased an SLR camera when I began college. Three years of being a violin major did not satisfy my artistic endeavors. Finally, I decided to take the leap and switch majors to photography. It is one of the best decisions that I have ever made.

I love that you were the paparazzo at 13! How would you describe your style now?
 
It’s hard to assign a specific category to my style, but I could say that I strive toward candid portraiture. I also love landscape and architectural photography, and if I traveled more, I would love to shoot more of both.

What or who inspires you?

It's not just Ansel Adams, who I do think, quite frankly, is a genius. It is also those like Bill Brandt, Annie Leibovitz, Irving Penn, Cindy Sherman, Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz who all unlock a universe of artistic possibilities to me. The two photographers whose work has always stayed with me are Cindy Sherman and Alfred Stieglitz. Masterful is an understatement when describing their photography. Sherman inspired me to take more self-portraits. Stieglitz showed me the beauty of New York as well as the simple artistry of portraiture.  

What kind of equipment do you use?

Buying my Nikon D700 in 2007 was one of the most pivotal events in my career. It changed the way I saw photography forever. But I soon learned that even with a quality camera body, expensive lenses would be crucial to my survival as a professional photographer.
 
What is your favorite lens?

I usually use my Nikkor 1.4/50 mm lens for portrait photography, although I have been drooling over an 80 mm for that same function. When it comes to wedding photography, I usually leave it up to my 2.8/24-70 mm lens. On the more rare occasions of needing a sense of grandeur such as landscape or architectural photography, I turn to my favorite lens of all time, the 2.8/14-24 mm ultra wide lens. Between those three lenses, I can usually do what I need to do.

What kind of lighting equipment do you use?

I usually use natural light for portraits, although if I had the funds, I would definitely get some strobe lights. For now, I settle with my flash that I attach onto my camera when needed. The awesome thing about light is that it is so versatile. As long as you have light, you have something to work with. I’ve found that working on a manual setting for aperture and shutter speed is the best way to get accurate light readings for photographs. To me, any other way is problematic. That’s just coming from someone who’s tried it all the different ways and prefers manual.

What editing material do you use?

Most of my “darkroom” alterations are done in Adobe Lightroom. Because of the versatility of Lightroom, I haven’t fiddled much with Photoshop lately, though I do use it to watermark my images and prep them for internet viewing.

What are the best and hardest things about photography?

I really enjoy taking people’s portraits because I see it as telling a story. Who is this person? What kind of personality will show through the lens? The most challenging part of portrait photography is working with people and drawing out their real personality. This can cause some degree of anxiety when shooting someone for the first time. Even though I know what I’m doing, I get butterflies. I just want to capture everything perfectly.

Wedding photograph poses a greater degree of difficulty than portraiture. I get jittery before shooting a wedding, but when I’m actually there, everything comes naturally, and I do enjoy myself.

When you're shooting weddings do you have to direct a lot of the pictures, or does it all just happen naturally?

Usually, when taking photographs of the bride and groom, there is a lot of direction that needs to be given. But once the general suggestions are given, I like to let the moment lead to a genuine representation of the couple’s union.

Do you have any tips for directing/making clients comfortable during a portrait session?

I like to joke around a little to get my subjects to loosen up a bit and maybe even catch them in a secret smile together.

It sounds like you have a great job! What do you love most about it?

It’s been a fun journey as a professional photographer, eating cake at weddings and capturing one of the most joyous times of people’s lives. Sometimes it seems too good to be true that I get paid to do this! It’s hard work, don’t get me wrong, but it is rewarding and such an adventure every single wedding or photo shoot.

I love shooting people and wouldn’t give it up for the world!

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me Pey-Jing!

I think you're a really wonderful photographer, and I loved hearing about what you do!

currently,

i'm happy about: 

1. being 1/3 done with my 45 hour candidacy review

(be glad if you don't know what that is)

2. maybe going on a magazine photo shoot

3. waking up to rainy skies

4. husband making dinner

5. books in the mail! (hurry up and get here)

6. finally having bedside lamps...

now if we could just get tables to put them on

lookout world,

i have a story assignment. 

remember the reference to bouquets of pencils in you've got mail?

i want one. only, can it be a bouquet of black pilot G2 07s?

bring it on.

... 

p.s. and on another note, we have wifi again!

where i tell you - this is

my backyard. 

insane, right? if i were (a lot) younger, 

i'd be pretty siked about climbing into that 

storm drain and pretending i was stranded on

an island...

hmm. starting to rethink my evening activities.

i especially love it when it's freshly rained on.

wet monday, by the window

stories.

short stories were never something i really

appreciated until recently. they are perfect

for analyzing and learning how to write

characters...like this quaint, strange 

collection that reminds me a lot of

raymond carver,

by mary robison:

 

 

in the neighborhood

photos of fall:

plans, plans

this fall i want to: 

1. visit a pumpkin patch

2. check out our neighborhood farmer's market

3. make a pumpkin pie. eat it all. ok, maybe just half;)

4. lay on the grass and watch the planes fly over

at the airport down the street (literally)

5. explore our neighborhood by bicycle

6. wear my camera out (in both senses)

7. spend an entire day in this bookstore 

(also down the street, how lucky am i?)

8. watch some of my favorite people get

 married in one of my favorite cities!

9. wear my new birthday gloves from jazz

10. see the Picasso to Warhol exhibit

at the High.

a few things on the day after my birthday: 

the flowers i underappreciated yesterday.

i told jazz he should know my taste in flowers

by now. he said: how? i said: by noticing what

colors i wear, how i decorate. he said: so, black

and grey? i said: and white. (duh).

i'm kind of horrible, huh?

btw, i don't only like white flowers. 

i'm just not a big fan of fall colors.
but how nice they look now! :) 

a brief glimpse of the unfinished packing.

these books will be unpacked this year.

i had to change before dinner tonight, 

cause i was wearing the same thing as last 

year on my birthday. how embarrassing. 

 

and finally, my birthday cake. 

 

chocolate cake = the best part of birthdays.

the year of being young

birth day. 

this is one of my favorite presents of the day: 
(a birthday coffee photo from a far-away friend)

also, jazz took me out for a super nice dinner

(too nice and too dark for picture taking)

at this italian restaurant in the neighborhood.

i love having neighborhood restaurants!
oh it was sooo good. i had beet salad, 
the best butternut squash ravioli EVER, and a
yummy warm chocolate tart, that was more 
like a souffle. best birthday dinner ever.

then, for some reason i took my picture,

so that you can all see what i look like now.

exciting stuff, huh?

remind me to never cut my hair again ;)

it was a regular day, except that i got out of my

internship early and went to look for a new

dress, which is one thing that i seem to 

want on my birthdays lately.

did i pick that up from some storybook?

the little princess, probably.

thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!
xoxo

go watch this movie (on netflix)

ondine: 

the most beautiful movie ever.

or at least the most beautiful i've seen

in a long while.

i really, really need to live in ireland, 

in a garden,

and have a miniature donkey. 

and then my life will be perfect. 

really!

message on a chalkboard

sweet notes from jazz

in the morning on the chalkboard.

sunday night i started feeling kind of disoriented,

and i think i remember feeling this way when we

first moved to atlanta, or when we moved into our

first apartment here. it's this feeling of 

displacement, of unfamiliarity that sort of creeps

up on you. i don't really understand it. but it 

makes me feel really weird. everything seems a 

bit off or unreal. so husband's

love message really made my day.

and seeing lars happy on his bed.

an invitation to dinner

dinner (and fun photo ops)

with these people:

so much fun, guys! 

we'll have you over next time:)

in with the new

october 

+

new house

sorry about missing my blog yesterday! 

we didn't have internet till this afternoon, and

i'm still trying to get the wifi working...

but we love our new house. it is so cute and i can't

wait to take some pictures and show you 

(once it's a little more fixed up maybe). 

after moving and unpacking all day yesterday

we got fries from five guys to go with our movie:

also, yesterday the weatherman seemed to say

oh! it's october! time to turn on the a/c...

so now it's suddenly fall outside. 

it really seems to have happened all of a sudden.

i'm not complaining though. i love fall.

i also love our neighborhood:

(this morning's walk)