georgia

i heart nyc

I was being so good, blogging every day or two. And then I went to New York. And it all went to hell in a handbasket. (What does that mean, anyway??)

There are not enough words to describe the amount of fun I had in this fabulous city, but I will try.

First of all, I stayed in Brooklyn with a friend. I had never been to Brooklyn before and, for some reason, I envisioned something small-ish and neighborhoody. Well, Brooklyn is full of neighborhoods, (amazing, culturally diverse neighborhoods) but it is anything but small. The population is actually over 3 times the size of Seattle. Crrrrazy.

While in this charming Borough, my friend/hostess, Sarah, showed me all her favorite hang outs- including Frankie's, (the BEST shaved fennel salad, eggplant crostini, and fresh pasta with hot italian sausage and browned sage butter), Mini Bar, (adorable space, good people, yummy drinks) the DUMBO neighborhood, (best view of Manhattan, great shops, and home of Jacques Torres Chocolate, which has the best frozen hot chocolate in the entire universe), and, of course, Coney Island.
Sarah and I had no interest in eating cotton candy or riding the ferris wheel. Rather, we went to Coney Island specifically for it's picture-taking opportunities. There are few things I like more than kitchy and slightly disturbing children's rides.

I had an insanely fun and debaucherous evening with some very cool people at a BBQ in Carroll Gardens, I completely over-shared about my (ahem) personal life, and suffered the consequences of drinking far too much wine the day after, (which was, of course, the day I had three photoshoots booked.)

I spent hours walking around Manhattan, discovered I have a worse sense of direction than I ever thought possible, and visited a whole lot of galleries. Highlights include: The Aperture Foundation, (what a treat), a new Chuck Close exhibit, an older exhibit by Nam June Paik, who I studied in art school, and work by some incredible artists with whom I was previously unfamiliar: Roxy Paine, Philipe Vasseur, and Albert Hadjiganev.

The funny thing is, and you'll probably notice this when you look at the photos below, I really didn't shoot much at all while I was in Manhattan. I think it's because I was focused on being present and IN the experience, rather than documenting it. And that, for me, was a really good thing.

Don't get me wrong- I am taking LOTS of photos on this trip, many of which have not and probably will not show up on this blog. I am working on a new body of work that I will be showing to galleries, so I am feeling a little bit private about that. Needless to say, this trip is providing an enormous amount of inspiration.

Before we move on to the photos, I want to say an enormous thank you to my lovely hostess, Sarah, for putting me up in her house and being a huge reason why this experience was so amazing. I adore you and am so glad we got to spend this time together.
And please kiss that daughter of yours for me, and tell her that I "miss my friend, Yael."

Hope you all enjoy the pics. :)

Cute girls in action

Quote of the day:

Ruby: "I am really good at putting on makeup. I can give anyone in this house a makeover."



It's unfortunate that Ruby is wearing her fake smile in the shot above. Her makeup is quite nice, though.

Below are some shots from Eve's bath time. She is such a smiley baby. I love it.





Below: playing at Fort McHenry. (I also took some dark, weird shots there for my own collection.)

Family photos in Baltimore

After a nine hour train ride on Thursday, I arrived in Baltimore from Brattleboro. The train ride was beautiful-- I passed through countless New England towns and some gorgeous countryside.

I am only in Baltimore for a few days and my one priority is hanging out with family. And, speaking of family, maybe this would be a good time to explain how I am able to travel all over the east coast and manage to stay with relatives for practically the whole trip.
My mother is one of eleven (11!!!!!!!) children so, needless to say, I have a LOT of cousins, (25 first cousins plus their kids equals a whole lotta cousins.)

In Baltimore, I am staying with my cousin, Jim, his wife, Charlene and their three daughters, Ruby, June, and Eve. (More family tree info: Remember my cousin, Joe, in Brattleboro? Jim is his brother. Our mothers are identical twins.)

Anyways, I have taken lots of photos of Jim, Char, and their girls. You can see some here and here. You may notice that their youngest, Eve, is not present in any of those photos, (seeing as how she hadn't been born yet) so I have been devoting quite a bit of camera time to her.
It certainly has been worth it because yesterday, while my camera was pointed at her, Eve started to crawl. It was very exciting. :)

I think my favorite photo, though, is the one of Junie's clothes after eating cherries. She sometimes has a hard time remembering the purpose of napkins.

A maternity session and a bridge of flowers

The weather in Brattleboro switched from chilly and damp to warm and sunny yesterday. It was a perfect day for the maternity session I had booked and, boy, did I luck out with the location for the shoot.
My client, Ciri, lives in a fantastic house on the most GORGEOUS piece of property: 140 acres of land with this view:



It was mid-day, so the light was a little harsh for too many outdoor shots, but I found plenty of places to use in her house.
You can check out a few of the photos from that below, (and, yes, I have her permission to post these.)









Heidi, Hana and I spent some time visiting Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts yesterday afternoon.
The purpose of the visit was to see the Bridge of Flowers which is, well, a bridge of flowers.Super pretty.
The town itself is also especially charming and I'd love to return when I have more time to wander around.
Hana was, of course, her usual rockstar self so I had to take a few snaps.

Speaking of Hana, I just have to share a few of the highlights of hanging with her, (and these things were mentioned already on Twitter, so forgive me if you have already read them.)

First of all, at 2-years old, Hana is bi-lingual. Her mother speaks to her exclusively in German and that is the language Hana uses most often. Every morning, I am awoken by Hana pounding on my door and yelling, "Clare, auf stehen! Clare, AUF STEHEN!" This means, "Clare, GET UP!!" and it happens at 6:45am (eastern time.) You see, my husband and I do not have children and, as you probably know, I am self-employed. This means that I do not do anything before 10am, (pacific time.) So, it's been quite an adjustment for me.

I adore my cousin, Joe-- he is more like a brother to me than a cousin, actually--but he teases me relentlessly. Needless to say, I wasn't amused this morning when he said "You know, 'Clare' in Swahili means 'lazy'."

Ha ha, Joe.
But yes, mornings and I do not get along.

Back to Hana.

My absolute favorite thing Hana says is, "Clare, hug-a-ma?"
For those of you who do not speak Hana-ese, a hug-a-ma is a hug with a mmmmm-ah!! (That was a kiss sound, in case you didn't realize.)

Hug-a-mas are da' bomb.