Leaving Los Angeles

I'm sitting on a plane at John Wayne airport heading back east once again and I'm letting the past few weeks soak in. It's been a whirlwind with the first issue of Toujours Magazine going live and shooting for some new clients, including the fabulous team at SFA out of Santa Barbara.

On my way to the airport tonight I grabbed my friend's phone and snapped this shot of the rain falling over downtown LA in the distance. Such an amazing sunset. While a red eye flight is not ideal, I'm glad to have had the sunset....

Jumping Traditions: Sound of Music

So, as I've blogged about before, jumping in my family has been a staple in our photos since I was little and my silly mother got her hands on a Philippe Halsman Jump book in the 90s.  So, it has slowly leaked into the photo culture in my group of friends.  My good friend, Jaymi, who is a super talented photographer has been documenting the joy of the jump lately too - and I think her photos tell it all - pure joy, silliness, and fabulous fun!

These shots are so fun, because my friends were in town and we were touring the gorgeous Disney Music Center and as soon as I put the camera on the ground, they said "Oh!  Jumping time?", which made me laugh like a hyena.  It was perfect.  Here are a few of the successful (and silly) shots - we definitely missed the timer more than a few times.  And yes - I'm in them - so it made for an even more difficult shot.  It's all timer and camera placement…which is easy to screw up when you're running into the shot! Too much fun on a Sunday….

First try and we all made it up in the air!

 Not up, but all so ready to jump

 Ugh!  Moved my camera!  Kind of a fun angle though...

my favorite

I love that Sasha is jumping straight, Mason is a bit curved and I look like I'm in a wind tunnel!

For Philippe's book, click here to buy online

LA DAY: Tourist in my own city

My friends Sasha and Mason were recently in town from NY for the weekend and we took a day to explore downtown.  I love exploring this huge city and often forget what architectural gems we are living amongst.  While they may not be hundreds of years old, we have some beautiful structures that are definitely worth the day trip to downtown.

this alabaster stone is cut thin enough to allow light to enter the cathedral like modern day stained glass…the organic quality of light and texture is stunning

my mom recently re-interpreted these sconces for a project in Santa Barbara…I love both this original and the piece it inspired...

visit the LA cathedral - click here

Family Diptych: Summer Ridiculousness

I don't know about your family, but mine goes from being silly and fun to then talking about philosophy and politics and then getting "drunk" on a thimble sized drop of whiskey only to then pressure everyone to try some chocolate they found in the cabinet, promising it to be life changing.  Yes, that pretty much sums an afternoon with my family.  And I would be lying if I ever denied loving every minute of it.  I'm going through a slew of images today in preparation of a crazy week and found these two, which made me laugh out loud and instantly knew they had to be a diptych…they are just too funny side by side.  We'll see if my mom ever reads these posts, because if she sees this one, it may be on view for a limited time.  But honestly, it captures a normal summer bbq with my family.  Happy Labor Day weekend!