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October 22, 2008
The Fall.
You can take the girl out of Puerto Rico, but you can't take the Puerto Rican out of her. Me wearing {5 year old} flip flops on a cold day. Yeah. Smart.
This is my very first full-fledged, blazin' colors, pumpkin patchin' Fall in the States. Previously, I lived in Georgia, Vegas and, of course, Puerto Rico where the Fall and winter blend together and you never notice there should be a difference of seasons.
At times I feel like a traitor to my country of origin, a vendepatria, but... my goodness, this is what I've always wanted. The Fall. The colors. A residential street, possibly on a hill, lined with gigantic (at least to my then kiddie height) trees, creating a canopy of green and yellow and orange and brown, falling down to a sea of its own reflection. I've had this vision in my head for as long as I can remember.
I've always wanted to be an American girl. So as I walk around the streets of Portland, temporarily painted in Maple leaves, I do so with a little silent happiness knowing that I'm finally here. That I finally made it.
Ahhhh. Fall last forever, don't let the gloom in!
Somewhere on SE 60th
SE 55th.
Posted by starmagn at 04:23 AM | Comments (3)
October 20, 2008
Knitting the love....
Super cute photo by {linnea paulina}
Ohhh, love. Love of the squiggly, butterflies in your heart kind. I know you are hiding from me. You'll appear some day. In the meantime, I shall cherish the love I feel from my friends, my best friends from high school, my new friends in Vegas and Portland. The love of my mama, who most of the times drives me insane, but I wouldn't change her for the world. The love I feel when I photograph a wonderful family, whose happiness radiates even in the wallpapers of their house.
The love I feel as I realize I'm in the right spot in life.
It's awesome.
Now, all I need is a job so I can pay next month's rent and I shall be fine!! Please, cell phone, ring!
Posted by starmagn at 02:52 AM | Comments (3)
October 15, 2008
New prints on Etsy shop!
New prints on my Etsy shop! Uuu look at that chrysanthemum, so lovely. My bathroom stall advice photo is now available as a 4x6 postcard. Cheer a friend up!
Posted by starmagn at 12:53 AM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2008
The Ladies of Fernhill, Forest Grove, OR, Oct 11, 2008.
{Roll Call: (Row by row)
Whitney / Christine/Christina? / Leslie / Chelsea / Amy (me) / Afton / Debbie / Cori / Abby / Nicolle / Elisabeth / Anne / Alyson / McCall }
A group of 14 very talented photographers got together one beautiful Saturday afternoon in the Autumn of 2008 on a farm that seemed to only belong in dreams, to form friendships and create wonderful images.
This is the result. Thank you all for showing up, for sharing your cameras, your experiences, your laughter. I'm grateful I met all of you. Here's to another fun meeting!!!
Visit our Flickr Group to view more stunning images form all these artists (half of them still have rolls upon rolls of film yet to be developed, so check again in the next few days).
The Ladies of Fernhill love boots. And jumping.
Ann Suckow. Girl's got strong arms and talented eyes.
I had never seen corn fields up close in my entire life. Needless to say, I WAS FLIPPIN' OUT!!!
Laughter, Polaroids, Friendships, Vegan cupcakes. Mission Accomplished.
My vintage yellow coat caused quite a bit of sensation. Photo by {sacredlotus}
My homegirl Alyson. Amazing portrait by {revivify}, aka Whitney, whose parents own the magical land where we photographed and were cool to let us wreak havoc around. Thank you!
Posted by starmagn at 02:55 AM | Comments (5)
October 13, 2008
Amy's Wish List of Very Expensive Things, not surprisingly.
The Holidays are upon us. And I'm broke. I have been sending out home-made Xmas postcards the past few years because I have far too many friends and family and there ain't no way in heck I'm spending that much money on y'all. Sorry.
So in the spirit of wanting, here is my wish list. First part details photo equipment I actually DO need for my business. The remaining items are things I may or may not need. Depending on the mood. Right now, I NEED THEM ALL.
I also realized that if I had never quit my job in Vegas and never had moved to Portland, I could've been able to afford a few of these items. Like the boots. Or the monitor calibrator. Yeah, but nooooooooo, I decided to be Bohemian and move to Portland where I currently have no job. AWESOME.
So yeah here is my wish list.
Things I, surprisingly, actually DO need.
Do I actually need to explain why I need a second camera body? No.
$1400.
I want this baby SO bad. Currently, I shoot most of my portraits with a cheaper F1.8 and while the quality is quite surprising for the price (under $100) the AF is a bit slow. And when you're photographing over-active kids, AF is your friend. So... I want this one. NOW. $350
If I have a second camera body, might as well get the second flash unit. $407. Funny-looking flash diffuser. $40
A bigger camera bag suitable for traveling, especially through the Atlanta airport, where some really burly men work. $142
More lenses. A girl can't have too many of these. $1033
A few more of these. At the moment, I need to bring my laptop with me if I have back to back photoshoots. My two 4GBs and two 1Gbs are just not doing it. At all. $50ish
I rarely ever use tripods. But you just never know when you might need one. Like, having a black friend. $100ish (the tripod, not the black friend).
Well, while I'm listing all these fun goodies I might as well just mention that I need a new computer with RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS OF GIGAS. Like. RIDICULOUS. 350 GB will do just fine. $1500
Once I have my nifty iMac thingamajing, a monitor calibrator would reduce my stress by 90%. $70.
Pretty please? okthxbai. $1800 and your newborn.
A cell phone with email capabilities (and Google Maps, of course) and a Portland 503 number, because I can only laugh so long at clients who FREAK out upon finding out my cell number is from Puerto Rico before it gets tiring. $I have no idea.
Oh, and more photo clients.
Things that would pretty cool to have
Like, a dresser. My undies are currently stashed in a Fred Meyer's plastic shopping bag. The probably smell of asparagus and Milano cookies right now. Luckily, PLENTY of very affordable vintage/thrift shops here in Portland.$no more than 70
A bed. I currently sleep on my housemate's futon mattress and it hurts a bit when I sleep on my side. I don't care what size it is. I'll take a Twin. I DONT CARE.
Socks. Nothing special. I just kinda need more than three pairs.
I NEED THIS. My Morning Jacket latest album. Airborne Toxic Event debut album. Once. Simply Once.
You . ON MY FEET RIGHT NOW. $188.
Rainy Season in the Pacific Northwest has begun and though I already scored a pretty pink umbrella at a vintage shop for only $9, what I REALLY want is a Orla Kiely umbrella (first two on the right, third is Kate Spade). I mean...wouldn't that umbrella brighten up any gloomy Portland Winter day? Yes, it would. And those raincoats are absolutely darling, as well. $60 - up.
I love paper and I love cutting it even more. I'd like to have a GOOD, solid rotary paper cutter. Oh yes. Close to a $100.
I don't care if election season is almost over, this is what America needs. $4.49 Nerdcredits.
HA! Things I will take a long time to acquire/never acquire. Keep dreaming, silly girl.
Mamiya RZ67 Medium Format Camera. My favorite camera of all time. I miss it so so so so much. Maybe one day, my love, we shall be reunited. $2000+ (body ONLY) (let's not even talk about the lenses)
Luke Skywalker for president. You may question why Picard/Riker '08 isn't on this list seeing as neither one actually exist in the realm of this reality...
A boyfriend. I'm actually quite surprised it's taken me a lengthy 26 years to finally start feeling the weight of being a depressingly single woman. A 26 year old single woman who has been single 24.7 out of 26.5 years of her life. Yeah. You go ahead and tell me it's great being single when everybody you meet is happily paired off. Go ahead. Yeah. Beautiful photo by {manda}
Posted by starmagn at 11:52 PM | Comments (1)
1,2,3,4 Feist you rock the world
This video fills my heart with such glee and happiness and wonderment and silliness and laughter that I don't think I can handle it...
But then I count to four (though I'm not coming back from the shore) and I am okay again.
Feist and Sesame Street = two of my favorite things in the whole world.
I'm pretty sure I learned to speak English with Sesame Street.
Posted by starmagn at 05:34 AM | Comments (3)
October 09, 2008
last, last, last forever please
These little bits of sunshine will only last so long before the gloom sets in. *sigh* Oh well, I moved here with a very clear purpose and with a passion radiating farther than our star.
I will make it through the Portland winter. I'm sure.
Posted by starmagn at 04:05 AM | Comments (2)
Yellow. I love you.
Superfantabulousity.
That is what my new vintage yellow wool coat embodies. I spotted this gem yesterday at Hawthorne Vintage here in Portland for only $64, and it is in great conditions, does not smell, the lining is beautiful and it is perfect for the Winter. I mulled over it, recognizing that my funds are very limited, but I really don't have any Winter wear at all.
So I went back today, darted towards the back of the shop and there it still was. Falling in love all over again, ahhhhhhhh.
Posted by starmagn at 03:53 AM | Comments (3)
October 07, 2008
Love...shine like a burning star...
I want to be in love. The kind of love that is actually okay to happen and not the kind of love where I long for someone far, far away and every time I think of the distance and the pointlessnes of it all I am forcefully dropped back into reality.
You know, unrequited love, the story of my life.
No, I want THIS kind of love (maybe not the baby part...). The kind of love that shines like a billion stars in photo. The kind of love that laughs because it is so wonderful.
This girl is absolutely beautiful. She is due in two weeks and look at how pretty her belly is! Her husband is a riot. Had so much fun photographing them.
Though, I have to admit I still have reservations about photographing adults. It's like everybody is self-conscious, even myself. Kids are a delight, just allow them to roam wild and you'll capture the most honest and purest of emotions. Oh well, it's all practice!
Posted by starmagn at 02:50 AM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2008
I live surrounded by quaintness
So, I moved. Again. I lived in a guesthouse for the past two months and decided to bail out early because I just couldn't put up with the Crazy Cat and the No Eating in Bedrooms rule. Other than that it was nice. Big room, my own bathroom. BUT I had to move on... to a more affordable rent. So I moved into this super quaint 1920s house on the SE area of Portland, with two roommates. My room has a friggin' window bench. Like, I totally feel completely American now.
The pink is GOING. No offense, y'all know I love me some pink. But this one is a bit nauseating. The plan is to repaint the room YELLOW! Like so:
I shall do this to combat the Portland winter. I'm kinda scared of it, actually. :(
The kitchen is so bright and lovely. :) :)
Built-ins!!!!! The only thing that ABSOLUTELY SUCKS about my new pad is that the little stream of water coming out of the shower is.... well, SAD. VERY SAD. And that... DRIVES.ME.IN.SANE.
But it's one small pet peeve compared to all the cuteness this house offers. Ahh, I missed living among such little details. Reminds me of my Savannah...
Posted by starmagn at 02:21 AM | Comments (3)