2012 January | Memories by Michelle Photography

Archive for Jan 2012

01.28.12 MCP Project 12 – January: “Resolutions”

I am working on two personal photo projects in 2012, one of which is a group project and another of which is an individual one.

The group project is in association with MCP Actions and is called “Project 12″. Basically, there is a photo theme every month and you get to spend all month exploring that theme, then share your images on the project website, for review and critique.

This month’s theme was “resolutions” which is pretty broad, especially since resolutions are mostly unique to each individual and can be about almost anything. That made it an easy start to the year.

Here are my photos and a little about why I’m including them.

“Fresh”

This year, I’m trying to cook more with fresh ingredients. It’s less of a cooking goal and more of a health goal. Both my husband and I believe that all the added “stuff” in prepackaged foods these days is messing with our bodies. I can’t say I have been perfect to this resolution this month but I certainly have tried. The photo above is of some fresh rosemary I used for a Greek, roasted chicken recipe.

“Things”

This year, one of my resolutions was to take better photos of “things”. I have always struggled with photos that don’t feature people and so, to me, it’s a challenge to find interest in landscapes and inanimate objects. For some reason I really love this one I took on the beach in Cambria, California. I think it’s the contrast of textures and colors between the sand and the incoming, foamy waves.

The photo below is also a part of my “things” resolution. Taking it a step further, I am trying to teach myself to find interest in the everyday details, the small things that surround me at home and in my neighborhood, that might normally have gone unnoticed. It’s easy to take a vacation to the beach and find interesting, new things to take photos of. What’s harder is trying to find something fascinating about the things you see every day. The photo below is of some tree bark in a neighbor’s yard. I love the reddish color of the bark in places.

This photo is also a part of my individual photo project, which I’ll share more about in an upcoming post soon!

To see more Project 12 photos from other photographers across the country, click the banner below.

Posted In: Blog, Personal, Projects, Uncategorized.
Tags: MCP Project 12, personal

01.26.12 Cambria – Day Three: The Mission and the Rock

Day Three, our last day, on the Central Coast, began with hunger. Because, if you may remember from the end of day two, we skipped dinner after pretty much eating our way through the previous 12 hours. So, we did what all good travelers do… we Yelped. And found Louisa’s Place in San Luis Obispo. Quite the spot on the main drag.

It was delicious by the way. And packed. I was too hungry and too squished to whip out the camera. You’ll have to imagine the corned-beef-hash and eggs. I don’t do food photography well, so maybe the image in your brain is better anyway.

Since we were in San Luis Obispo, we felt it necessary to do the “tourist thing” and head to the famed Mission, “San Luis Obispo de Tolosa”, one of 21 in California. Despite the mission having been here since the late 1700s, it was decidedly unimpressive as a structure. As it was Sunday midday, it was also very busy with modern-day worshippers piling out onto the courtyard after a service, so I have no idea if it was any more inspiring inside.

What we did find just steps from the front door of the mission, however, was SLO’s own little riverwalk. Which, of course, we walked. And promptly wished there was more to see and do so we could stay for lunch in one of the many cute restaurants hanging over the riverway.

I guess at this point it’s time to prove I was actually there, at all these places, with a photo from my friend, E. Yup, that’s me being all “posey”. It was a good hair day, I felt.

Next, we strolled around downtown SLO. It’s mainly stores – a mixture of local boutiques and higher-end chains – which meant we didn’t linger long. E is not much of a shopper and has about as much patience for browsing store racks as my 3 year old daughter does. Scratch that, my daughter actually may enjoy shopping more.

At this point we were done with SLO and decided to drive back up Highway 1 to visit Morro Bay and its famous 581 foot “Rock”, which pretty much dropped our jaw on the way down the coast that morning.

Morro Bay is an interesting little coastal town from a visual perspective. The main road is quaint fishing village but ends with a power house with 3 huge stacks that completely overwhelm the skyline and that are matched only by this massive rock which lives directly opposite it.

We spent quite a while sitting in the sunshine, in front of the rock. We considered driving down the causeway onto it but realized that, photographically, the best views were on the shoreline.

Again, a big shoutout to my friend, E, for capturing me as well as the rock. It’s so nice to have been on a trip with someone who actually takes my photo. Not because I’m vain and like to see myself on camera but more because, as the person who is always behind the lens, I often find I return home from a place only to discover that there are no photos actually showing me there. Such is the burden of a photographer. Unless/he she goes with someone who is equally as attached to their camera. Thanks to Elena, I actually have a whole gallery of images on Flickr of me on the Central Coast. Check them out here.

Our last hours of our last day ended on the beach back in Cambria with out tripods. We were trying to experiment with long exposures and the waves but the sunset on the horizon was a little too bright to help us out and our experiments mostly went to the cutting room floor (or, at least mine did. You can see some of E’s here.) Pretty much all we really achieved was freezing our patooties off. Oh, and some great sunset shots, of course. Who can resist?

And thus ended our fabulously rejuvenating girl’s photo safari on the Central Coast. Next year we’re thinking of doing a 360 and meeting in Arizona. I personally am not a big fan of the desert aesthetic, which is exactly why I want to go: it will be an awesome challenge to make red dirt pretty.

Thanks for following my adventures with E. If you missed the previous posts, here are some quick links:

Day One

Day Two – Part One

Day Two – Part Two

Posted In: Blog, Personal, Uncategorized.
Tags: personal

01.23.12 Cambria – Day Two: San Simeon and Elephant Seals

If you missed Day One Click Here

If you missed Day Two Part One Click Here

Saturday was a busy day for me and E. After Hearst Castle we were famished. Using our cell phones and respective aps (Google Places for me and Yelp for her) we located “Sebastians Store” just off the beach in San Simeon and head off for some lunch.

As it turned out, Sebastians Store was San Simeon. In fact, the town’s main drag would have passed as a circular driveway in some California neighborhoods. But man, the Hearst Beef sandwich I had was good. And fresh. As evidenced by the grazing cow just yards away. Ahem.

I’m going to take a stab and guess that I was more “happi” than the cow about my lunch. Sorry buddy!

Stuffed and happy, we took a tip from one of E’s friends on Facebook and decided to head slightly north on Highway 1 to Piedras Blancas and the Elephant Seal Rookery. We really had no idea what to expect except for maybe a few seals scattered around if we were lucky but we figured, what the heck, let’s check it out!

We arrived to this little bluff to find hundreds of people staring over the cliff. Which should have been a clue. Because when we looked over, we saw THIS

Yes, friends, these are ALL Elephant Seals – mostly mothers and newborns but a couple of randy daddies too. They not only stretched out in front of us but behind us also. They were huge (they say the males get up to 2.5 TONS!), blubbery, a little odd looking and EVERYWHERE. The sheer number of them reminded me of one of those photos of beaches in China in the summer, you know, where they’re packed shoulder-to-shoulder for as far as the eye can see?

These folks were fighting. There were probably 50 females to each male and yet the males fought one another periodically for breeding rights. Which was just bizarre because these females had JUST given birth. Sheesh. No respect! (My friend has a hilarious account of our seal adventure. Click here to read it.)

We had not anticipated spending so long staring at Elephant Seals and we were tired, so we got in the car to head back to our rental. But E and I are suckers for a pier, a beach and a sunset. So we pulled off onto San Simeon State Beach to end the day’s adventures, cameras-in-hand.

CambriaDay2-26

We ended our day as mirror images of one another on the couch – editing our photos and Facebooking in front of the fire. I guess you can see why we’re friends!

Next up: Day Three – a mission, a parrot and some frost bite…

Posted In: Blog, Personal.
Tags: northern california, personal

01.21.12 Cambria – Day Two: “Hearst Castle”

If you missed Day One’s beach photo safari, click here.

Our first full day of adventures began at Hearst Castle on Saturday. Perched high on the hill above the small town of San Simeon, population 462, the “castle” is actually a ranch with several buildings, built by the newspaper magnet, William Randolph Hearst, and named by him as “La Cuesta Encantada” – The Enchanted Hill. He built his mansion on a hill where he and his family had camped as a child. (Although, judging by the description of what the Hearsts called ‘camping’, I think they may have been the initial pioneers of “Glamping”.)

One of the coolest things about Hearst Castle, which was under construction through the 40s and 50s, is that it’s architect was a woman, Julia Morgan. I can imagine that was quite something at that time.

Unfortunately, I did not bring a telephoto lens long enough to capture the house “on the hill” but there are plenty of photos on the Hearst Castle website that do the job well enough. I’m not sure I could have added anything creative to the mix, quite honestly. But here are my photos from our tour.

My favorite area of the estate was undoubtedly the “Roman Pool” , an indoor pool covered with exquisite blue and gold tiles. It was totally breathtaking and imagining guests like Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, and Charlie Chaplin swimming in it at some point was a little surreal.

Next up… Elephant Seals and San Simeon State Beach. Stay tuned!

Posted In: Personal, Uncategorized.
Tags: personal

01.20.12 Cambria – Day One: “Breathe”

This past weekend I was lucky enough to spend a child-free weekend in Cambria on the Central Coast of California with my friend, Elena, or “E” as I like to call her. (Because, you know, Elena is faaar too many syllables.)

E and I have been friends for about 16 years at this point. She was the first friend I made in the U.S. when I interned at a talent agency in Los Angeles where she worked, and we have remained in touch over the years through our respective blogs (you can check hers out here) and, more recently through Facebook. It’s funny but I think she would agree that we know one another much better through our online presence than we ever did when we used to see one another frequently in person. You can learn so much about someone from their reflections and thoughts on a blog and E is not only a great writer, she’s super-smart and crazy-witty too. She’s one of those friends that challenges you to be better just by being around her. I love that.

It was a 5 hour drive down to Cambria from Sacramento with only my adult music (no kids’ music!) and my thoughts to keep me company. I left early and watched the sun come up on the uninterrupted eastern horizon and basically zoned out. BLISS.

After cutting through the dusty plains of the Central Valley (now known as the California “Dust Bowl” due to some government meddling in water rights) I finally climbed into the Santa Lucia mountains and pulled over to get this shot. I think this was the point, after a tough week, where I finally began to exhale.