Oh Karina Photography [the blog!]

I've moved!

2011-06-27T23:17:00.004-04:00

I have finally make the switch over to Wordpress. I figured it out. I love it.

So, my lovely loyal followers, please follow me at my new blog at: http://www.ohkarina.com/blog

Alcia & Carl, The Wedding Photos

2011-06-19T11:25:00.000-04:00

This was the fairy wedding that I've been so excited about, which I shot with The Classic Image. It was especially magical because it stormed all morning, and all through my drive down to Plymouth and - magically - about an hour before the ceremony, it stopped. And it held out. For the whole ceremony and all of the formals.

Introducing, Mr. and Mrs. Lovendale.

I shouldn't have been that surprised when I saw these little guys, but I was, pleasantly so. They definitely added to the whimsy of the day.

The whole ceremony happened in the gardens at Plimouth Plantation, which made the walk down the aisle a little bit tricky (despite the runner), but everyone took it in stride (ha ha).

The beautiful thing about the rain was that it wasn't 98 degrees that day as the previous week had been - it was 70. It also meant that the butterflies didn't want to go anywhere.

These two little guys almost showed up the bride and groom with their presence. And how could they not - especially with those wings! They definitely stole the show.

Also, because of the weather, the butterflies prolonged their appearance. They didn't go anywhere - long after they were exposed to the wild. Even as we continued to play with them.

As one of the bridesmaid stated, "No butterflies were harmed in the making of this wedding."

A little bridal party fun:

And here's the best whimsical surprise - Alicia had fairy wings made to match the flower girl's.

Actually, Adriana's whole dress was designed just for her. The main part was made of the shawls that came from the bridesmaid dresses, and the blue and purple accents were fabric from a dress that Alicia had worn as a child. Truly Cinderella-esque.

On to the reception!

I loved their parent dances. They made a slideshow to run during the dance that skimmed through the lives of Alicia and Carl from infancy to adulthood. Very sweet.

So that's it!

This is also the most photo-heavy post I've ever posted - I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm very much a less-is-more type person, and any feedback is welcomed :)

Til next time!

Alicia & Carl, The Teaser!

2011-06-13T23:54:00.005-04:00

I shot the most beautiful, whimsical, fairy-tale-esque wedding this past weekend at Plimouth Plantation with The Classic Image. Full post to come soon, but I wanted to share my excitement with everyone!

This was an appropriate teaser photo because Carl's face kind of expresses my reaction to the day: a little shock, a little awe, but mostly, pleasant surprise. It also doesn't give too much away, because, believe me, there's a lot to give :)

Be excited! I am!

A little film noir-esque fun

2011-06-08T11:51:00.003-04:00

This is just a little clip from my stay in Wildwood, NJ this past weekend.

I went on a ridiculously long road trip (Boston -> CT -> Bethlehem, PA -> Wildwood, NJ -> Boston) to see family, go to my best friend Tracey's wedding (congrats, beautiful!) and then see Chrystine in her new home in Wildwood.

Lots of miles. Lots of fun.

Christina & Kyle, The Engagement Photos

2011-06-02T22:06:00.004-04:00

Introducing Christina and Kyle at the Wayside Inn Gristmill in Sudbury. I had never been to this location before, and I just loved it. If it hadn't been so hot and humid, I would have run around this place the whole day. I looked at myself in the car window after the shoot, and Christina and Kyle, if you're reading this, you must have thought I was an insane person. I was dripping sweat and my hair was a disaster. Happily, I was the one behind the camera, and my beautiful couple in front of the camera stayed cool (or at least, cool looking).

Christina and Kyle.

I'm starting to collect engagement stories, so I can live vicariously through people's love stories. The proposal was a surprise, even though they'd talked about it. They went to Foxwoods with some friends. Kyle couldn't get her alone and finally asked her to talk a walk with him. Christina invited everyone to come. Felicitously, everyone declined. So they walked. They talked. And Kyle popped the question. The rest... is history to be made :)

I loved how sassy this girl is. I can't wait to see her work it in her wedding dress.

I had to post these, because I LOVED these photos, despite the fact that no die-hard Boston couple may ever hire me again for consenting to photograph this outfit...

Whew. And thank you, Bostonians who have kept reading past that :)

Just kidding.

Alisha & Carl, The Engagement Photos

2011-06-02T21:57:00.004-04:00

I had the honor of photographing this beautiful couple with The Classic Image, and I have the even more exciting honor of shooting their wedding this coming Saturday, which I'm endlessly excited about. Beautiful Secret-Garden-esque setting, fairy wings. Now all we need is good weather.

But here are some of their engagement photos for starters :)

Ivy & Seth, The Engagement Photos

2011-06-02T18:16:00.005-04:00

They met. They wanted to save the world. They learned each others hopes and dreams. They started to date.

And then they filled in the banal stuff - parent's names, favorite color, etc.

That's overly simplified, but how can you put into word such amazing people? This shoot was, simply, hilarious. Their chemistry and their humor and their cuteness are just to die for. This is just the sweet stuff. I may post the hilarious stuff separately, with permission :)

Ivy and Seth, at the Boston Arboretum.

This next one is probably my favorite one of the day:

Big eyes.

Big love.

I'm way behind, but almost fully edited, so hopefully a couple more blog posts in the near near future :)

By special request...

2011-05-25T20:46:00.003-04:00

My attempts to organize my life have, as it does in most cases, just made my life more disorganized. This blog as been severely neglected because I was ATTEMPTING to move to Wordpress for many reasons. So I haven't wanted to update this blog because I was saving all my posts for Wordpress, but Wordpress was so confusing, that I didn't post at all.

End result: I am very far behind. I don't even know what to post to catch up.

So here's a little teaser for an engagement shoot I did this past weekend at the Boston Arboretum. Congrats Ivy & Seth!

Otherwise, I have been a shooting, editing, marketing, scheming manic. So this blog post is dedicated to Chrystine, the only person I know who actually religiously follows my blog with any semblance of regularity :) Thanks lady, I love you.

Hoppy Easter

2011-04-25T19:51:00.004-04:00

Hope it was eggs-ellent :)

Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese

2011-03-23T20:57:00.003-04:00

For year's now, I've been yapping on about wanting to start a food blog, but couldn't. What better way to invite failure than to start a project? So I procrastinated and made excuses, looking for the perfect opportunity, the perfect situation, the perfect food to jump start my creative juices, thinking it would never happen. But it did. And today was that day.

Picture this: It's March 23rd, early evening. It's snowing. Why is it snowing so late in March? I'm crossing Chestnut Hill Ave at Cleveland Circle and... is that an ice cream truck? In the cold and snow?

No. It's a grilled cheese truck. This definitely warrants further investigation.

Enter, James DiSabatino.

This is the face behind the face that is Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese Trucks (the main face being, of course, that of Roxy). And who is Roxy? According to James, it's a secret.

Roxy's Grilled Cheese features four varieties of the classic sandwich, from the Turkey Bomb Melt (Harvarti, turkey, scallions, cranberries and sour cream) to the Rookie Melt (Jack, tomatoes and mustard). And what about plain ol' fashioned cheese on bread? Probably. But I wouldn't recommend something so vanilla.

I, on this first of what I'm sure will be many, many visits, order the Green Muenster - muenster, guacamole and apple-wood smoked bacon. Et voilà!

Okay, so it's not the best photo of the sandwich, but I was so eager to try it that snapping a photo only occurred to me retrospectively. But it did not disappoint. The bread was toasty and crunchy, the cheese gooey and - get this - the guacamole is fresh made, by the Roxy staff, every day. I am a guacamole fanatic and snob and I have to say - that guacamole is the big cheese. This truck is parked not 3 blocks from my apartment, and it was gone before I got to the building door.

Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese also offers two sides: the classic, must have with grilled cheese on a snowy New England day, tomato soup, and fried Grillo's Pickles. Extra points to Roxy's for the Grillo's, which are some of my favorites (coincidentally, also something I discovered ala street food).

So far, Roxy's only has one parking location - in the parking lot on the corner on Beacon Street and Chestnut Hill Ave, at Cleveland Circle - and you can find them there Wednesdays and Thursdays during the day, and Friday and Saturday night.

I left the truck still without the story of who Roxy is, so now of course, the allure is two fold - melted cheesy goodness, and the mystery. Who is Roxy? How did she inspire this idea? And what is that tattoo on her arm...?

Whoever she is though, I can only be glad she inspired James, who's amazing sandwich, in turn, inspired me to finally start this blog. So, James - thank you.

Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese. Bread. Cheese. Rock and Roll.

Jamie: Twenty-one!

2011-03-17T22:13:00.003-04:00

I just found out this pretty lady's birthday is tomorrow! So happy birthday Miss Sraet! You can find her here on Model Mayhem.

Maia + Zach: The Big Apple, NY

2011-03-14T19:12:00.003-04:00

She was from the Philippines. He was from Ohio. They both signed up to be leaders for CISV (Children's International Summer Villages) who's motto is - most appropriately and ironically - "Building global friendship." Which is what they did. And then more.

It started as a long, long distance friendship. She went back to Manila. He went back to Ohio. There were Skype movie dates. And then he surprised her for Valentine's Day - by coming to the Philippines. He was supposed to stay a few weeks - he ended up staying over a month.

She moved to NYC to go to grad school. He got a job in the same city. And then one day, he proposed.

This was just a small civil wedding, with a pending church wedding set for December 2012. But still, how can you not love a love story like that? :)

Keith Todd: Musician

2011-03-11T17:36:00.004-05:00

I spent the whole day cleaning house in preparation for the arrival of my cousin and her new hubby who are staying the weekend to attend PAX East. They don't arrive til 11pm and I'm stuck at home feeling housewifey (a feeling I truly hate), so instead, I'm choosing to feel productive by updating this blog :)

This is from late last year, but never got posted anywhere as far as I recall. This is Boston-based musician, Keith Todd, who's headshots and album cover I had the pleasure of doing.

Kristy Doll: Tangy

2011-03-10T23:23:00.009-05:00

After futilely wrestling with WordPress, I am officially sticking to this blog! I've been playing with branding and changing websites and fighting with logos and vacillating between company names - I may as well keep one thing the same. And this is it!

So, let's see if I can actually post more regularly. This is from a few weeks ago:

Two bottles of powdered Tang, one dozen oranges, two grapefruit and a sexy lady. That's all you really need :)

Not a New Years Resolution

2011-02-10T21:25:00.003-05:00

I'm not going to pretend that I'm going to post regularly, since I obviously am bad at it. I've more committed to being a Facebook junkie (like everyone else is), so, I have a new business page! Keep following me at Karina Picache Photography on Facebook.

I'm not saying I'm not going to post here anymore, I'm just giving a warning as to its infrequency.

But here is a great newborn session I did this January. Izzie Blu, and so adorable.

See more here! (link!)

And hopefully you here from me soon :)

Calling all nerdy girls!

2010-11-02T22:14:00.001-04:00

So, I'm getting better - it's not TOO long between posts.

I pretty much exclusively shoot on location, which has sent me into a bit of a tizzy this fall as the days are getting shorter and it's getting colder and colder. Not only can I not pack in the volume of shooting I did over the summer, but I'm starting to panic as to how I'll keep myself occupied come January - the deadest time of year for photographers. No holiday parties, no kiddies dressed up for Christmas cards... Just long cold days and lots of darkness.

Time to brainstorm indoor shoots! and this is my newest. It's for nerdy girls. Considering that I've seemed to suddenly have fallen (very inadvertently, I assure you) into a world of table top miniatures (having descended from board games and card games with the occasional consul game thrown in there) I've decided to explore my own nerdiness with a project.

Enter lady gamers and girlie geeks. Yes, I'm projecting. And project-ing. Really, what is art without a sprinkling of introspection?

My first lady in my project - meet Ramagious!

(She's my "closet nerd," ha ha.)

Thanks Rama-G!

No way!

2010-10-18T23:57:00.000-04:00

Two posts in two days? Unthinkable. Unimaginable. Un... something else.

This is Anissa! Formerly Minnie Pernicious (by the way, Anissa, I forgot to tell you how much I love that name). She was kind enough to meet me in Taunton, at this run down, over grown car wash I had found one day.

And a classic photo to close:

Unclogging the Workflow

2010-10-17T16:09:00.000-04:00

Why it takes me so long to post new blog posts:

My workflow is absurd. I'm slowly streamlining it, but it's still s... l... o... w...

After a shoot:
Upload.
First cut (delete bad ones, misfires, etc.).
Second cut (loose edit of favorites).
Rename.
Burn to CD.
Back up on external.
Color edit (natural).
Color edit (funky).
Change mind. Re-color edit (funkier).
Export as JPG.
Selective cut (really choose favorites).

Somewhere in those last 3 steps, I get really lost. At this point, for models and kids, hopefully I'm at like 50-70 photos (I shoot a lot). I'd like to post 30-50 favorites online as a set, but I'm a fickle person, and I can never really commit to that last cut. Am I posting too many? Should I post just a single favorite? Should I post more?

And then I'm on to the next job and I'm probably somewhere in step 1-5 and then the JPGs never really go online.

So, here's a couple from an ancient shoot (August):

Philosophy on photography genres and late night ramblings

2010-09-28T00:15:00.000-04:00

Interesting what you learn about your personal aesthetic beliefs when you are sitting, agonizing about what photos go into what categories.

I am (I think) a photojournalistic portrait photographer. That means that I will always prefer my subjects to be in a more natural looking environment, and expression will always mean more to me than any other aspect of the photograph. It takes precedent over setting, and wardrobe, and pose, and even closely competes with lighting.

I have become much more aware of this recently, 1) because I am attempting to sort my website into meaningful and comprehensible breakdowns and 2) because I have been shooting more models lately. And while trying to build the "model" page of my site, I realized that much of my model shots are visually much more "portraiture" than they are "model photography," which, until this very moment, I had always more closely equated to "fashion photography."

Portrait photography (def.) "The capture by means of photography of the likeness of a person or a small group of people (a group portrait), in which the face and expression is predominant. The objective is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the subject. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is the person's face, although the entire body and the background may be included." (Wiki - not the most accurate source, I know, but it's late and its what first presented itself. Relatively accurate, from my point of view).

Previously, I had always imagined model photography to be something that fell more along the lines of any of these:

http://community.livejournal.com/foto_decadent

So, basically, what you would pull out of a magazine spread. And it was something I was actually striving for, and despairing about because I could not see myself attaining that type of mod stylistic photography that seems to run so popular nowadays.

It wasn't until I was editing this young woman's set that I realized the error of my logic.

I had gone through some of her images and was attempting to throw them on the beta of my site when I realized that I was getting frustrated because I was looking for something that struck me as "fashiony" or "edgey" or some other word that I can't even name. And my frustration was born of the realization that I actually LIKED the set, despite the fact that it didn't adhere to my visionary quest because, well, the set was shot in my style. Focus on the face, the expression, the moment. A portrait.

Fashion photography as it stands in today's media puts emphasis on the wardrobe (obviously), as well as the model's hair and make up. But in addition to that, it also seems to seek to render the model completely expressionless. That may be the goal in and of itself, as the model in fashion photography is just a means, a mannequin, a body on which to display clothing, into which the viewer can impose him or herself. Thus, the elaborate, distorted poses, the vacant and stiff expressions, are all a means of emphasizing the absence of the model, who, in fact, is the center of attention in the photograph. While this is something I can admire in other people's photography, it isn't something I myself would ever really want to achieve.

My higher frustration comes from the supposition that, as a photographer "grows" in their technique and profession, they move closer and closer to this style and genre - more emphasis on complex lighting, waxy and plastic expressions (more often than not rendered through various make-up and hair artists, and, I'm sure, a great deal of postproduction), and increasingly more layered and intricate wardrobe. Perhaps this is because - with the increasing influx of new, amateur photographers - a "professional" is becoming more and more defined by their equipment, which equals expense, which equals success (because success = income = money for more equipment).

I think this assumption is fallacious, but sadly, one that more and more people are adhering to as a means to define the supposed dedication of a photographer to their craft (i.e. you put more money into it, so you must be really serious about it). When there are so many people applying to so few jobs, gigs, contracts, what more can an employer do to whittle down the vying applicants than eliminate the saddest looking websites, choose the photographers with the degree, and the most up-to-date equipment (which is one of the most frustrating aspects in my belief. A camera body does not a photographer make. But that's a tirade for another day).

This became a much longer diatribe than I had intended. But to sum it up, full circle, suffice to say, I will most likely never shoot a set that looks like it may feature in Elle or Vogue, or maybe even CosmoGirl. But if I have to sacrifice one expression for all the lighting and make-up artists in the world, then give to me my one expression. (Well, I may sacrifice that one expression for ALL the lighting in the world, and a good designer, with the promise to be able to capture whatever other expressions I want moving forward).

Good night.

October anybody?

2010-08-15T11:31:00.000-04:00

Well, not quite yet, but it's creeping up on me very quickly.

Introducing, Becki!

And this was taken almost a month ago, so that's how behind I am on everything. But it means I've been a busy, busy bee!

Sheer Mayhem

2010-08-04T20:56:00.000-04:00

Get it?

This summer has been pure craziness, in good ways and bad. Right now leaning towards the good end, I hope. I have several potential jobs lined up, and hopefully one of them pans out! I have my order of preference, but don't ask - it's a secret.

In the meantime, to fill my conventional-job-less days, I've been shooting like crazy. Weddings, some corporate events, and lots and lots of models (most from Model Mayhem - get it now?) In fact, I've been shooting so much, that I've developed a lump-like callous on the joint on the inside of my middle finger from rubbing against the grip of my camera. I show it to anyone who will sit long enough to listen to me cry, "I'm deformed!"

But, my lovely models. I'll go through them slowly so I have a couple of days worth of posts - a little reprieve for my callous.

This is Jen, Suffolk U. student and someone I would consider to be a great sociologist, if not anthropologist. This was supposed to just be a low-key urban fashion shoot, but she was so interesting and so full of personality, I think we got more talking done than shooting.

She also had one of the most fascinating apartments I have ever seen. It was the size of the closet, but it was retro-ed up and wall to wall black and red construction paper that she draws on. And, well... here:

And, she lights the whole thing with red light bulbs:

And, she has the most amazing, sparkly eyes ever:

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the amazing Jen Mayhem.

To Boston, With Love, Cali

2010-07-14T20:27:00.000-04:00

This was a fun little photo adventure that has been a long time coming. Rebecca, wonderful import from the West Coast, and the local not-so-average Joe, from the Boston area.

That's not even half the fun. See the rest here on Flickr!

I've been up to my elbows with editing, what with the workshop and the weddings and all the shoots in between - more image heavy posts to come soon!

The Wedding is in the Details

2010-07-04T13:00:00.000-04:00

A photographer once told me that the wedding is in the details. All of those little things that people agonize over for months to perfect for that one day, and which inevitably get lost in the full effect of the event. Our job as photographers to make sure that none of those details go unnoticed. That all that trouble and choosing gets recorded for posterity's sake.

I truly subscribe to that. A wedding pulls in anywhere from 75 to 300 guests, and in today's day and age, almost every one of those guests will have a digital camera. More than a few of them probably have a digital SLR camera to boot. So why should the hired photographer be there to take the photos that any one of 100 other people can take? I believe that the photographer should capture the wedding in a way that makes it truly beautiful, ethereal, the way you would want to remember it in addition to the way it actually happened. We are the romanticizers. We make the mistakes beautiful, the humor more comical, the beauty more breathtaking. We make sure that each rock is overturned, each face is captured, each memory is etched in stone.

Congratulations to Nicole and Dan on their beautiful wedding.

It was a foodie kind of week

2010-06-30T14:37:00.000-04:00

So last week, I ran part one of Mark's 8th Annual Teen Photo Workshop. I think I may have had more fun than some of the kids.

Day one was spectacularly up my ally - we toured local restaurants in Central Square to photograph and talk to their owners and chefs. This first one is my favorite photo of the whole week.

Steve Johnson, owner and chef of Rendevous on Mass Ave. He was amazingly sweet, and very funny.

Tony Maws, founder and chef of Craigie on Main. I noticed he had a rubber duck sitting in the kitchen, and of course, with my penchant for duckies, I could not pass up the opportunity for this photo:

We also very serendipitously ran into Gus Rancatore, founder of Toscanini's ice cream (which, I have to say, has the most amazing spicy mango sorbet I have ever had in my entire life).

The next day, to continue with our food trend, we had the privilege of touring the Equal Exchange factory in West Bridgewater, MA.

"Equal Exchange has created Big Change since 1986. Our founders envisioned a food system that empowers farmers and consumers, supports small farmer co-ops, and uses sustainable farming methods. They started with fairly traded coffee from Nicaragua and didn't look back."

Our wonderful tour guide of the day, Brian:

I also loved all the crazy machinery everywhere, use to grind coffee, sort coffee, test for quality, etc.

This is a view of the sheer size of the place. Imagine how caffeinated you would be working here:

And lastly, some of my girls with the new line of Equal Exchange mini-chocolates:

I think they make good product models, don't you?

I think that will conclude this particular post. Things to look forward to: portraits of my wonderful interns, kids, and various accosted subjects; outtakes from the workshop; and, of course, a sampling from the beautiful mock wedding and engagement shoot we did.

Til then!

Puppy Love

2010-06-21T20:50:00.000-04:00

Here is Jenna and the new(ish) pup, Maya!

These were taken at the Tufts Vet school field in Grafton - absolutely beautiful.

I'm posting this one large because I love it so much:

See the rest on my flickr!!

This post is a little rushed. I am currently working for my old boss this summer - the esteemed Mark Ostow - and this week I am running his 8th Annual Teen Photo Workshop. And when I say I'm running it, I mean, I'm running. All over the place. It's hectic and stressful, and at the same time, rewarding and so much fun. Today we photographed chef owners of local restaurants in the Central Square area (coordinated by yours truly!) with a few serendipitous encounters along the way. Those photos are what I'm currently involved with. Expect more soon!

Oh, the kiddies...

2010-06-06T21:02:00.000-04:00

Cadee turned 2 last week, and of course, a barbeque was held in her honor. I wasn't able to get a portrait of the birthday girl because - naturally - she was in high demand, but here are some of her adorable guests:

It's not my party, but I'll still cry if I want to

Aaaaand... I'm taking bookings for the summer! If you want adorable photos of you or your kids, let me know!

Hampton Beach

2010-05-12T15:43:00.000-04:00

I kept saying I was going to get up to Hampton before it got busy, just to get some really nice landscapes, and of course I slacked and slacked and then mistimed the trip so it was too dark by the time I got there. Oh well.

So these were just bonus shots:

And now I really need to do a sensor cleaning.

Boston Marine Week

2010-05-06T13:26:00.000-04:00

So after shooting with Mark on Tuesday, I spent the rest of the day wandering around the Downtown Boston area, just looking for people to photograph. Turns out that May 3-6 is Marine Week in Boston, with a concentrated focus in Faneiul Hall. They had dozens of marines in dress uniform and not, a a half dozen guns and trucks that I can't even begin to name.

Also, how entertaining is it to see tiny kids on gigantic armored trucks?

And of course, the marines themselves.

And this is Sergeant Timothy Hubert, who was kind enough not only to pose for a portrait for me, but also very patiently attempted to explain the huge gun to me which, of course, I attempted to process but did not retain. He was very sweet.

God bless in all your travels, Sergeant.

Backwards Glance

2010-05-04T23:26:00.000-04:00

Quick update for real.

Day two of assisting Mark. This was for Technology Review Magazine, an article on Danah Boyd, social networking software engineer. Possibly one of the more fun and carefree people I've ever met on a shoot. But here's a glimpse of what my life was like before I was a child-chaser:

And then, me, as a stand in to test lighting before Danah arrived:

A genuine Mark-test-shot. Though back in the day, it would have been on a polaroid. Oh, technology advances.

This was all shot in the Microsoft headquarters on Memorial Ave - possibly one of the most colorful, eccentric and fun office buildings I've ever seen. But now, I've been on my feet for almost 17 hours, so I'm going to collapse. Look forward to more later.

May Day Monologue

2010-05-03T23:22:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update:

Actually assisted on a shoot today, with my old boss, Mark Ostow. I'm not saying that I don't love my job right now, because believe me, I'm thankful everyday that I can be a photographer and be getting by, but today reminded me of why I truly, TRULY ever considered going into photography professionally.

I think I have been a photographer my whole life. Long before I ever picked up a camera. (And yes, I stole that from Sabrina). I have obsessively documented my life as it happened, since I was small, in the form of journals, letters, memorabilia, and, of course, photographs. So in some ways, I think, I was always meant to do this job.

However, I've always been something of a self-centered (or maybe, more appropriately, self-centric?) person. I've lived my life trying to figure out who I am, what I really believe, how I work, what makes me tick. But a life like that is lost the moment it ends, because, unless you were truly a person of some significant historical value, who will remember you? Cynical, yes, but true, is it not? Therefore, all this self-analyzing and collecting (or hoarding) and documenting becomes turns to dust when I'm gone.

Photography, for me, became a way of wriggling myself into other people's lives. Portraiture, by nature, is interactive - you cannot help but affect the subject in some way, and vice versa. Maybe this is something I've rationalized retrospectively (after all, hindsight is 20/20), but I believe all the projects I've endeavored on has, in a way, been a means of making people a part of my life permanently, to get into their personal histories, perhaps as a result of being a person who doesn't tend to maintain long-term friendships very well. Photographs as proof of momemts and memories.

This was still about me. However, when I started working for Mark years ago, I think that was the first time in my life I truly felt a part of something bigger than myself. We were constantly running around photographing people for magazines, and naturally, we went to each shoot prepared with background information on each subject, why they're being featured, etc.

However, far beyond that, the manner in which Mark interacts with people simply makes them open up, and we came away from each shoot knowing much more than I suspect the magazines ever divulged or even cared to think about. In order to capture what she considered their "true" selves, photographer Diane Arbus would torture her subjects - enduring them to sit through hours of painful, boring sessions or literally shoving her camera in their faces. Take the torturing aspect out of that (or maybe not - I feel people often feel enduring a photo session some sort of tortue) and thats essencially what we endevoured to find.

Often, far more fascinating even than what they became famed for, were the minute, mundane details of their lives which they have become so routinized to - things everybody does, but everone experiences so differently. Family stories, plights, meals... and to watch each person's face change, the manner in which they would emote, as they explained these mundane happenings - that is what I became fixated on, that I wanted to capture and convey to the rest of the world. I've never loved staged photography - never really thought anything you could paint should be taken in film instead. Photography as a means of capturing the world as it happens - the world and all of these people in it.

So maybe it still is about me. Maybe I want to inextricably tie myself to the world by hoarding other people's stories, remembering what might be forgotten about them if they, like myself, are doomed to be historically insignficant. And maybe, if I can remember them, and have other people remember them, then I myself won't get lost in the web.

Adendum, because my lovely manager just berated me for implying that children are not people. I do take joy in my job now for some of the same reasons. I went through a mini-crisis about year ago because I began to think that what I was doing was lost in the mother's looking for inachievable perfection in their children - a fact that bothered me all the more, being the type of person that relishes in other peoples chaos and flaws. I lost the love of what I was doing in my generalization of the achetypal "Mom" that comes to studio, as well as the routine of the job - a sort of they're-not-really-interesting-they're-just-a-paycheck type deal. I have, however, in the past months, come to listen more carefully, pay more attention, and have found a new love for my work with children and families - maybe that's why my sales got better :) Just kidding.

So the following photos don't REALLY have anything to do with any of that - this is just bonus, since it is a photoblog.

And, hey, its children. Some beautiful children at that, *wink*wink* to the lovely Miss Crystal.

Not really a quick update. I'm exhausted and I guess I got a little carried away - so I'm not sure any of that even made sense! Haha.

6:30am wake up call for tomorrow's shoot, so for now, I bid you all, adieu.

HONK! Festival, 2009

2010-04-30T10:28:00.000-04:00

"First and foremost, they honk their horns – or beat their drums, or wave their flags – to enliven and embolden their audience. Members vary widely in age, class, ethnicity and background, and although they often wear some kind of uniform, there is also always an emphasis on individuality and a “DIY” (do-it-yourself) sensibility to their instrumentation and attire. These bands play music that is by, for, and of “the people.” The distinction between performer and audience, just like the distinctions between different musical genres, is just one more arbitrary social boundary they aspire to overcome. Spectators often think “Hey, I could do that!” and, indeed, these bands often recruit new members right off the street." (From About HONK!)

So these, again, are from a couple months ago, but I only just got to them. The HONK! Festival in Davis Square happens every October, and it's a day I high anticipate every year.

These two are my absolute favorites of the day. This first one because of how precious this lone child appears, enthralled by the performers:

And this one, because it harkens back to my first favorite portrait, taken at the HONK! 2007 festival:

Its more or less why I ever considered pursuing photography :)

Newport, RI

2010-04-29T22:07:00.001-04:00

Just a day trip to Newport. It was cloudy, but I have a newfound love of arcades :)

Of course, token water shot :)

Rockport, MA

2010-04-26T10:08:00.000-04:00

Hours have been scarce at the Portrait Simple front, and with so many days off, some of the girls and I decided to go on what will hopefully be the first of many photo adventures. This one took us to Rockport, MA.

There were way too many photos to choose from, so here's a little sampling:

And, of course, portraiture! Because, really, I am a people person at heart :)

Chrystine, Liz and Jenna choosing cupcakes at Rockin' Cupcakes.

Our wonderful, and very patient, cupcake guy.

Jenna and cupcakes!

Chrystine and cupcakes!

There was a beautiful and random tree formation on a cliff, so of course, we had to make use of that.

Jenna on the rocks. Like a margarita :)

Chrystine on the rocks. More like, tequila :)

You can find the rest on my flickr!

Boston Marathon 2010

2010-04-22T22:03:00.000-04:00

A couple tidbits from the 2010 Boston Marathon.

I didn't have much from the day because we spent so much time looking for food. We ended up on the wrong side of the race from Copley and the Pru, with no way to cross over. So I spent a lot of time hungry, and not enough time hunting. Oh well. Til next event.

Buddha and a Bathtub

2010-04-22T17:44:00.000-04:00

Because, Liz, you know you ended up not being the real star of this shoot :)

Just kidding.

I got to raid Liz's endless Disney props for this shoot, and though none of them made it into the final drawing, I had a blast tearing through all the costumes and paraphernalia. And, of course, there was Liz's mad skill of being able to keep her eyes open even with the shower blasting in her face.

And bonus! We got Buddha into the tub.

Who doesn't love a hot chic and wet, confused puggle?

Baby, It's Cold in Here

2010-04-14T10:22:00.000-04:00

Special thanks to Chrys, for tolerating the freezing cold while long enough to get these shots! The bathroom we shot in was beautiful - white, beautifully lit with what I'm assuming would offer a variety of interesting lighting situations. However, it lacked heat - in the water or otherwise.

Hopefully we'll reshoot when it's warmer. Look how promising these are!

<333

Mischief in the Machine

2010-03-30T17:24:00.001-04:00

"We invite you to enter a fairy tale world, where a malevolent Autocrat rules over a ruined world of silent labor. In this dreary landscape, small sparks of joy and mischief appear, slowly coalescing into a full-fledged celebration of all humanity's wonder and variety."

This is ancient (May 2008) but after I sent out the files, I never did anything else with them. Yet this has a particularly special place in my heart, for so many reasons.

This is the Mischief in the Machine show, featuring Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, HUMANWINE, Ruckus Muckus, and many other very talented artists. Paranoid Zen Radio granted me the great honor of photographing the show, and it truly was a phenomenal thing.

Here are a few of my favorites. More can be found on my website or Flickr.

Oh, how I cannot bear to be pulled away.

Sorry for the link heavy entry, but I want to give credit where it's due :)

Rainbow Tribe

2010-03-29T12:31:00.000-04:00

I had the privilege of shooting the tech rehearsal for Rainbow Tribe's upcoming show, Audacity. It was my first time with them, and they were a phenomenal group of people, very talented and very sweet.

You can find more about them here.

And the water keeps flowing

2010-03-23T00:00:00.000-04:00

So the story of this shoot:

First, love to Christina. We shot this in the upstairs bathroom of her parents house, which we were fairly certain was mostly unoccupied at the time. We were incorrect. I ran out to the car to get something and, coming back up the stairs, passed her dad, who kind of just harrumphed at me and walked passed in a huff. Well, apparently, we later found out that he was less annoyed about being woken up, and more perplexed because he assumed we were "playing in the shower together." Oh well.

Life should be full fun and laughter. I love my friends for providing me with generous amounts of both.

Two posts in a month!

2010-03-18T22:58:00.000-04:00

Thank you to Jenna for being my guinea pig #2.

So Jenna's fiance (whom she specifically told not to come by for the duration of the shoot), gave me a heart attack. I'm lying on the floor of their bathroom, totally absorbed in the shoot, with my legs hanging out the door, and I lower my camera for a second - and there's a huge guy standing over me, looking at me. I started screaming and freaking out and of course, Jenna, who didn't have my vantage point, started freaking out because I was freaking out. Thanks Craig.

Outtakes to come.

Rub a dub dub

2010-03-11T22:04:00.000-05:00

Sooo... In light of some recent happenings (or non-happenings) in my life, I have become more adamant about doing my own personal photo work. Many know my dislike of staged photos and how I've attempted to avoid them, so part of my new leaf has involved staging some stuff, or at the very least, creating photographic opportunities rather than hunting them out.

So I'm starting out really basic. Girls in showers. How can you not love that?

Special thanks to Crystal for helping me launch this. I probably would have never gotten on the ball if it hadn't been for you :)

I love this girl. Xoxo.

Happy 2010

2010-01-03T20:48:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to say I'm resolving to post everyday, because I know its never going to happen.

Just recently got back from the most picturesque Coron, in the south of the Philippines. I hadn't brought my camera, but my cousin was kind enough to lend me his so I wasn't crippled by a point and shoot while we were there.

Some shots.

Cheska in a hammock.

Tiffany on the docks.

The moon over Kubo, our house/island paradise.

Our boats.

I love night shots.

Oh... Italy?

2009-07-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

I was in Italy for a week this past June. You'd think I would have been more ecstatic about that, huh?

Some night shots from Florence. La Piazza della Repubblica.

And, my beautiful little cousin, Martina.

It rained the whole time we were in Florence.

Oh Boston

2009-07-20T13:56:00.000-04:00

I know - I'm terrible at updating this.

I've done a couple freelance gigs recently, and even less of my own stuff, but I had the opportunity to be stuck in Downtown Boston a few nights ago. I love night photography, and it was my first time playing with the dancing fountains.

More to come soon!

I mean, hopefully...

Christmas Bubbles

2008-12-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

Lots of photos from last night. Just a little sneak peek.

Plastic bubbles are a favorite toy here in the Philippines. You take some plastic goop, stick it onto the end of a short thin straw and you have some insta-fun!

Also have been playing with PhotoShop. Can you tell? ;)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Honk

2008-10-28T13:29:00.001-04:00

Honk 2008, about 2 weeks ago.

Mask me

2008-10-23T10:42:00.000-04:00

Tidbits from Tufts Community Day 2008:

a photo a day ... take 45

2008-10-22T08:39:00.000-04:00

Let's see how well I will keep up with it this time.

The Dunbar-Hester-Fried wedding from this August. Congratulations again to Anna and Pete.

Zombie-esque

2008-10-21T09:47:00.001-04:00

Well, it is the time if year when specters rise from the dead, right?

Things, obviously have been crazy. Since my last post, I have ended my tenure at Mark's studio, always with the hopes of more assisting and good times down the road, and started up with Portrait Simple (thank you very much Jessie!) And life got crazy and fun and good. I have also been shooting weddings and events, and ever hunting down my street performances.

And with all this going on, this is the only photograph I'm going to leave you with for now:

A diner from a traipsing trip to Salem as of late.

Happy Fall and more photos to come soon :)

Chaotic

2008-05-25T10:03:00.000-04:00

Chaos. Not quite like this, but it feels pretty close.

In the past 2 weeks, things at Ostow studio have gone crazy - we were gone on overnight shoots at Austin Riggs and Kent Private school which took almost 2 weeks worth of my time, including a Whole Foods shoot and my own shooting for Tufts closing events in the middle of that. Things have been nuts and this is pretty much my first break in two weeks, immediately followed by another 2 weeks of pretty much no days off.

Life has exploded, duckies!!

I've also managed to get some holga developed and scanned in there somewhere - who knew!

I had to throw a little vanity in there.

In the non-photo world, I saw the 4th Indy last night, which was surprisingly good and consistant with the classics - once you got over the fact that Harrison Ford looks like he may have a heart attack at any moment on set. I loved it for 2 simple facts:

1) Shia LeBeouf actually turns to Indy after a fight scene and says, "You fight pretty good for an old man. What are you, like, 80?" I died laughing. Half the theater turned to look at me.

2) It basically enacted one of my biggest tangible fears ever. SPOILER!! Huge car chase in the Amazon and what happens? They land in a field of massive ant hills with masses and masses of huge army ants that subsequently swarm over people, trees, etc. in mile square sheets and devour everything, dragging people down into their ant holes for further edible goodness. Worst fear ever. I almost died. It was fantastic.

All for now, kiddies. Watch for ohkarina.com to be launched in the next couple weeks (I hope!)

Family fun

2008-04-11T15:39:00.000-04:00

So I've been in the Philippines for the past week in celebration of the marriage of my oldest cousin! Congrats Criselle.

The wedding was beautiful - 800 people! It was unbelievable. I should have taken more advantage of it, but I got caught up in being a guest and being in photos, rather than taking them. That doesn't mean that I didn't get my share of Kodak moments though :)

The "Tres Marias," our little flower girls. Three girls born in succession in a family is supposed to be good luck (the Tres Marias) and there's no set in the world like Marty, Lizzie and Annika.

My nephew, Vito, as the ring bearer. His mom, the Matron of Honor, had to walk down the aisle twice - once to walk him down and once to walk down herself.

And last but not least, the happy couple. They choreographed their own first dance - it was the most beautiful and adorable thing I've ever seen. This is one of the only clear shots I have of the dance - I couldn't focus the camera because I was crying. So sentimental! ;)

Too excited to hide it

2008-03-18T23:18:00.001-04:00

So this is a little silly but I got a message on flickr, as follows:

Hi there,

I'm Cynthia, one of the editors at NowPublic.com a participatory journalism site, I saw your photos about the St. Patrick's day parade and I was hoping that you would share your photo with one of our articles on the parades across the globe.

The requested photo(s) will appear as thumbnails when you follow the link.

Please remember that you retain your ownership over the photo and you can find our terms of use below.

I'd also encourage you to comment on the article (after following the link) if you have opinions on the topic. It will appear as a comment beneath the article (and not as a caption to the photo)

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at @nowpublic.com

Thanks v. much,
Cheers,
Cynthia

Giddiness! It was just exciting to be found. Cynthia's article on NowPublic is here.

Go look! Comment! Explore!

Happy Irish Day Boston

2008-03-17T18:17:00.000-04:00

Jessie took me to Judy West's studio in Southie for the St. Patrick's day parade. Madness and fun everywhere. To think I had never experienced a Boston St. Paddy's day before this.

Kids on roofs...

Green dogs...

Typicalness...

Me with Jessie and Judy in Judy's beautifully naturally lit studio...

What a day. Thanks Jessie. Viva le Irish!

Such is Life

2008-02-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

So I finally got around to showing Mark my work today. I had printed 40 images at Camera's Inc and was really stoked. I was... mildly crushed when he was less than ecstatic with well more than half of my work. Its hard. I'm trying. I'm not getting enough shooting of my own done though and I don't know if I've hit a wall or not. I'm just scared I'm going to be stuck in this state of mediocracy.

But before I fall into the angst-fest ... Mark loved this one. "Award-winning" he said. I hope so.

Enjoy it.

Honk 2006.

For Maia

2008-02-23T10:38:00.001-05:00

Hey there cutie pie,

There, the photos! I'm working on the others but here is your teaser:

Mwah! Can't wait to see you

More Goth Love

2008-02-20T17:21:00.000-05:00

The Boston Gothic Ball in Back Bay. I loved it.

Cage dancers and blacklights, whooo!

Happy Lupercalia

2008-02-16T10:39:00.001-05:00

Obviously, I don't keep New Years Resolutions very well. But I have good excuses:

1) Stuff at Ostow Photo has been nuts - Fun but super nuts. We had a show at the studio for the class Jessie teaches at the Germaine Lawrence school for troubled teens. I basically cleaned the whole studio and hung everything. It was super fun, but then all three of us got sick which put us back in shooting and so craziness keeps on moving along.

2) Uh... otherstuff.

Okay so the excuses aren't that great. Here are some photos though to catch up.

This was a really fun goth Valentine's party in Cambridge.

And to finish off, I finally developed a Holga roll that's been sitting in the camera since who knows when. I miss this girl so much. XOXO Betta!

All for now,
me

all in the family

2008-01-01T09:27:00.000-05:00

New Years Resolution No. 1: Really try to get this blog off the ground.

Spent the turn of the new year at the beach. Some moments to remember (or at least, looked good pixelated):

The Rubix cube took over the whole trip.

Okay, so it kind of became a tribute to my nephew. He is adorable.

Happy 2008 all!

Honk meets Octoberfest

2007-10-09T11:21:00.000-04:00

So this is what my Sunday looked like.

The 2nd Annual Honk Festival in Davis Square. Honk features a day of Activist Bands that perform all over Davis Square a few weeks before Halloween.

This year, on Sunday, the Honk bands paraded from Davis Square to Harvard Square to join up with Harvard Squares Octoberfest. Fun and noise ensues.

Find the whole set of the festivities here (link!) Thats it for now. Happy week.

because i suck at this...

2007-10-05T14:54:00.000-04:00

.... I'm posting the link to my Flickr account :) Its much more comprehensive in regards to my photo-portfolio.

Enjoy!!

http://flickr.com/photos/kawamel/

wedding bells

2007-09-18T15:44:00.000-04:00

not mine, obviously. but i shot my first wedding this saturday. bundles of fun!

take two

2007-09-13T16:13:00.000-04:00

Okay that was a really lame way to start an art Blog. This is one of the photos taken recently with my new camera:

I miss college life already.

another new beginning

2007-09-13T16:05:00.000-04:00

It looks like old habits die hard. I go through web-blogs as flightly as I do paper journals. But I'm going to try again.

Here goes nothing.