Gin & rosemary

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We had a few really warm days around here these past few weeks and nothing was more refreshing than a cool gin cocktail after work on Saturday. Since we grow rosemary in the backyard, I decided to use it to make simple syrup and added it as a garnish. 

Gin & rosemary cocktail

- a shot & a half of gin 

- two tablespoons simple syrup (recipe below)

- three or four splashes of bitters, gently swirled in glass

- seltzer water

- a sprig of rosemary

Rosemary simple syrup

- a cup of sugar

- a cup of water

- five sprigs of rosemary

Place all three ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Boil approximately one minute, remove from heat and let stand until cold enough to store in a glass container. Strain and serve over gin and ice. Add seltzer water, splashes of bitters and drink slowly. 

Mamiya C220 // Kodak Portra 400

Those sakura trees

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I was hesitant to bring a camera (let alone three) to the Waterfront last month because every photographer in Portland (and their mother) has photographed those majestic trees. But I wanted to see more than one sakura tree, so I dragged Brent along and spent about an hour walking around, making photos, and watching professional photographers do their thing. One of them made me smile (his assistant was throwing petals around the subjects), another made me sad, but I quickly forgot about them and focused on the flowers. It took me a while to find my proverbial groove but I realized that photography also requires some kind of warming up, and I felt a lot more comfortable with being uncomfortable with my camera at the beginning. And those warm up shots ended up being some of my favorites. They didn't feel right at first, but they ended up looking & being right. 

Mamiya C220 // 

A mix of Ektar and Portra 400

Hasselblad + Polaroid back

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To say that I fell hard for the Hasselblad and Polaroid back combo would be an understatement. I was one of those rare photographers who did not care to own a Hasselblad before I tried the Polaroid back. I knew, and feared, that the one thing that might make me change my mind about it would be borrowing the back. And I was right. In the last week, I've wondered what I could sell to afford a Hasselblad (Canon 24-70, anyone?) and scoured KEH for cheap parts to build a system from. It's probably not going to happen in a while, but I think that'll be my next camera (or I might spend $200 and get a beat up RB67 and Polaroid back). In the meantime, I'll have to work on the sharpness, maybe by cleaning the rollers.

And for good measure, some fun portraits I made of my Italian boy with the not-so-Italian-looking Barilla boy. He's not as adorable as the little Barilla boy, but he's close.

Hasselblad 500c // Fuji FP-100C (color) and FP-100B (b&w)

This still life kick I've been on is going to financially ruin me, not just in film, but in beautiful items that I've been collecting since moving in. Not that I wouldn't be buying them if I didn't photograph them, but it's a bigger incentive and, even worse, an excuse. "I just need this to use as a prop" is something Brent has been hearing lately. It's usually followed by "I'll put prints up on Etsy to pay for them" which is never followed by the act of putting prints up for sale.

Four years

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You know the images you wanted to be making when you first started but no idea how to make? These images embody them for me. I wanted to get those tones, that kind of light & exposure, but most specifically those angles. And it never worked, no matter how hard I tried. I would stand on chairs, move around, and fail every time. Granted, I knew nothing about light, and I wasn't interested in sitting down and reading about exposure back then. I thought things would come to me in their own time, because I'd always gotten what I wanted without working very hard. I always seemed to end up figuring things out. That was foolish, and now I actually work hard to get the results I want to get, but I'm also older, and possibly wiser. The latter remains to be seen. 

And when I got these results a couple of weeks ago, there was a big sigh of relief and I slept more soundly than I have in a long time. To most people, these are just pretty flowers, but to me, they're an accomplishment four years in the making. I'm sure next month, they'll seem mundane and amateurish, but right now, right now I'm proud of these images.