New digs

You're looking at the swatch of space where Mile's crib once lived. It's now the awesomest room ever (aka, my new studio). It's a room with nothing but a desk, some equipment, and a whole lot of happy. I'm still not in there as much as I'd like to be, but I smile every single time I pass by.  I need to futz with the light a bit...maybe add an external flash, but everything else is perfect.  Perfect, I tell you.

And I couldn't be happier about my first shoot in the space with my dear friends, Papis, Vic, and baby Boobakar. We met Papis and Vic a bunch of years ago.  I thought they were great, but Ferris had an immediate 'Dream Weaver' reaction to Papis, like long lost soul mates.  Papis is from Senegal, Vic is from Michigan, and Boobakar was born here in Maine.  Needless to say, we've all fallen in love with them and will miss them desperately when they move back to Senegal in a few weeks.

It's devastation central...the kind of devastation that can only be fixed by saving our pennies for a trip across the Atlantic.

Papis, Vic, Boobakar

Outtakes, Slayton Family Farm

A few times, I've written about my radical friends and the Slayton Family Farm in Gardner. Their story is so interesting in light of the slow food movement, artisanal farming, and the tradition of small Maine farmers. I thought I would try my hand at editorial photography and play with my new 50mm lens at the same time. These are some outtakes...less editorial, but equally as fun.

I've been thinking about how you can tell a story with images.  The Slaytons have a great story which became even more interesting over the hours we spent talking about what led them to take this road, what inspires their business, and how they see their roll in developing a socially responsible mechanism for meat production in Maine. 

More than anything, though, I never feel as happy and alive as I do with a camera in my hands.

WEE By Port2Port Press

Once upon a time, MAV of 3191 fame and I were neighbors on a quaint little street in Portland's West End. She's the blogging real deal, one of the originals and very successful. She has lots of great side projects, one of them being WEE.

And, as you can see, she fell under Miles' loveable charms much like the rest of us.

Stephanie

This could be one of the most surreal and outright FUN moments I've experienced as a blogger. 

Amy, from A Commonplace Life, generously asked if I'd like to participate in her recent project.  It took less than a millisecond to scream YES! A little over a year ago, I asked Amy to help me with a project that changed the trajectory of my life. That was the moment she switched from anonymous blogger to bloggy-friend.  Then she did the redesign for Lula Inc, which became the moment she switched from bloggy-friend to actual friend. I think she's enormously talented and has created a radical (literally and figuratively) body of work this month.

My favorite thing she said about me was about my voice.  Funny thing, when we first spoke over the phone I thought she sounded very serious and wise.  Then we spoke to each other using iChat, and I realized her house is a three-ring circus of batshit crazy.  Lovely people everywhere, handmade quilts on the wall, food, stuff, life, toys, happiness, ease.  It reminded me very much of my Grandma Lula's house, the house I grew up in, the house I'm trying to recreate.

And since our interaction required visual documentation, she became a reason for me to wear fancy earrings and lipstick in the middle of the day.  I did not, however, take a shower.  Thank heaven iChat doesn't require a smell check.