Show at Mama Java

Some of my Intimate Abstractions are showing at Mama Java in Phoenix right now. This is such a cute coffee shop that I just had to get my work in there! So many coffee shops you go in now are loud and play loud music. The whole time I was there today I kept thinking how I could relax with a book there.

Here are a couple photos of some of the work hanging there for the month.

Abandoned Water Park Article

 A fun e-magazine I was looking at today. Really awesome images...kinda makes me wanna go find abandoned places to take awesome photos like these. Of course Alameda had a military base that is "abandoned" but so many businesses moved out there...so that wouldn't have worked. I really miss having great locations like that around. I guess I need to discover more of Phoenix to see what I could find.

http://bit.ly/uS26i9

Google: Louis Daguerre

Today Google is celebrating, what would be the 224th birthday, of Louis Daguerre. Always fun to see what Google will have as their logo, doodle or whatever you want to call it... for the day and especially fun when it is photo related. I'll have to remember to mark my calendar for next year and see if they do something extra special for the big 225!

50 reasons not to date a photographer

I saw this and thought it was too funny not to share. I found a few that I really relate to such as number 7, 33 (someday soon I will post some images from my trash the dress session with Blue Chair Photography) and 34.

Enjoy!!

http://bit.ly/tFC4yn

A Garden Variety - Hand of Light

Adding texture to my images is something newer that I am trying out. I've shown you guys a few that I have worked on but I find it really fun, which again I have probably said before, to see the transformation, nah, I mean completes the image with adding a bit of texture. I suppose that, of course, that is my own opinion but since it is my work I feel it makes it complete. :)

You can find really great textures in many different locations. One person I follow on FB offers MANY different textures Jessica Drossin Textures. She often gives away samples of her textures as well. I would recommend checking her out.

The textures that I am currently working with are Totally Rad - Dirty Pictures. I really like their stuff and use their actions as well.

And now...my newest image.

Hand of Light

© Anna Chipman

My Big Move

So we have made it to Phoenix...and apparently I have been thinking a lot about Alameda. I was working on images and after I had been working on them for a while when I noticed that one looked like waves and the other like flames. I dunno if it was just coincidence or if I had been looking for something that would represent my thoughts.

This move back to Phoenix has been a real hard move for me. Though now I am closer to my family, something I really enjoy, the readjustment phase is something that is taking me a bit to adjust to. I miss the Bay Area a place that was my home for over six years.

 My Alameda Waves

© Anna Chipman

My Phoenix Flames

©Anna Chipman

Reflection - A Garden Variety

Today is one of those days that you live and wonder how it happened. This afternoon I received very sad news of my uncle passing away. This was very unexpected and just no warning. Huge life changes like this make you question your own life and how you are living it.

Today also marks the passing of Steve Jobs which, I suppose, typically wouldn't affect me as much as it did today. However with my uncle passing away I was reading some quotes by Steve Jobs and they seem so poignant. Amazing how something someone says takes on a life of it's own within someone else's head.

Quotes from Steve Jobs:
(from CNN)

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do," he told the Stanford grads in 2005.

"If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on."

I know that my uncle loved his work and I have to believe that he was very happy and satisfied with his life. Family or friends passing makes you take a hard look at your life and if we are truly satisfied with our lives or just doing what we do to get by. Photography is certainly what makes me happiest. I love the time that I get to spend with my career and only wish I could be doing nothing but photography. I am happy spending time in nature and discovering life.

Pardon my broken thoughts, I hope that I have made some sense. Rest in peace uncle Marty. You were loved and will be missed.

Reflection

© Anna Chipman