Palm Springs Photo Festival 2012

The past week or so I have been attending the Palm Springs Photo Festival which takes place in Palm Springs, California (not Florida). The conference is always a place of inspiration and community. We hear from all types of photographer from journalists to fine art. I had the opportunity to take a workshop with Shelby Lee Adams on blending and shaping light. He is a great teacher and I really enjoyed spending time with him and the other students in the class. We were able to shoot on location with 2 models on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first location was a “seedy” hotel,  and a biker bar. Here are some images I made during those shoots.

As you can see I used a wide angle on a lot of these, mostly because I thought it would be best if I practiced something I didn’t usually have the means to practice. So, I went with it. I tried to stick with super wide all the time, unless I just couldn’t pass up a good 50mm shot. Our models were really great, and easy to work with.

Other than working with models I met a bunch of really great photographers, and got critique from people like Mary Virginia Swanson, Steven Kasher, Chris Pichler (Nazraeli Press) and Karen Sinsheimer (Santa Barbra Museum of Art). The critiques went very well, and I am excited about the ball that is perpetually rolling forward on my Mother Road Revisited project.

Finally, at the evening presentations I had the opportunity to listen to Gerd Ludwig talk about “The Long Shadow of Chernobyl” project and Ron Haviv on his career as a journalist and Nigel Perry enlightened us on how to become a celebrity photographer (he assured us that basically you have to be a good con-artist). All in all, as usual, the week was mind blowing and enriching. If you ever have the opportunity to join all of us at the Palm Springs Photo Festival, I say do it. No matter what.

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the Mother Road Revisited project. It’s really getting some speed.

-Natalie

P.S. check out my new friend Jeff Frost’s timelaps photography called “Flawed Symmetry of Prediction” it’s pretty mind blowing.

P.P.S if you’re more into alternative process like wet plate collodion, check this out: http://vimeo.com/39578584 with a photographer that is making huge wet plate collodions out of the back of an ice cream truck.

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Days are Long; Years are Short

Goodness. I have been meaning to update for weeks. So, this update will be a bulk of the things I have be up to over the last few months, and a preview of what I’m doing in the future weeks. First of all, I am traveling to Palm Springs, CA for a photo conference this Sunday. This will be the third time I have attended, and I am pumped. Second, I have been traveling all over the midwest in the last few weeks. I was in Dallas shooting pictures of Jesse:

Under a Bridge

Dallas Skyline

Upside Down

Jesse’s a fun model, and I enjoy shooting with him, especially in Deep Ellum. I have also been working with gum bi-chromate, and that’s been quite the adventure. Here are a few successes and…and a few failures. but I’m learning. That’s for sure.

This will be a full color when I have it all figured out.

I'm making this into an etch when it's finished

Kurt in the Vegas Boneyard

If you want to see other photos of Kurt and Rosey at the Boneyard, check ’em out here

Tyson and the TV's

I think the last two have some paper issues, but I’m working them out, for sure. And finally! Last week my dad and I traveled up to Louisville, KY to pick up a ’64 Shasta. It isn’t perfect, but it’s slowly working in that direction. It was an adventure that lasted 3 days and 36 hours of driving. Dad and I had a great time, but it was quite the tiring trip. Anyway, here’s a photo of the Shasta:

'64 Shasta

Phew. Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to. I’m sure I’ll post another entry when I get back from Palm Springs, but until then, thanks for reading!

-Nattles

P.S. If you’re interested in following the progress of the “MotherRoad: Revisited” Project, check out the facebook page, website, and twitter!

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School Starts

Well, it’s been a crazy summer, and when summer started, I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish over the summer, so I thought I’d update you on what it is that I _actually_ accomplished.

Reel Big Fish & Streelight Manifesto in Dallas

I told you guys I would be going to this concert. and it was incredible. If you ever get a chance to see either Streetlight Manifesto or Reel Big Fish in concert. You should definitely do it!

Hung out with my friends in Dallas (this is jesse)

While in Dallas for the show, I got to see some friends from high school, and I can never pass up an opportunity to take pictures of them (usually). Anyway, this is Jesse. and…he’s pretty cool, as you can see.

Did a Crazy photo shoot in a garage (thanks Tyson)

From a blog post a few months ago, some of you may remember this TV photo shoot. Tyson (my model for the shoot) did a music video with all of these TVs in the Spring, and I wanted to jump on that wagon and see what a photo shoot looked like. Thanks again Tyson for helping me set up and take down the whole thing, and being my model. It’s always a pleasure. If you want to see the other photos from the shoot check it out here

Work on a collab show with Joel Armstrong

An artist friend of mine, Joel Armstrong, is working on (and currently advertising for) a wire show about garage sales. He asked me to document garage sales via photography. So, I spent a lot of the summer going to garage sales with Joel, and shooting random items. It was a lot of fun. If you’re interested in the show, check it out here!

Work on more Collab with Joel Armstrong

Originally, Joel has asked me to photograph all the items he was drawing in wire. This was my first concept shot of what that might look like. In the end, he decided to go a different route due to a list of reasons, but I learned a lot figuring out this shoot, and the editing style.

Bought a Motorcycle!

I bought a motorcycle! My dad, uncle and I drove around the black hills in South Dakota on our motorcycles. I shot this the night before Dad came up and picked me up to trailer to South Dakota. It was a lot of fun. Learned a lot. Saw some giant heads on a mountain. The photo below is one of the places at the end of Spearfish Canyon on the West side of South Dakota. It is very much the middle of nowhere, but there were surprisingly a lot of people in this restaurant. Want to see more pictures from that trip? Check them out here!

Drove said motorcycle around South Dakota with family

 

Shot a Stair Trail!

I was able to shoot my first successful Star trail in South Dakota, right outside of Deadwood. Thanks to my dad for being patient with me while I set everything up.

Picked fresh fruit from an orchard with college friends (and children)

After South Dakota I hopped a plane to Washington. 10 Boarding passes later, I ended up in Spokane Washington with some very dear friends from college. We ended up picking berries and eating lunch at a fruit farm. The photo above on the right is the box of cherries we picked, and Jess’s son, Oliver in a cherry tree.

More Washington College Buddies hang out time

This is Shane and his son Benjamin sitting on the porch on a beautiful Washington afternoon. good times, good friends. beautiful weather.

Jess, Shane, Oliver and Benjamin in Washington

Zak Bek and Eli

These are the two families I went to visit in Washington. It had been too long, and I am so glad I was able to finally make it up there to see these guys.

Went to Portland!

After an epic journey to find a rental car that would let me drive one way from Spokane to Portland, I drove to meet my mom in Portland, OR. It’s a beautiful city, you should go sometime.

Drove Through the Redwood Forest!

A few days after Portland, my mom and I drove through the Redwood forest, and hung out in the area for a couple days. I tried to shoot as much as I could through these days, and if you want to see more of those photos check them out here!

Hung out in San Fran

After the Redwoods, obviously comes San Francisco. Peir 39 is where the seals hang out, so mom and I decided to stop by and see what was happening.

Shot Headshots for my friend that is going to grad school for acting (in London)

After I got back from that excursion, it was time to take my car down to Texas to get some work done on it. I rode a train to my home town, and met up with my dear friend Micah. He and I have been friends a very long time. Micah made it into grad school in Essex, England (which is very close to London). But because he is an actor, he needs an updated headshot every year. So, before he took off for across the pond, I did a handful of shots for him and designed a few things for his website. Check it out, he’s a pretty incredible fellow.

Had a Birthday! My Parents are the best.

 

So, last week, my second year of grad school started, every school year I have the joy of my birthday landing on the day of school starting, or very nearly on the day of school starting. But, my parents are the best, and even though they couldn’t make it up to Tulsa for my birthday, they did send incredible, beautiful gifts. Thanks again mom and dad.

 

Anyway, school is underway and I have some crazy cool things up my sleeve (or so I think). But if you’re in the Tulsa area, in a few weeks is the opening for Joels show (keep your eyes out for a blog about the photos I took for Joels show) and in about a month is the Indie Art Festival where a handful of art friends and I are going to be selling all kinds of incredible things that you can buy! Stop by if you get a chance.

Thanks for reading, see you soon!

Natalie

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Recent Photography – Palm Springs Photo Fest

Well, it’s been about a week since I got back from Palm Springs, California. Every year this is a photo festival there, with workshops, and symposiums….all sorts of people are there. It was a great experience. If you ever want to go to Palm Springs, and are a photographer, I would recommend going to this. It’s the perfect time of year, and a beautiful city.

I was lucky enough to take a workshop with 17 incredible people, taught by Keith Carter himself. I learned a lot from all of the people there, and got to see work from all over the map. There were a few people who just got back from Cuba, a guy who is the photographer for an arcehological dig in Peru (from 3,000 BC I do believe)…and a few people who did hand coloring to their black and white photos..it was so inspirational.

I also got a lot of portfolio ciritques from at least 5 people. One of which was Frank Ockenfels III, and a wired magizine photo editor. They helped me figure out which direction I should go with my current projects and how to get my name out there.

Anyway, here are a few shots from the week. Visit my flickr for the full show 😉

This is a fish at the edge of the Salton Sea

This is where we worked mostly in the day time with Keith Carter

The back of Keith Carters camera says "never ever, ever give up." We had just talked about portraits that didn't focus on the face.

This is how you fit 19 people in a 1 person bungalow.

This is where a lot of art was built out of random pieces of nothing...it was fun.

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