Test Dummy

I live in a little sunny town, in a little blue house, in a little messy room. In this messy little room is a messy little Parisa who loves photography, portraiture to be precise. That messy little room is where most of the magic happens. Granted, it is no studio, by far, but I make it work. I have light stands, umbrellas, a tripod, and my camera with a handy-dandy Speed-light. Sadly, I dont have models on demand, just hanging around in my room, however lovely and pleasant that may sound. So, in lieu of this recession of models lounging in my abode, I take it upon myself to test creative ideas, lighting, equipment, etc. I am my own test dummy to say the least. This can be a difficult task due to the fact that a human arm is only so long or that getting the focus adjusted correctly before setting the shutter timer is a pain, and not always accurate. I wish I had a helper monkey that could be behind the camera (If only my cat, Shakespeare could be of use in that area). Despite these difficulties, I manage to get a few good shots every once in a while. In the past year, here are some of my favorites:

Rainy Day Photoshoot

This past Sunday before Christmas I had a shoot scheduled for a brother-sister session. The shoot was like a Christmas present for their parents; they would print and frame their favorite shots and wrap them for Christmas. I was super excited to do this, I mean, what a great idea! After having on and off rain all weekend, and a 60% chance of rain forecast, we assumed that Sunday would just be an on and off sprinkle. Alas, it was quite the opposite. Sunday was a non-stop downpour. Despite the weather, the show had to go on due to the last-minute urgency. We planned on Memorial Park in Cupertino for our shoot because there is a very scenic gazebo that we could shoot under. Another bump in the road was a broken traffic light on our way and immense traffic that blocked nearly everything. We changed location to Ortega Park in Sunnyvale which has a gazebo, albeit less attractive. Still, it is shelter. As we were shooting, it started to matter less if the rain got us. So by the end of the shoot we had dripping hair and damp clothes. The whole thing was thoroughly enjoyable and incredibly sweet. These are a few of my favorite shots from the day:

Rainy Daze

With finals coming up, I really should be studying... But with weather like we've been having; overcast, rainy, and downright freezing, who could study? I was out splashing in newly gathered puddles and snapping photos here and there. This weather is my element, and it is only natural for me to frolic about, with my handy-dandy Canon Rebel, no less. I started in my back yard and made my way around my house and into the driveway. Eventually, I got a bit too saturated with rain, so I made my way indoors to snap a few photos. 

It is on days like these where you get colors at their truest. There is no harsh sunlight, and yet it is still bright. The greens are at their greenest, and blues at their bluest. Have I ever mentioned how much I love the fact that my house is blue? It is the color of sea foam, and on days like these, it is as vibrant as a baby blue could be. I also took a few selfies because this is perfect portrait weather, and I had no better subject than myself. I only included three because there will be a post of selfies soon to come.

That being said and done, tomorrow will have to be my day of intense studying and turning in online assignments... Lets hope I dont get distracted...

Parisa

Tis The Season

It has been a hectic few weeks with finals and the holiday break approaching. This winter has been a bit more brisk than I remember it being in the past few years, so Ive been staying indoors a bit more lately. After having a nice 2 mile walk home from school yesterday (not dressed for the weather I night add), it got me back in the mood to walk regularly again. Of course, winter is the most lethargic time, but another inspiration has gotten me going today; Midnight in Paris. I am a Romantic, yes, with a capital R. I fantasize about the 1950's post-WW2/depression era; the classic diners, neon signs, classy pinup girls, cheesy advertisements, and airbrushed everything. Thus creeps my interest in visiting NYC and re-creating the iconic 50s life with photography. Going back further, I have always wanted to give up this life and pursue the life of a Native American or become a pioneer crossing the plains and following the Oregon trail to California (hopefully not with the Donner party). I believe this is one of the reasons why in a year and a half (so soon!!), I will be moving to Washington State. I can soak in and draw, paint, depict the vast mountains and the coursing rivers, and one has never truly seen the color green until they visit this Evergreen State. In between these two periods, the Roaring Twenties lurks in the part of me that feeds my interest in literature as well as the arts combined. Today, the floodgates of my creativity and drive to fully get back in to the arts has been opened after months of it trickling from the cracks of my being, thanks to Midnight in Paris. Watching Gil, the protagonist, live the past, albeit in denial of the dissatisfaction he has with life, and explore Paris with an entourage of the masters of the early 20th century arts reaffirmed that I NEED to do something more than just doodle in my sketchbook. I was left in a daydream all day, not sure of what I wanted to do to start off my quest led by my right brain. Maybe it is the dreary, yet somehow dreamy, drizzly weather that sparked it, but my intuition told me that I should bring my camera along with me today. I didnt quite know what I was looking for, but I thought it would be nice to start small. I got home around 4 pm and was on a quest to find food when I decided to take a photo walk around my neighborhood before it got too dark to capture some of the homely holiday decorations and lights. I walked for almost 2 hours (sadly it got took dark and rainy), and I took a few fun little shots of the seasonal cheer, plus lots of bokeh. These are the least I could narrow down as my best shots:

 Now, THIS house is THE holiday house of the neighborhood. All 360 degrees of their house is covered in lights and decorations, and it is very hard to just capture the pure volume of Christmas cheer that exudes from it. These five photos only exhibit about 20% of the entire madness, plus they have a never-ending loop of holiday music playing out front.

 I spent a good 10 minutes trying to take pictures of the Christmas tree downtown on Murphy Street. The white balance was a tricky one here on top of lack of light, and made it a bit frustrating to shoot.

 Yes, a festive Holiday Ladder. Made me chuckle. Ill be trying to get a better photo of it sometime soon.

 This is one of my favorite houses in the neighborhood. 

They go all out for both Halloween and Christmas, but that werewolf on their porch is there all year long.

A pleasant way to kick-start my creative binge and the holidays :)
On that note, I bid you a Happy Saturday,

Parisa