jumping off cliffs

While in Tahoe we went on a mini hang gliding excursion with Dave. While Jason and Becky had both gone with him before, this was my first time. I was envisioning some nice grassy knoll we could sit on and relax while he held his finger to the air to check the wind. In reality we were on the side of a mountain standing in the road next to a guard rail…”you are JUMPING here?!” was running through all of our (except Dave’s I am sure!) heads. We waited. We watched the wind sock. We talked to some locals. We waited some more. We watched the wind sock some more. Then it was a go! Crazy amount of setup! Which makes sense because you are FLYING IN THE SKY. More watching the wind sock. But then it was time and all of a sudden- he JUMPED off the edge of the mountain. So awesome! I could never do it. I could never even go tandem. But it was awesome to watch. And maybe next time there will be a grassy knoll.

sur, big

I never cease to be amazed by Big Sur. We try and go at least once a year and every time I am in awe. Word fail.

photo 121: lighting

Still playing catchup! I am not so much a studio lighting person…but the intro class last semester was fun, I learned a ton and has made me look forward to taking the next level studio lighting class (strobes!). (OH! And yeah, THE FOOD was my favorite studio work!) So for now….I share:

on workshops

Now that summer has started I am finally catching up. I also have a super awesome new computer which makes catching up a breeze! These images were made while I was assisting on two photo workshops for Aperture Academy. For the most part, I was shooting images of people shooting images. But I was able to sneak in a few here and there, all handheld, though  many should have been shot on a tripod. The workshops are awesome and you get great instruction in beautiful locations and get to meet some awesome people…now I need to find the time to go out and shoot at these spots as a student rather than an instructor ;)

food…in the studio

So far, the favorite subject I have shot for my studio class is food…In my dreams, I will have time this summer to produce more food shots.

where I go

When I got my new camera the very first place I took it the moment it stopped raining (which seemed like forever) is my lunch spot. I am lucky to work so close to so much awesome nature and lucky that it is close enough to play on lunch. Previous play here and here. I like how I can go to the same spot so many times and still see it with new eyes each time.

too much me

I feel like time is slipping by faster than I can shoot or post lately. The semester is going well and the new camera, in the few instances I have gotten to play, is beyond awesome. I have been thinking lately about how I feel like I am changing before my own eyes. If that makes sense. My hair is changing colors. My skin is thinning. I am thinning.  And I see a slow evolution of age more lately. Not in a bad way, but I find that I look at myself and see someone different than who I always thought I was. Time for a new self portrait maybe. Last semester I had the take-a-self-portrait-and-blog-every-single-day-for-school which beyond drained me and I felt really hindered my photography in some way- like the act of having to do it EVERY day regardless of quality or inspiration (while good in it’s own way) sorta put me in a funk. But! Spring has sprung! I have a new camera! The time has changed and I think I can get over whatever weirdness that project left in my mouth. But! Unless you had access to the special link you have no idea what I am talking about. So I have decided to bring here a few of my favorites of the ONE HUNDRED AND TEN that were taken. And funny, but with space and time and compiling this here, I see the project in a whole new light.

the retirement of the 20D

These were the last images taken on my 20D… Superbowl Sunday in Capitola. Not very exciting, but the end of an era in a sense. Or the beginning of a new one. This camera has taken me farther than I imagined it would, and for that I am grateful. I can’t wait to see the next 4 years with the 5D Mark II…

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on black and white in winter

I finally got around to getting a roll of film from what seems like forever ago developed. And I succumbed to the desire the see ALL the pictures and paid to have them developed and printed rather than doing it myself. But that being said, a few will go into the darkroom, as I think I can do a better job than the machine guy. But! Exciting new camera on the horizon, so this may be the last of the black and white for a bit!

while in class

oh! I forgot to mention here! I have work in a GALLERY. In CHICAGO. Yes. I am excited. On a whim I entered a few works into a call for artists that one of my professors had told us about, and to my surprise I had something selected. I feel extremely honored to not only be selected, but to share the same gallery space with some truly amazing women. Head on over to Woman Made Gallery and take a look at the works selected for the “While in Class” group exhibition.

orange

Fred’s Charger has been a long time in the works…but it if finally (almost) done! He took us for a spin in it over xmas and oh it was loud and rumbled and smelled like gas…I loved it! My dad had a Mustang convertible (some 60′s model) that was our main car from about as early as I can remember to sometime about 7 when he got the hearst. The mustang was supposed to be mine when I turned 16, but as we all know- life turns out much much differently than we could ever imagine. But I have a soft spot for those cars that have that rumble and the buckle seat belts. I only had a few snaps and some b&w film (still to be developed), but I can see how some have car lust. One day I hope to photograph it proper. More after the jump!

2009 in review

The annual year in photos post…previous years collages after the jump!

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thoughts on a duel

thoughts on a duel from rachael olmstead on Vimeo.

Now that school is officially over, I guess I can officially share my projects. This was the final project (but not the final) for my digital video class. Many people made movies with real video cameras, but I am low tech and opted for stop motion. And black and white film. It is a funny story really, how this all came together. But I won’t bore you with the details. I can’t help but note thought that the second screens of text are somehow wonky when uploaded online but play fine on quicktime. I have tried many times to fix it even though it has/had no bearing on my grade, as it was not a online presentation. But still, I must note that as anal as I am, it is driving me nuts enough that I have still been trying to fix it almost a month after it was turned in, just so I could put it online. But alas, f-it. I’m cleaning the hard drive for the next year and off it goes to the external.

die cut sureal

These were done for a surreal assignment for my digital class.  I had been fawning over these die cut (or as we debated last night when we were hanging- dye cut?) Victorian masks at a shop in Half Moon Bay for years and recently broke down and bought one (mine) “just because”. When this assignment came up I knew instantly I would use them for this project. I used more photoshop madness to do this than I ever have or hopefully ever will…but in the end I am really happy with the results. They will be shown in a class exhibition at SJSU which is also sorta fun.

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sjsu black & white part two

sjsu black & white part one

Now that my first semester at SJSU is winding down I probably should start posting assignments before I get too back logged. I am taking another black and white class, so not super exciting since I have had two prior…but the darkroom is always fun none the less…these are part one of what I guess will be four more b&w posts.

portrait

The final assignment for my photojournalism class was an environmental portrait. Robin was lovely enough to don her ballerina gear and head over to my place. I made my first makeshift studio with a roll of black paper rigged on the patio. My idea of lighting fell through when I realized I did not have the right adapters for my extension cords and going to get them would take time away from the existing natural light. We plugged ahead with natural light and I think it worked perfectly. There were some size limitations for sure, in the future I know to have a wider and taller background as well as more room to shoot, for that reason all of the shots had to be done close up. I was sad we did not have the room to get some actual ballerina moves…but there is always next time! But overall I am really happy with how they turned out and hope to do more portrait work in the future.

hwy 92

now that fall has officially started I am really behind on catching up on photos. but we chug along. as you  (may) know, I took a photojournalism class at SFSU and loved and hated it. But mostly loved it. The final was to tell a “story”, I chose to photograph the vendors and stops on highway 92 on the road to Half Moon Bay. Below are a sample of my favorites that made the story cut, but not the entire story or all of my favorites.

…you take my hand

working backwards on summer still. this summer my photo journalism course taught me oodles. seriously, i learned SO much. but at the same time i decided that photojournalism was not for me. i am still trying to figure out what is…but working backwards these are from water/motion assignments. we joke that i had to pay out of pocket and drive to San Francisco to really understand the use of my shutter….

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in guerneville

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