Happy Holidays!

After days of sugared bliss, I finished my gingerbread masterpiece. As you can see, it isn't your standard gingerbread house. No, it is my pretzel hideaway in the frosted woods. The cabin itself is a sight to behold, if I do say so myself, but the picture is kind of crummy. I tore through two whole packs of Polaroid 89 in my Holgaroid before I had to settle with this one, shot #20. I rarely ever shoot inside with artificial light, so I really don't know what I'm doing, and just like I vowed last year, next year's Christmas card subject will be outside.

Wishing you all a warm and cozy holiday season...

When it rains...

One of my photos that will be on display at Universe City Jan. 6. Three Trees, Huntsville, Utah.

"When it rains, it pours" they say, and the last couple of weeks have been cats and dogs... in a good way. After months of across-the-ocean (and 3/4 of America) e-mails, important and not-so-important date gathering, image collecting, resizing, arguing with the printer, and a whole lotta prayin', the 2006 Toy Camera Calendar
is now available. Check it out. Buy a copy. Buy 10. Thanks to Damion Rice's and Ed Wenn's hard work, fabulous ideas, humor and good looks, the three of us were able to put this fun and frisky project together. Also, thanks to all you TC'ers who submitted photos and/or sayings for the calendar. We couldn't have done it without you!

Second, this weekend I'll be selling note cards and prints at the Annual Arts and Crafts Market at Albion Grill at Alta Ski Resort in Salt Lake City. The Grill is at the top of the road, last stop before you hit a wall o' snow. Take a drive up the canyon Sunday and come check it out. The sale runs from 12-4.

Third, I've been invited to join some local artists at a gallery here in Ogden called Universe City for its Basin and Range Exhibit, paying tribute to the Wasatch Mountains. I'll have several photographs on display beginning January 6 (my birthday!) and some writings too. I can't wait! Besides getting to show some of my work mere minutes from my home, I fully support the theory behind this exhibit. For years, Ogden's brainiac mayor, Matt Godfrey, has been pushing for a tram to run from downtown Ogden to the top of Mount Ogden, our majestic namesake peak, connecting the city to Snow Basin ski resort. He wants to run towers and cables up the front of our beautiful mountains, creating a fat eyesore, in hopes of bringing worldwide visitors to our city and mountains. It's Godfrey's big scheming dream to build a high adventure center in defunct downtown Ogden, and with the damn tram, he will connect that and the university and the ski resort and blah blah blah. It's just a corporate fiasco that residents of Ogden have been fighting against for over a decade. And don't even get me started on the high adventure shenanigan. Most of Ogden's inner city residents can't even afford to put food on the damn table, yet Godfrey says "all are welcome!" in his adventure mall, with its $70 an hour simulated sky diving room and $40 an hour climbing wall. Yeah. Great idea, Mayor. Oh, anyway... A-hem... The theory behind the Basin and Range exhibit is to hopefully convince more and more folks that the tram will destroy the beauty depicted in the works on display. Thanks to Caril Jennings at Universe City for the invite and the opportunity to show my work!

Fourth, ha! Just kidding. No more good news, other than Christmas is almost a week away and besides having to wrap, wrap, wrap, I'm ready to go. I love this season. Happy Holidays everyone!

Hip Hip Hooray!

I’ve been voted the big wiener of the World Toy Camera Day color photography contest!!! Thanks so much to Becky R for instigating this fabulous day of plastic celebration; Mike Barnes for his dedication and hard work behind the scenes, collecting entries, tallying votes and putting up with us; Randy at Holgamods.com for his generous prize donations; and all of you wonderful folks who put in a vote for my shot. I made it with a modified Holga from Randy, on Fuji Superia 100 in Utah’s stark yet stellar West Desert, about fifty miles from Salt Lake City. Here it is, with no further adieu…

Flake

Seeing my beloved second home nestled under a fresh blanket of white makes my heart happy.
Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park. Check out the web cam and when you're done, start praying for snow.

Clickety Clack

I celebrated World Toy Camera Day on October 22 with my husband, two Holgas, a Polaroid 600, a Diana and my beloved Ansco Super Memar (not a toy, however). We took a picnic lunch out to Utah’s West Desert and snapped photos all day. Here are a few of my favorites, with more to come as soon as the toycamera WTCD gallery is up. Check there after November 6 for a huge collective gallery of images taken only on October 22, 2005 by members of toycamera.com.


Sunset on the beach at Saltair, a mid-1900s destination resort. My grandparents used to ride the old Bamberger Railroad out to Saltair when they were in their early 20s, for swimming in the salty sea, dances, roller coaster rides and concerts. Saltair has had its share of problems since its heyday -- receding lake waters, floods, mysterious fires, changing ownership, etc and today, it houses only an occasional concert. Holga/Ilford XP2 Super


Looking northwest from Saltair at sunset. Holga/Fuji NHP 400


A handheld bulb exposure of an old railcar and a funky yellow scaffold at Saltair. Holga/Fuji NPH 400


Tracks in the salt crust near the Knolls exit on I-80. Holga/Fuji Superia 100


This image was taken the day after WTCD (…just finishing up the roll in my camera) of wetlands around Willard Bay in Northern Utah. The wetlands/marshlands are used for duck hunting and training your dogs to go after the ducks. It’s hillbilly heaven. Holga/Ilford XP2 Super.

Today, I’m listening to:

Radio from Hell on X96
Social Distortion Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll
Big Head Todd and the Monsters Midnight Radio (Live)