Film test: vintage Nikon FE

Here are a few shots from a vintage Nikon FE film camera I tried out recently:

It seemed to really shine when there was a lot of contrast, but even under well-lit conditions, the rest of the images felt a bit soft in comparison to the sharpness I tend to get to from my AE-1 Program. 

Also, it's interesting to see how much I center shots when I'm shooting film. Something to work on!

Road trip: Christmas in Wyoming

It's difficult to put into words just how unreal it was to be in Jackson Hole for Christmas this year. The mountains, the animals, the sheer scale of the wide-open-ness, all folded together with meeting most of Barry's family for the first time -- it was an absolute postcard holiday, a dozen different kinds of snowy and warm-hearted and perfect.

I could write a whole gushy, emotional post about all the feelings and the family dinners, and the way the air was, and how quiet it was at night, and how much I adore the pretty little turquoise ring I picked up to remember the trip by. I probably will at some point, but until then, here are my favorite shots from those few freezing, beautiful days: 

Portrait session & project release: Barry Uhl

This one is more than just a photoshoot and a website update. This is the endcap to something a year-and-a-half in the making that's included endless journaling and listening, long walks around the neighborhood, apprehensions, celebrations, and... well, a photoshoot and a website update. :) I'm speaking here, of course, about the release of Barry's second record, The Stargazer's Bible. If you're wondering who Barry is, in addition to being my main squeeze, he's Barry Uhl -- an insanely talented composer, writer, illustrator, and all-around amazing creative. (And yes, I had all those same opinions before we started dating.) 

From a project perspective, much of the technical work I've done here -- in addition to the portraits above that we shot last week -- took place in the internet realm: I completely revamped and overhauled the last website I made for him, transitioning from Wordpress over to Squarespace for a more modern, flexible design layout. I also generated some written content, and then worked to sync text and images across smaller related platforms (Bandcamp, CDBaby and the like) for a cohesive online presence. Later this week, we'll be assembling the onesheet with physical CDs to send out in a small mailer to press and labels.

We worked together on his last album as well, and I can say hands-down that this multi-hat creative engagement with artists -- with this artist, specifically -- is my most favorite, as well as the most rewarding, work I've done in quite some time. Barry has worked his tail off on this record, doing everything from the demos to the final mastering in-house (and by 'in-house' I mean 'in our shared home office'). To say I'm proud of this guy would be an understatement -- more accurately, to be by his side through this process AND to be able to make a creative contribution to it's birth out into the world has been an incredible experience. I can't wait to see what happens next!