As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m working on an ongoing video project. I successfully shot my first video in North Carolina and am busy editing it as we speak, but I’m now looking for new subjects. Lots of them. I thought I’d put out a casting call here.

I’m looking to interview folks who:

1) Have a collection of old family photos on hand that they’d be willing to share (or could have some particularly awesome copies of family photos mailed to them).
2) Have one or two good family stories to tell (hint – your stories are better than you think).
3) Are okay with being on the internet, in a video, sharing this stuff with the public.

If you know someone who would be great for this, please forward this along! If you’d like to participate, let’s grab coffee and talk about it. Holler at helena@1000memories.com.

I’ve learned a few things about blogging in the past year.

1) Don’t ever write posts about how you’ll “finally start blogging again.”

2) Film shooting and my style of blogging does not mix. Don’t get me wrong, I love film and I will continue shooting with it, but film rolls take weeks to finish and develop, and I like to document every detail of my life as it happens. That and stories just aren’t as fun to tell when they’re written two weeks late. I need to start taking digital photos again for this blog to actually work like I want it to.

3) Just because I’m not traveling around the country doesn’t mean I’m not seeing things worth sharing.

That’s all I’m going to say about that. Here is a blog. With photos.

This week was a good week. For one, our team at 1000memories (did I mention I have a wonderful job now? I can’t remember) finally shipped a rad project we’d been working on for a while. Second, I got a new camera AND lens. I have literally been dreaming about this gear for months.

Everything arrived just in time for me to photograph a little shindig we hosted at our office on Friday night. It was great getting some of my favorite folks together under one roof (or on one porch).

Afterwards, the team (+ a few others) headed to karaoke in Japantown. Aaron and I watched, as we both hate the idea of singing karaoke with a passion we cannot explain.

Tiffany, one of our attendees, mentioned that she was hosting a Lomo double exposure walk through Chinatown the next day. Considering it was just down the street from my house, and I wanted to grab a peek of the Lomo store under construction at Union Square, I was in.

(You can learn more about Lomography here.)

I couldn’t help but snap some photos with my digital. I’d share my film shots, but, you know… they’ll probably be ready in a few weeks.

We ended the hike with a little tour de Lomo store, which will open in Union Square this fall. I can’t wait.

By that point I was completely spent and went home to sleep until Sunday.

Today Aaron and I went to Oakland to hang with Tara and her cat, Dexter.

We stopped by the Temescal street fair for a bit, moreso to eat Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwich and strawberry shortcake.

After one last quick stop by an abandoned building on the UC Berkeley campus (bc we clearly did not have enough adventure for one weekend), we were again spent and headed back to San Francisco to call it a weekend.

On another note, I hung out with two other cats this week.

Malfoy, our temporary office cat…

and Olive, who is temporarily living in my apartment/sitting on my bed staring at me right now.

Ok, that’s all for now.

END!

I’ve finally developed more film!! I’ve been procrastinating on the developing front (as it’s so expensive) – the only reason I have these photos are because Aaron stole the rolls from my purse and had them developed for me. I cannot complain. Stories below.

This is a double view of the lovely weather we’ve been having here lately. By lovely I mean awful.

This is Pete and Esme. They’re a couple of awesome compadres who I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for the last year or so. They’re getting married soon, so I took a few (mostly digital) photos of them around town.

I’m slowly getting used to the fact that my camera will double-expose when it damn well wants to.

I took very few shots during my week at SXSW, but these pretty much sum up the good times. Lots of sitting on this balcony, spending time with some of my favorite people from around the country (Mark, Corinne, and Jaime included).

More shitty weather + accidental double exposures.

This was from a recent adventure day in the Mission. Aaron and I were walking across 18th + Mission when we heard a THUMP. We turned around to see a man had illegally run across the street into traffic, been hit by a car in the process, rolled over the hood, hit the ground, jumped up, and… continued to run away? So bizarre. I wonder what he was running from.

We chatted with the shaken-up folks who owned the car until police arrived, snapped a few shots, then went on our way.

We continued on our way to our next destination…

Dakota’s birthday brunch at St. Francis.

The rest of the day was full of donuts, balloons, piles of potatoes, and bacon bloody marys, as a birthday should be.

I actually have more photos from this day, but they’re sitting on a roll waiting to be developed. More to come soon!

Hey folks!

Man, it’s been a while. It’s funny how, two years ago, I’d freak out if I missed a day of blogging. Now I’m lucky to have one post per month. That said… I’m alive, I promise. In fact, I’ve made a few life adjustments that allow me get back to my love of adventuring and photo-taking (and thus, more blogging). I’m resolving to provide updates/stories/photos in smaller, more frequent rations from this point forward.

Major life update ration #1: I moved.

Some of you might remember when I first moved into my last SF residence – the Hayes House, a giant purple victorian a block from Alamo Square (you know, where the Full House-house is). There were a lot of pros – high ceilings, gigantic living area, jungle yard, surrounded by three awesome neighborhoods.

I lived at Hayes House for a year and a half – it was a good ride, but I was ready to find my own spot. I lived alone in Raleigh and loved it, and was ready to do the same in SF. Perhaps it’s something about being an incredibly busy/social person, or my total aversion to codependence of any kind, but when I’m done with my day, there’s nothing better than coming home to NOTHING.

After a bit of hunting, my friend Brandom suggested I check out a studio opening up across the hall from him. Sure enough, it was a perfect match. It had everything I wanted – hardwood floors, crafty architectural features, plenty of room, a porch (ok, glorified fire escape, whatever), a ridiculous view, rooftop access… (!!!)

Fast forward through the complex and painful application/approval process and we’re at February 1st – I’m all moved into my new, beautiful studio in the sky.

Considering one’s life is essentially their surroundings, I AM LOVING LIFE RIGHT NOW. Once I actually get my hands on some furniture, I might just throw a little housewarming shindig. We’ll see.

I’m really into film right now. I’m finally getting the hang of my Yashica Mat (which I’ve only had since Christmas), though I’m realizing that horrible eyesight + manual focus = lots of out-of-focus photos. Might be time for me to get hip and invest in some glasses.

Here are some photos from recent adventures (and my new wonderful studio apartment!!! I’ll write more about that later).

This is Brandom, one of my closest bros who now happens to live across the hall from me. He’s petting his firstborn son, Howard Borden.

This is a rather unexpected double-exposure of Aaron’s parents at Baker Beach + my friend Kara at her baby shower.

Dudes at Baker Beach.

Another unexpected double-exposure (Yashica Mats aren’t supposed to take doubles) while adventuring at Land’s End.

A happy Bob at Land’s End.

Scenic Fourloko at Land’s End.

Brandom posing in front of my beeeeeeautiful apartment view.

Moi.

Moi in color.

Books in need of a bookshelf.

A view of my new room!

Me + Howard. (Photo by Brandom)

Sitting on my fire escape. Word cannot describe how much I love this place.

Life is good.

Ok, that’s all for now. More updates soon.

xo,
hp

A few more shots from the Yashica Mat…

Last weekend was primarily centered around family-related stuff. For one, Aaron’s family was in town for the weekend, and in addition to that, I was planning to meet my sister on Friday night, for the first time ever. (Background story on that here.)

We made plans to meet at Minibar, in my neighborhood. I headed over, ordered a greyhound, found my perch and buried myself deep into my mobile phone while I waited for her to arrive. I was still buried when I heard “Helena? Is that you?”

So right off the bat, my sister is f*cking gorgeous and amazing. She looks so much like my dad. We gave each other a big hug, sat right down and got to catching up. I really had no idea how I’d react, but it wasn’t a teary emotional event at all. We had already gotten through all of that through our online correspondence. At this point, we were just in disbelief and general excitement that we were actually together in real life.

We spent the rest of the night drinking girly drinks (because that’s what sisters do) and talking about EVERYTHING. It’s pretty bizarre how much you can have in common with someone you just met.

So, in summary, my sister is awesome and I actually know her in real life now. 2011 is great so far.

Next up was adventure time with Aaron’s parents, Bob and Roberta (the Bobs, if you will).

I love the Bobs. They are perched up in Portland, but both lived (and actually met) in San Francisco. From time to time they get homesick enough to come down for a visit.

We explored Baker Beach…

ate pork buns on Clement…

wandered through museums…

and climbed around Land’s End, among other things.

That’s all for now. More updates soon!

hp

Last night I went to Oakland in a green jumpsuit. That is all.

[^ photo by Mick Frederick]

So today I was featured by the awesome folks at Photoavent – a digital advent calendar of photographers (as the name may imply).  Folks were to use a photo that was particularly important to them and provide details on the process of how they got the shot.  Here’s my entry.

The Background:

I wouldn’t say my photo taking has much of a process. I’m constantly on the hunt for new and adventurous situations, and I have a tendency to observe interesting details in what may seem mundane to others. Once I find the situation, I just document it.
I have been taking photos as long as I can remember. I was the girl in gradeschool who everyone always counted on to have a camera on her at football games or birthday parties. I took lots and lots of pictures. Fairly bad pictures, but pictures nonetheless. I simply found the process of documenting and sharing exciting moments as exciting, if not more exciting, than the moment itself.

In the years that followed, I quickly learned that I had a taste for adventure and a need to document it. I traveled on a whim whenever possible, toured the country a few times, and tirelessly explored my city, documenting every bit. I started my hobby of photography and storytelling, first via email list, then later via queenofthepavement.com, and continue to do so to this day.

I’m settled into San Francisco now, and not traveling like I used to, but I’ve realized that if you treat everything like an adventure, whether it be a spontaneous road trip or pretending to be a tourist in your own town or just wandering around your neighborhood, you’ll find your life far more exciting and worthy of documenting.

The Shot:

Prep was minimal, other than spontaneously buying a plane ticket from North Carolina to San Francisco, renting a car, driving to Sausalito, jumping in the air, and shooting a self-portrait, mid-air, in a storefront reflection. Reflections fascinate me – they’re a sort of living distortion of reality, and I find myself observing and photographing my environments through them often.

I’ve probably taken (technically) better shots, for sure, but I always come back to this shot when browsing for favorites. I’ve always felt this photo best captured the excitement I associate with my new discoveries and experiences. That’s really what photography’s about for me – being able to revisit a photo or story and feel the excitement and novelty I felt in that moment, and hopefully being able to share a bit of that feeling with others as well.

Tech Specs:
Camera: Canon EOS 50D
Focal Length: 18mm
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec
ISO: 200
Mild level adjustments in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom

Go check out the calendar to find some new photogs around the country. Glad I could be a part!

END!

Some highlights from the remainder of Erin & JT’s epic visit to San Francisco.

Burrito breaks with Aaron while the visitors slept.

Climbing to the tip-top of San Francisco. (ok, we took a car for most of the way, but still.)

Riding the F car through downtown – and scoring the back seat.

Full of scenic back-window views…

and zombie views…

Being extra-touristy at Pier 39. (the Myrtle Beach of San Francisco, to give you east coasters a proper perspective).

Eating shitty overpriced crab sandwiches at Fisherman’s wharf while listening to a pharaoh sing Weezer covers.

Sitting at a surprisingly empty Crissy Fields.

Walking up the taller hills in the city…

And eventually standing on top of the taller hills in the city.

And finally waiting for a cab to come rescue our tired bodies from the bottom of Lombard.

So who’s gonna visit me next? Any takers?