o canada---day one

after aproximatley 11 hours of traveling, we have finally reached o canada. i'm bumming off a questionable wireless connection. it's 3:30 in the morning and i'm ready to pass out, but thought it might be interesting to blog the whole way through this trip.


penn did exceptionally well. he had three *ahem* episodes the entire time, and none of them had anything to do with his attitude, rather they had more to do with him being tired or hungry or thirsty or being an 18 month old baby forced to ride great big airplanes. he of course, started off investigating the little kitchen area.


and then moved on to other peoples seats.


and was really really happy to be off the plane. i spied a smokers room and decided to sneak in really quick.


when i came back, there was this. and i thought, "cute."


i was misled. poor tired penn. (ummm, there should be a picture here, but it's not showing up.)

we were frightened they wouldn't let mary on the plane because she didn't have a passport. or a birth certificate. fiiinnnallllly, they let her on in dallas. our flight was delayed in atlanta due to rain, which we were happy about, considering the flight from dallas to atlanta was reaaaallly bumpy. then we were worrried they wouldn't let her into canada. bring your passports, people. just makes things easier.


we finally got here, very late, ordered spaghetti and salad from the cafe downstairs and mary and penn broke bread and made peace for all of the things we had to put penn through.


penn made a couple calls.


we took a self portrait.


and at about 2;30 a.m. we put penn to bed and stepped out onto our huge balcony.


canada is beautiful.

eh?

i wish i could give you the long and funny post i wrote last night. but i can't. because my computer locked up. only on this blog, will it lock up. i even left it on all night wondering if by morn it would snap out of it. nope.

you'll get the short boring version: i totally forgot i was going to canada-----today! potentially you won't hear back from eme until after the 3rd. potentially i'll have internet there and you'll see all of canada unfold before your computer geeked out eyeballs.

wish me luck on another wedding shoot and send the planes happy get-there thoughts.

sings

the processing of my last wedding was finished in record time, from start to finish.


perhaps i'll go into more detail about the story behind the wedding, as it was amazingly fun and eventful, but i'm going to bed early tonight. this morning. this 2 a.m.


every time i process a set of photos i learn something new and learn how to improve my product in post.


what i learned this time was how to use a simple design element, like the line across the back and the design across the bottom to tie the cd's all together. one of those things like realizing that what goes up must come down. well duh, right? but you sort of have to ask that obvious question sometimes, say it out loud even, to make it real and practical.


i also decided to do a neat text design on the actual cd's using the line and design elements instead of photos, saving me time and ink.


lordy, ink is expensive. but i think they turned out nice. i rather like doing so many different designs. because of my self-taught design background, the more assignments, the more i learn.

however, i do think i'm going to switch to dvd and just burn one in the future. saving more time and more ink and i slapped myself on the head and said, "doh!" when benji brought up the idea. (sings now, "movin' on up!)

blogging while i wait on this damned album to upload, so i got 30 whole minutes here

friday i took penn to half-price books so that i could get a new book before the one i was reading ran out. things i don't run out of:

1. ciggarettes
2. coffee
3. books

you'd think i'd have dumped a couple cups of sugar down the baby's throat and set his rear on fire he was so happy to be there. typical toddler boy came out and he took to the squealing and running as fast as he could, all over the place, up and down the ramp (which is really, the whole reason we go there, people, for that long carpeted ramp) and non-stop, uncontrollable laughing and smiling. littered amongst the squealing that is.

he made a friend. cutest little 4 year old you've ever seen, named lola. lola with messied pony tail, plastic framed, cat-eye glasses, funky dress like shirt over jeans, and flip-flops. lola's a stickler for rules though. a bit uppity, which is adorable in those under age 5. penn hugged her and she said, "he's sitting on me. i don't want him to sit on me."

then she told me that there was "no running." i told her, "but running's fun!" i pointed at non-stop run-around baby penn to illustrate my point. but her sister agreed. "there's a sign up, you know, and it says 'no running.'" "ahh well," i said, "we'll just have to leave, then. we don't like signs."

and i let penn continue to run and scream and squeal and laugh and for anyone who was annoyed by this at the half-price books in dallas, texas you can kiss it. baby's run. get over it.

finding a book and juggling a baby who just wants to run is really difficult. especially when you ask someone if they have a biography section and they tell you, "umm, no, sort of, well, they're everywhere, i dunno, bye" so you gotta search every aisle in vain.

now, when i find an author i like i end up reading everything they've written. it's neat to just fall into a world and bury yourself in the same contstructs of words for weeks. this month it's been augusten burroughs.


i started out with "running with scissors." it's hilarious. almost too funny and tragic to be real. but it is real. it's the memoir of young burroughs and his crazy parents who gave him to their crazy psychiatrist. i got stupid giddy when i discovered there was another book.

"dry" chronicles burroughs adult life. . .so far, anyway. in reading these and describing them to benji i realized how much i love the memoir. the biography is so big and daunting and full of itself and when it ends, it's really over. there's nothing for me to imagine or hope for. the person is old or dead or almost dead or might as well be dead as far as writing more literature is concerned.

but the memoir is enticing in that it doesn't pretend to know what's next. or care, for that matter. these are probably two of my favorite books now. the contemporary, quick-witted style of his writing is like reading liquid gold, to me.


"sellevision" is a fiction work by burroughs. just as smart with completely developed characters dealing with their (and everyone's) all encompassing superficiality. go 'head. say that one out loud. su-per-fici--al-i-ty. that for me, right there, is dinner. good fun words are sustenance.

i've been lucky picking out books this year. and in keeping with the memoir theme i'm now reading "finding fish."


and what i want to know is, does anyone write a happy memoir? 'cause right now i'd like to punch mizz picket. i haven't seen the movie yet, so nobody spoil it.


this is penn's favorite book bought for a buck at half-price. you push the buttons and it says "smile for elmo!" or the flash goes off. he could care less what the story is.

i think lola was mad that the squealing running kid got to take it home with him, since she had liked it so much. little does lola know, penn isn't allowed to do some things. like throw things far and wide out of anger. for that he has to "sit on the stool." gasp! yup. a new era of discipline has entered our lives. and i think it works.

word up

text design isn't something we really think of. it's just words, right? but there is an art to making words look good and it's not an art i have explored very often.


but, i like very much this cd cover i did of photos.


there's also this one which i totally forgot to post with that other big set. it goes with the last flower covers i did on the post before last. woops.

let's fuck it up

i cut all my hair off. natty, of the aveda salon in south plano (?) came over with her super sharp shears, (i love how "hair artists" are offended by the term "scissors") and wacked away.


my hair is like a weed. it grows fast and bushy and ugly. a stylist of mine in memphis measured it once. almost an inch a month. and because i'm cheap, i tend to let it reach bushy/ugly/consume-my-face-live-in-a-pony-tail before i start making calls.

somehow every stylist of mine has been a friend not willing to accept money from me including natty. i must exude poverty. this being the number one reason i don't get it cut more often. i don't want to take advantage of them.

but it was bad, people. really bad. now, it's not as bad as it is in these pictures, despite the fact that the picture doesn't lie. oh how i would have loved to photoshop this for you, people, but no. here is my hair in all it's after-swimming hideous glory.


and here it is on the floor. but, how to show you the final result?


by looking in the mirror, i suppose.


these are not the best depictions, but it doesn't really matter because we're not done. it's just not "fucked up" enough. my hair is bone straight on bottom. wavy on top. my hair is confused. divided. wants to be everything. just like me.

but, natty's not sure what to do with it now and we both agree that it needs a new vision and another set of hands. so, kinome, of sweet 200 is going to have a go at it today, hopefully. and if not that, natty's ex-boyfriend and hairdresser is going to "fuck it up." his term. he really likes "fucking hair up." *sigh* until then, i get to enjoy the coolness of losing so much hair and sit in a puddle of hope that someone else can fix it. boring hair sucks.

another wedding

there is much work to do, my friend. much to make up after falling asleep with the bebe last night.


so, in leu of a real post, perhaps with those coveted pictures of my new chop, i am going to show you the cd covers i did for the last wedding.


and you know what that's supposed to mean, right?


it's supposed to mean that i'm done with the wedding, everything ready to deliver, moving on with my life, etc.


but it doesn't. *sigh* it means i accidently saved over some of the work i did and have to re-create some of the cd's. i also have to do a client-requested touch-up, so i'm not quite done yet.


for one reason or another i've just dragged ass on the post portion of this shoot.


life happens. can't/won't take any longer than tonight, though. i've been saying that since saturday. and because i'm not done, it still feels like saturday. my super-power: i can pause time in my head.


gotta get these done and then start the next one and get that finished before . . .


i go to cananda to shoot cat's wedding! which i am completely stoked about.


so. my chai and it's caffine are off. to work. and those dishes? that laundry? all that other crap in my house that seems to find it's way just everywhere on everything? that'll all have to wait. or not, considering it's still 9 p.m. , saturday in my world.

my two dads

one of the most wonderful men in the world just so happens to be my father. as a single dad he raised me. found maternal instincts and capabilities he didn't know were possible. worked several jobs at a time to provide for me. taught me everything he knew, wasn't afraid to let me know when he didn't know something and wasn't afraid to let me learn a heck of a lot on my own.

we got through all those period, bra and shave your leg things unscathed. we got through all the drama and rebellion of my teenage years understanding more about ourselves individually and more about our relationship and what it can survive: anything. not that we've tested it, but it's good to know.

my father raised me, this always idealistic girl who searches for the buttons of the world to push, and seems to forgive me even when i slam on those big red ones everyone knows not to touch.

one of the most remarkable things about my father is his lack of judgement. of me and of anyone. he smiles equally in circumstances good and less than and keeps his eyes on the horizon. even when he doubts a sunrise is there, his eyes are up.. . .just in case. my father is a man of hope and he gives that gift willingly, and without even knowing that he's doing it.

he taught me about the value of being a fair and hard worker. we once worked at an ice cream shop together. i remember the admiring comments we got as a father/daughter team, running around like crazy, and smiling.

my father says he'd do anything for me. and i believe him. i believe him because i now understand the love a parent has for their child and i believe him because he will always keep his word. my father is an amazing shining star to me and to his new grandson. a person to be loved and admired and hugged and missed because he lives so far away.


not only do i have an amazing father, so does penn.


benji is simply put, a phenominal human being. we are a wonderful balence of parenthood that i am very proud of. where i am nurturing benji will challenge. where i expect less, benji expects more. where i am boring, benji is fun. when i get to the end of my ideals, benji contenuies.


and penn adores him. in his laugh, in his soft baby calls for "dada," in his crying at daddy's door for interaction, in his excitement at daddy coming home for work with fried dead bird legs, he adores him.


and who can blame him. look at that face.

i can see my father in my face and i see benji and i in penn's face and it's neat how the whole circle of life goes round like that. popping out in features of the eyes, nose, giggles at burps and farts, reminding us how we're all connected and how we wouldn't exist or be who we are without these luscious people in our lives. i am so beyond grateful for everything my father has done for me, for everything benji has done for me and for penn and for the gift of parenthood.

thank you, dad's, for being who you are. i love you so much.

obligatory blog post

a lovely day filled with swimming and shelf building and organizing, but i'm about to pass out now. can barely force my eyelids to stay open to type this. two a.m. i'm retiring early.

no haircut again. natty forgot her shears. always with the somethings. tomorrow, i'm hoping. or i'm making an appointment.

i ate a piece of benji's pizza with pepperoni on it. i'd like very much to take my stomach out and let it go for a walk or something. i can feel it. every curve and fiber of it. i know how big it is. how much it weighs. where it's located inside my body. and it hurts. for serious. it thinks i poisened it. maybe i did. guess i should know better. i have been known to eat pepperoni from time to time, but it has been a while.

dear body. i've learned my lesson. no more meat ever.

flash is good

it's weird how part of me is getting a little weary of looking at wedding photos constantly. and part of me was brainstorming with mary tonight about how to get more weddings. (the calls are already pouring in for next year!)

the goal to deliver perfection combined with the word "tedious" is a conundrum. this particular wedding i'm working on now requires a lot of "brightening" for those taken at night. very time consuming. but also very necassary.

i'm not a fan of using a flash. the result i get from a flash just isn't my style. i avoid it at all costs. however . . . .i think i'm going to get a better flash for all these night weddings. my brain starts to fry just thinking about all that focusing and changing settings in the dark. got some good stuff, though. i really liked this big "M" on top of the bride's cake. and i swear, it might as well have been lit by candlelight, so i'm kinda proud of the result.

also. no haircut. i don't know what happened to nathalie. the nappy hair contenuies.

wack wack wack

my hair grows about an inch a month. it is so bloody thick and so full of waves that don't seem to get along with one another that i rotate in and out of pretty cool to downright frumpy to not even a pony tail can rescue me from this. i could so have that long sexy tossled beach do. but i've done that. really, there's something in the air here.

thoughts of tatoos and piercings and wacking all my hair off keep taking over my thoughts.

there is a little hesitation when i say this, but tomorrow the beloved nathalie rameriz, now working at the aveda salon in south plano (?) will be coming over to wack it all off. i don't know what we're going to do, honestly. just that i want something totally different.

i know. by the looks of this post surely the author of this blog has turned into a 16 year old froofy girl with a toy camera.

i assure you, this is not the case. i did however, just have to buy a pair of shorts size 12-14 in little girls yesterday. i'm shrinking. it's the hair. it's taking over. best to cut it now before it wins.

and it goes on and on my friend

some things never end. if you pretend that they do, you're wasting a lot of time. the dishes keep coming, the groceries keep dissapearing, the floor keeps getting dirty and the baby keeps spilling things. and giggling. and then running away so that you don't take away that little mess bottle he calls, so precisely, "juice."

and neither does work. i go out there, looking for work. and then i book a shoot. then i spend lots of time thinking about the shoot and what i'll do, what i'll need, what i'll see, what the client wants, what they'll be like, and how much of that check i'll be able to save. thirty minutes before the shoot i lose my head and run around in my underwear (yes, i totally did this) losing everything else while i yell out directional apartment things to the new babysitter, like where the trash is at, where the frozen asparagus is for penn's dinner, where i put his pajamas, etc. then there's the actual shoot which is 9 times out of 10 a complete and total blast.

of course, it doesn't end there. there is the "developing" of the "digital negatives." organizing, naming, color correcting, taking out zits, etc. and burning to cd. this is done after the babe hits the hay keeping me up till 4 in the a.m. muttering things that amount to "let me alone, there are deadlines, this isn't working, etc."

pardon my rambling. i suppose this could be considered a really long excuse as to why i haven't blogged in three days. this is a personal blog that showcases my work and life though, so i feel it's rather appropriate.

this weekends weddings are done. quite an adventure i've had. the small product shoot i did today ended in a fedex overnight to newyork because FOR SOME GOD AWFUL REASON I COULD NOT SEND AN ATTACHMENT TO SAVE MY LIFE! and i was totally trying to save, at least, my dignity, because i told the client i would send the pictures off sunday night, ready to go to the magazine editor monday morning.

but I PASSED OUT WITH THE BABY LAST NIGHT!!!! what should have taken me an hour to do took me, and i'm ashamed to tell you this because it's literally one of the most absurd experiences i've ever had, six. six hours.

i'm going now to catch up on all the work i haven't gotten done for the past two days, but i need to send shout outs to daniel for being such a rock-on friend, willing to jet out to best buy and buy me a zoom lens with only an hour to do so while i'm at a wedding in which i find out last minute i will need said zoom lens. that is so cool i can't even explain it.

and a shout out to mary for being such a great assistant and coming over so quickly when i called frantically . . . several times. . .saying, "it's an emergency! but. you know. if you can't come. that's okay. . . " she came and took the boy to the park so i could curse hotmail and zip files.

my life=busy, art filled, work filled, baby filled, friend filled, and recently, dirt filled.

i'm a lucky girl.

mailto: carissa byers c/o freaking out just a little

i'm busy shooting two weddings this weekend. full of rehersals and fancification and numerous questions like: where the hell do i need to be to get that shot?

but, one thing at a time: tomorrow i have to shoot a couple on a staircase and the only light i have is coming from a 7:30p.m. sun through a stained glass window. it's beautiful! but i'm stressing over how to get that perfect shot. my dillema: i can either get the detail of the people or the detail of the window, but not both.

getting detail of the people means the window will be rather blown out. getting detail of the window puts the people in utter darkness. because it's a wedding i can't put people where i want them. i have to be invisible. scurrying around on the outskirts of ceremonial unions. in this instance it puts me at the bottom of the stairs or right on top of them in the balcony.

it's going to work. it won't be easy work by any means, but i'll get good stuff. i'm just nervous because it seemed at the rehersal today that i'm going to have to change one setting or another from every standpoint. blech. i need a light meter.

second thing at a time: saturday's wedding is in an amazing catholic church and we still don't know where i'm going to be allowed to shoot from, according to catholic traditions. and unfortunatley, i'm going to have to miss the rehersal because of a shoot. i did scout the church and took some pictures where i did a great job under the low lights.

oh let's go ahead and go for three, shall we? due to unforseeable circumstances i had to find babysitters for penn so i could work. i found two at the very very very last minute. like hours before i needed them. one for today while i shot the rehersal----and she's fabulous! and one for tomorrow---and she's fabulous! and one for saturday----and he's my daddy and he's fabulous! i'm so completely grateful for my dad coming up this weekend.

*sigh* send all good energy to the above address. send lots of it.

it's gonna be cool. *wink*

k, cd's

here are the cd covers for the last wedding.


it took a wopping four cd's!


at first i thought i would make them all "go together." or "match" somehow.


and that seemed kind of boring


so i decided to do each completely different.


funny though, because they do seem to compliment one another when all lined up beside eachother on a shelf.


they were fun though.


some consisting of good product shots.


making the covers is really one of my favorite parts of this whole thing.


this one, i thought, was very interesting on the computer.


but it's a little too chaotic in print.


ah well. penn has stuck his pickle in the connect four game. mommy to the rescue! again.