Manic Pop

I wanted to take the time to do a little post of photos my good friend Jane Chu took of me in September 2010. I had just gotten my SLR which she was teaching me how to use and she had an amazing camera at the time. We both met up downtown by the Art Institute and decided to wander around taking cool photos of each other. I think hers ended up amazing as I still love them to this day. The floral dress here is from now-defunct vintage store in Wicker Park called Lenny and Me. It was so funny this day because both of us ended up bringing giant garment bags and wearing things we could easily change in outside! We also brought some props here and there and found these fantastic orange and yellow trees along Lakeshore Drive!  Surprise - I made this top! It's a trapeze top with a diamond cut out back and a repurposed sweater as the collar. Jane Chu now lives in New York City.

 In addition to all the other things I do, I recently stumbled upon some photos I did for a friend's men's lookbook two years ago. Admittedly, I know very little about photography - I just know what I want photos to look like. I run them through Photoshop, play with color balance, occasionally add effects, whatnot. I remember being particularly excited about this little shoot. My favorite season is fall and this was one of the first "official" shoots I had ever done. Armed only with my little SLR, no extra lenses, no light-bouncing disc things (further proving my non-photography knowledge - don't know what they're called), this is what we got with no crazy equipment at all. Although there are some things I could have done differently, I am quite pleased with how these images came out for not knowing really anything at all.  Take a peek!

Some more Holga photos! This roll actually had much earlier photographs on it (some dating back to March when we had those freak 85 degree days) up until Memorial Day weekend where I finished the roll. Halfway through this roll, I noticed I had somehow had my camera on the bulb setting which is good for long exposure night shots with a tripod but not good for much else. As a result, many of the photos came out pretty blurry. However... a lot of them are salvageable for a hazy, blurry feel some with nice hues. 8 out of 12 shots isn't too bad. Enjoy! Same day as this blog post.   Oak Park, IL   Shadows at Berghoff Restaurant downtown.   I love the hues in this one.   P.J. Hoffmaster State Park, Norton Shores, MI  Hoffmaster. Oak Park green line?