coffee, tea, and e•kah•d

A while back when I had a booth at the Chalk Festival, the owner of Chris’ Cafe downtown approached me and asked if I would be interested in using their cafe walls as gallery space.  Of course that idea intrigued me but I didn’t act on the offer right away.  Then some weeks later while attending one of Sandy Puc’ workshops, she was stressing the fact to find every opportunity to show your work.  She started out by placing portraits on hospital walls and that idea has been a huge catalyst in her business.  I had remembered the offer Chris and her husband had made to me and I got right to work on my display.  Chris’ Cafe is located in the La Placita Village in Downtown Tucson and is housed in a historic building with adobe and plaster walls.  This posed a challenge because I wasn’t going to be able to use frames OR nails.  So I had 15 8×12 metallic finish prints mounted on foam core and used removable Velcro to hang them.  It’s a small cafe and a small display, but a big deal to me!   My friend, Benjamin, put together a very nice poster print with my picture, logo, and some well thought out verbiage too.  

Many thanks to Steve and Chris Early of Chris’ Cafe!  I really appreciate this opportunity!

Here’s a peek at the display:

Now go check it out for yourself…and grab some breakfast or lunch while you are there!  YUM!

kayla

We had three high school graduations in our family this past year.  My sister Mary, my cousin Vinnie, and my cousin Kayla.  Kayla and I have been talking about doing her senior pictures even before her last year of high school started, but we were never able to get together.  She ended up graduating as valedictorian with a 4.5 gpa (who does that?!) and one of the top 500 students in the nation!  Way to go Kayla!!!  So when she was in Phoenix last week to attend a concert, I decided to go up and take her “pre-college” pictures.

Even though it was probably 159 degrees up there  and the sun was super bright, we got some fun shots.

lauren and shawn

Before we even showed up to “the click” photoshoot in Bisbee, I had an image that I wanted to try.  I just hoped that there would be someone there that would work perfectly so I could bring that image to life.  As soon as I saw Lauren and her husband Shawn, I knew they were the ones!

S-E-X-Y!!

Even better!

Love this gate we found!

So sweet and tender

jeremy and july

Like I mentioned before, it rained a bit in Bisbee during “the click” photoshoot.  I only got to truly spend time with three of the four model groups, but as I was shooting one of them, we passed by another group where I snuck a few quick shots on my way by.  So here is all I got of Jeremy and July besides the sexy shoe shot you saw before.

wendy

During “the click” photoshoot in Bisbee it rained…hard…during our lunch break.  I was so eager to get back to shooting that I grabbed the one model who didn’t mind getting super wet, put a rain cover on my camera and took her out into the street.  After several shots, some of the other photographers joined me for some truly unique pictures.

Wendy, you rock girl!

I love how it looks like the water splashes off of the side of the photo and back into the frame…

The look on her face in this one is amazing!

amber

Here is another group of images from “the click” photo shoot in Bisbee.  Like I mentioned before, Amber was one of the coolest models I have ever shot.  She needed little direction and had an amazing personality that certainly shines through on every picture!

Look at those EYES!

I love how the light falls on her in this one…

the click

Sunday July 27th 14 awesome Arizona photographers converged on the small town of Bisbee for our first get-together as “the click“.  We spent the day following around 4 different sets of models and had an awesome afternoon filled with inspiration!  The models were FANTASTIC!  And the other photographers were super-duper cool!  I spent last week working on the pictures and I have tons to show off!!  I am going to do it in pieces.  The first set are all shoes!  I think a little bit of Casia from Purple Nickel is rubbing off of me! (she too has a shoe image fetish!)

Enjoy

These are the feet of smokin’ hot couple July and Jeremy.  It rained so much that day that I didn’t get to officially be in their group, but I quickly grabbed a couple of shots when I was walking by as they were posing for another group. (hee-hee!)

These sexy shoes belong to Lauren.  Love them!!

This is Amber.  She was one of the most awesome models I have ever shot!  I love how she is peeking around to look at the camera.

Back to Lauren’s red heels.  I am usually not a fan of spot coloring in pictures, but I couldn’t help myself and I think it turned out rather cool!

Can you tell we “loved” the love step???