The Cape in Fall...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there on this fine (and unseasonably warm) Wednesday. As usual, so much to share, so let's hop right in!

To start, I have listed a ton of new items over at STAG that are perfect for that sharp Fall wardrobe, or for decorating your home, or for just being awesome in general (or all three). Among the latest items are: WWII Era canvas and leather spats in mint condition and ready to wear, a beautiful Harris Tweed women's dress coat in an autumnal shade of red, a pair of 60's era men's white leather bowling shoes in great condition and a pair of elastic suspenders that have never even been worn (and suspenders go like hot cakes around here). Stop on by and scope out the amazing.

Speaking of amazing, I plan on doing everything I possibly can to enjoy Fall this year. It's my favorite season and up here in New England, it really is like a storybook: the fall foliage, coastal towns, locals clad in flannel and Bean Boots. Plenty of photo ops and the apple picking, hayrides, haunted houses, pumpkin patches, Oktoberfests are calling. Of course, all of these adventures require the perfect pair of sturdy, cold-weather footwear and I just fell in love with these boy shoes that I found. They're sneakers meet hiking boots and they're comfortable as well. Now, properly outfitted, I will take you along on my adventures through pictures as I usually do here at Stapelia. Fall, here I come!

And speaking of adventures, this past weekend found me down at Cape Cod for a night, visiting with my family. My Stepmom's family has been visiting the Cape her entire life. My parents have been married almost 20 years and every year she's invited me to visit. This is the first time all of the stars have been aligned so that it was possible to go. What a breathtaking place the Cape is. Wow. The house her family rented was feet from a cliff to the ocean, it looked like a scene from Wuthering Heights up in there. I met her entire extended family, we laughed and walked along the beach and even went swimming (until my limbs went numb)! So fun. Here are some shots from the weekend.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Glittery Goblins & Sunny Islands...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all doing well out there! Things here are so good I can barely stand it. To start, exciting news, I recently shot the crew over at Jack Tar 207 (an alternative lifestyle blog and creative team out of Portland), as you all know. (I've actually modeled for them as well.) They're doing great things in photography and fashion and just a whole ton of different things. Well, they were just featured on The Huffington Post! And one of my photos was featured in that article. Very exciting stuff for me personally since I enjoy and respect The Huffington Post immensely. Congrats, Jack Tar!

What else? Oh, I had mentioned a post or so back that I was hired to shoot the Color Rad Color Run up in Brunswick recently. Well, I finally have a couple of shots from that day to share. Because I had more studio experience with lighting etc., I was asked to shoot the photo booth at the end and I was so happy to do it! Great opportunities for those color-covered candids. Take a look! (That baby with the white-blue eyes was my favorite...)

As I mentioned last post, I've really been trying to build the lifestyle portion of my portfolio recently for new client work: people doing everyday things, scenic views, day-in-the-life type shots. Well, I decided to try to grab some Labor Day shots over on Peaks Island this past weekend. What a beautiful island and a perfect time of year: a perfect combination of colorful island flowers, bright boats and also some early fall foliage. I managed to shoot some real winners! Here are a couple and you can see the rest over at my Flickr feed.

So, as some who've followed this blog for a long time know, I used to paint. A lot. Painting was my primary artistic medium and I was fairly prolific. Well, when I fell head over heels for photography, I found I was too busy to produce both, so my painting fell to the wayside. Now, the only time I pick up a brush is if I get a commission (which, I find I actually get those more than when I was trying to get them), or when someone very special has a birthday or other special event. Well, it was the latter that got me to bust out those brushes recently to create my latest piece: Space Goblin. Like my artistic photography, most of my paintings are bright, whimsical and completely twisted. This little murderous goblin is no exception. Oh, and glitter. Lots and lots of glitter... Take a look!

And let's wrap up with this amazing artist with an amazing Etsy shop that I found recently: Derrick Castle is the owner of Straw Castle and he is a crazy good artist. His illustrations style is woodblock meets vector and his subject matter combines Native American imagery with motorcycle gang art and some Colonial America mixed up with skulls and southwestern influence. What? That's right. Take a look:

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Sun-Dappled Dracula & Other Things...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there. Things here are per the usual, very, very busy and very, very good! Whew. So much to share! To start, I am showing my CLUE series during the month of September at Elements in Biddeford, Maine. I am very excited about this show, mainly because of the venue. For those not familiar with Biddeford, trendy, hip, fun places are sorely lacking in that area and this cafe really brings a wonderful place to have meetings, do work or just enjoy a beverage. I love the entire vibe of the place and the people who run it, so when they asked me to show something, I enthusiastically agreed! If you're local, check out the work and the space and support a great local business!

Most of you know about my artistic work because that's what I like to hi-light here. It's more interesting at times to document that process than it is to share my lifestyle photography and styling, but really, that's what the bulk of my client work consists of. Recently, I had to put a tear sheet together to present to a couple of potential clients to show them what I can do and I realized that I like doing this work just as much as my artistic projects. Why? Because it's easy to make people look amazing in costume, but it's an altogether different animal to make people/life look amazing in a journalistic, "shoot it as you find it" way. I am always working to make my lifestyle work more distinct and signature as well as breathtakingly beautiful (no pressure). Haha. Here is some of that work now:

But I can't resist sharing those conceptual, artistic projects too and I shot the next two pieces in my Rein It In series this past weekend. Some process candids from that shoot are below. We're adding an Asian Bond Girl and a Vampire to the mix this go around in an effort to create the most diverse set of models possible for this series. What a blast this was. I think the quote of the day might have been when my Asian model got a look at herself in a mirror all done up and said: "Wow. I look really Asian." Hahaha. No, really? Goodness. I will post those next two shots very soon!

This vampire quite enjoys the sun, it seems...

All work and no play is very boring. So, I took a day off and grabbed one of my favorite little girls and we had a beach day! Taking a child to the beach is a totally different experience and I had a really good time. We met some friends and built sand castles (not very successfully: getting that sand to the right consistency is harder than it looks), had snacks, they went swimming and we laughed a whole lot. I'm really starting to dig this Maine beach thing...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...