photography | Purple Rampart

Browse Tag by photography

Old Hollywood

Recently I was chatting with my dad about old Hollywood classics. We were on a FaceTime call, both admiring a scene from the 1938 movie “Holiday“, Starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. The value of the monochromatic faces, clothing, and the scene as a whole, is purely captivating. You really appreciate all the tiny little details: the texture of fabrics, the contrast between light and dark, the intricacies of the architecture. “They don’t really make them like that anymore”, (says my father), and I agree! Of course if you know me, you are no stranger to the fact that I love vintage glamour, so being inspired by these movies and the actors is quite a daily occurrence.

I was scrolling through Instagram, and a post from one of my retro/vintage accounts I follow had posted a high contrast photograph (see above) of Marlene Dietrich taken by Milton Greene in 1952, and I was reminded again of the beauty in the subtlety.

It’s an odd time to try and find inspiration, but I kind of just decided to go with it, and create something modern with a vintage flair with my self portrait photography. Got my tripod out, and my remote with timer, did my hair, and made some magic.

More can be seen over on my Flickr page!

Photography, Poetry

Follow the White Rabbit

Follow the white rabbit,

into enchanted valleys of wondrous nonsense.

Our world is Our own.

A mirrored sanctuary, begging us to question which left is right.

Falling down to get back up.

Through the sense we know, into the abyss.

Take the pill that shatters the sky into a sea of diamonds.

Late to follow, too early to go.

Photography, Poetry

Dressed, Undressed.

Play your song for me…I know it well. I’ll be lazy here on blue velvet clouds of forgotten promises. Laughing on the outside, split ends know me well. As they crept up onto my freshly dried hair, I remembered the moment within that moment when you first looked at me.

Parched for your affections, dressed in my undressed mind. Hooks and eyes that one has only seen.

An additive, not necessary, presumptuously preferred.

And so, I’ll sink away into the tide, just as I was, I will be, renounced into the deep.

Photography, Poetry

Princess Gena

She woke up in a sea of green. Tracing her steps back from where she came…enchanted by the golden hue that the sunlight left on her hair…curious how far off the path she would wander.

Embracing the warmth of the earth beneath her, she stopped for a moment, to feel the trees brush lightly atop her skin, whispering their melodies of a sweet summer breeze that dances through their branches and flow through ones soul.

Echoing tides of a blue bird’s song remind her of her happiness…an obsolete path.

A woodwind’s song of playful curiosity; a dance of sorts.

Photography, Uncategorized

Fairy Tale Maiden

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with Ms. Alyssa Lumpee (model) again on this fairytale inspired shoot that I’ve been daydreaming about. I have probably driven by this location too many times to count, and am always wanted to take a look around for future photoshoot possibilities. It’s tucked away and hidden behind a car dealership, but it’s a little gem. Who knew there were castles in California?

If you know me, you know that I love the Renaissance era…especially the clothing. You can often find me working on a new sewing project for the Ren Faire…challenging myself with yards of unique fabrics, and corset based patterns. The dress in these images was made by me when I was in high school. There is a gold blouse that usually goes under it, but I took it out for this shoot because of the cape. Corset was purchased from a friend of a friend, cape was given to my by a friend who found it while antique shopping, and the dried flower crown was purchased from a merchant at the Ren Faire.

I’d like to continue to explore with photography like this. It hits right at home for me. Magic, whimsy, dreamlike. Trying to incorporate this into engagement photos, or weddings would be nice. It’s always nice to meet adventurous people who aren’t afraid of getting a little dirty to capture the right shot, and having the patience to let me create the perfect shot. It’s the photo that you’re going to blow up and frame on your wall, the one you could stare at forever, the image that captures the essence of the day as a whole. Sometimes the shot I think I’m going for ends up being something completely different, yet better than I imagined. That’s the magic of it all; it comes to you in a spontaneous way.

More images from this series can be found on my Flickr

Motivation, Photography, Poetry

A Magic Feather

A magic feather…the gift of flight.

-to hold you high above the cloud you stand beneath-

Close your wide-eyed thoughts and believe for one moment you are what you really are. Absolute.

Flying,

Fleeting,

Floating…

Sing your sweet melody of strength; this which you have strayed from, you can honestly become.

You’ve given me this magic feather, perchance I may fly.

Photography, Theatre

Guys & Dolls

Bypurplerampart | On September 22,17 | 0 Comment

The past few months I have had the pleasure of working with a wonderful assortment of artists at The Whittier Community Theatre. I had decided to audition despite my inner ear injury I was dealing with, with the thought of , “What’s the worst that could happen?” I was ready for anything. To my surprise I was offered the leading role of Sarah Brown, and without hesitation accepted.

Admittedly this was one of my first larger roles, so I was a bit nervous. Wanting to be successful in the part, hoping to not let my teammates down. Working on my off time each and every day, trying to convince myself that I could quiet my monkey mind, and just be. It’s funny how it works, the last two shows are here, and I finally feel that I’ve got it…or at least can relax a little bit and just have fun.

These photos were taken during tech week, with my 35mm Minolta – 800 ISO Fujifilm. I had no idea how these were going to come out or if they would come out after I thought I might have accidentally exposed the film when I went to remove it from the camera. I was mostly running in between scenes and snapping without thinking. Trying to use a longer exposure with all the movement, I figured most of the images would be blurry, but I tried to keep a steady hand.

Of course the one of me is blurry, but what can you do? I just need to focus on bringing my energy to these last two performances (pun intended). I really enjoyed every minute of working on this production. I appreciate all of the support I was given by my fellow cast-mates, and everyone else working on the show. You’ve all reaffirmed why I want to do theatre, and why singing makes my heart full.

Photography

Photo Adventure feat. Krystle M.

Bypurplerampart | On June 17,17 | 0 Comment

Long before I purchased my first DSLR, I was shooting black and white film on a 35mm camera with Krystle alongside me inspiring my creativity. The ongoing photo adventures we would embark on, always brought out new discoveries about myself as a photographer. We are unable to go on as much now that we lived in separate states, but when we get together, the cameras come out. If I can give any advice to new photographers out there, it’s to get out there and have an adventure of your own!

This past Thursday we wandered into a nearby hiking trail/park area, and captured some much anticipated magic. Taking turns every couple of exposures, her shooting me, me shooting her. You can find her photos of me here!

I love this location! There’s endless photo ops in this forest-like haven. The photos below would be a great place to take someone’s engagement photos down the road.

Until next time…

Uncategorized

Journey to the Poppies

This week I finally had the chance to run away for a few hours and visit the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve in Lancaster, CA. The super-bloom has almost come to an end, with most of the wildflowers gone, and a few patches of poppies left gracing the earth with their warm orange glow. Thursday morning there wasn’t a large crowd of people to navigate through, and it was just all open fields. More images can be found on my Flickr!

The winds were extreme, it made it very challenging to enjoy a steady walk through the trails. I also had trouble reviewing my photos, and had to wait to peek at them until we got back to the car.

One of the reserve personnel was pointing out how the poppies were, “going to seed” If you look in the photos below, you can see the sort of pink base with a green stem shooting out. Hopefully we get enough rain again this year, so that they will all rise from their slumber and bloom again next spring.

Who doesn’t want to fall asleep in the poppies and dream like Dorothy?

Photography, Sewing

Happy 3rd Birthday Gianna!

My little love turned 3 on February 6th this year. I didn’t get to fly out to Arizona for her birthday last year, so I made sure to make a quick trip for the weekend to attend her 3rd birthday party. With her obsession of monkeys, I also decided that sewing a fairy-princess-monkey skirt would be all too appropriate for her celebration day. Found this adorable fabric, and matched the red toadstools with the red tulle underskirt and frilly trimming.

The party was held at the Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek, AZ, the perfect spot for this 3 year old’s love for outdoor play, and trains/”engines”. We had picnic area 2, and as soon as we arrived at our picnic spot, little Gianna was running in circles yelling out in joy, “it’s my birthday party!” so cute.

First up was glitter tattoos! Miss Gianna picked out a fairy, and my favorite color! Of course I had to get one, so I had Gianna pick one for me…she insisted we had matching tattoos.

Some friends and family started to arrive! Carrlee and Gianna started with a shy hello, then held hands like best friends and took a walk together to see the peacocks!

Time for a train ride around the farm!

Pizza time!

Off to the petting zoo! We saw the chickens, and a giant bull, and also got to groom some of the friendly billie goats! She was timid at first, but after my sister showed her (Gianna) there was nothing to be afraid of, she grabbed a brush and said hello to mr. goat.

Jumping was way too fun! Maybe too much, because we had to take a break! Giant pillows that had all the kids bouncing around like monkeys! It was challenging for me to sit on that pillow and take photos and stand my ground from all the jumping kids!

Time for a carousel ride!

Hayride to feed “Santa’s Reindeer” was my favorite part!

Note to Gianna:

Happy 3rd birthday to my little monkey, Gianna! Can’t wait to see how much you grow this year, and to all the memories we will share together. I’m glad I was there to document the day, so you can look back at it one day a long time from now and remember how much fun it was to be 3!