A New Direction

I am taking the months of December, January and February to on work on personal projects. Somehow, I feel there is a disconnect with my professional work. I am working on two art projects and multiple photo projects, all self-commissioned. I am hoping that this will redirect my focus. Look for significant changes in the website in the coming weeks.

I suppose I am finding that the images I want to create and the images a client typically needs-or wants-are not necessarily the same thing. I am discovering (I think I knew all along) that I need to be creating fine art images, not offering my photography services to the general public.

It's an interesting thing-I go to the mall, and see those studios-you know the ones where your face is the size of a quarter and the image almost looks like it was shot as the fog was rolling in-such soft focus that it totally obliterates any detail or character in the person's face. And you know what I almost always see-a long line of people, waiting to get these images. They are photo mills, just churning out bad image after bad image. And people can't seem to get enough of them.

What's more interesting is that people I know have gone to these studios instead of coming to me...

I have been told that I get too close. That I need to step back. Not by a client, but by someone close to me. And I did, on a few recent shoots. I admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the results. It is true, you sometimes can't see the forest for the trees.

It taught me that I don't take enough chances, and that I should. But it also taught me that I need to stay true to myself and get close-and closer still. It's who I am.

I may or may not resume offering my services in the spring. I am not certain if I will have the interest or need to. I have so many images in my head, and I need to get them out.

It's time for a new direction.

No Snapshots Yet

Okay, I said I was taking some "snapshots" with a P&S this week, but I was far too busy to get around to that project. Maybe next week.

To Manipulate or Not to Manipulate?

Before the digital revolution, photographers had it quite easy, I think. You knew what your subject was, now, how do I approach it? became the question. Color, or b&w? Slow or fast film? With digital, you have the freedom to shoot color, and convert to b&w or other tones later; to manipulate contrast (which I sometimes like), to add countless filters and layers, etc. if you decide it better suits the image. This has both advantages and disadvantages. While it has created a safety net of sorts, I think it has also become a crutch for some who just shoot without discretion, knowing they can "doctor" all those mediocre images later. In my experience, converting or manipulating an image in any way never saved the bad ones. Sometimes it made the good ones better, but the bad ones were still bad, just in a worse way.

Sometimes, though, I can't decide between color and b&w (or another tone). Sometimes an image looks great both ways, though the feeling conveyed is different.

Road Trip-San Antonio, TX

This summer I also went to San Antonio-for 1 day. And my mom drove-19 hours staight! We were there on family business, for just a few hours, before heading back to Phoenix. Left Phoenix Friday morning, arrived in San Antonio Saturday morning and back in Phoenix Sunday morning. We must be crazy. Still, I managed to grab a few shots, mostly just hanging out the window.

My hometown.

Our Vacation in Mexico

We went to Mexico this past summer to visit my husband's family. They live in a small town in Jalisco called Ameca. It boasts picturesque mountains and and is less that an hour out from Guadalajara.

La Hacienda in the morning mist.

The mountaintops are lush like a rainforest.
Trees in the fields.

Also exciting was going to Guanajauto. It is a city that really feels like another world. Like an old city in Spain. Colorful hillside homes.

A city carved out of stone. You drive through the city almost entirely through an underground tunnel system that was literally carved out the mountain. Bonus: it is the birthplace of famous artist Diego Rivera. In fact, the hotel we stayed in was just around the corner from his house. Took us maybe three minutes to walk there. The house is unbelievable-filled with original furniture, including the bed his mother gave birth in. Original artwork from Rivera included an amazing painting from age 12 and nude sketch of wife Frida Kahlo. Works from other famous Latin artists and photographers fill the upper floors (sorry, no pictures allowed of artwork) and the house includes a movie theatre.

View from our hotel room.
Diego Rivera's house.

Gorgeous architecture.
Cobblestone streets.
Los Dos Adrians.

At Canastillo de Flor.

A hotel in the city.

The city comes alive at night.

El teatro.

P.S. The absolute best mole can be found at Canastillo de Flor. I had it for lunch and dinner the whole trip.

My 4 year old Photographer

My son, AJ, is 4 years old. He loves photography. Both sides of the camera. He is very careful about composition and lighting and even has an interest in auto retratos. Seriously. I will post some of his work soon.

In the meantime, this is my little guy:

If he looks familiar that's because he's also my favorite model. Check out more of him on my website.

http://dechavezphotography.com/

Favorite Photographers

My favorite photographers usually are portraitists in one sense or another. They are, in no particular order:

• Francesco Scavullo, specifically the portraits from the book Scavullo Women (of which I own 2 copies)


• Sally Mann
• Marilyn Minter-supersaturated color, pretty+dirty
• Nick Brandt, but the portraits are lions
• Gian Paolo Barbieri (Tahitian Tattoos 1999)


• Michael Thompson


• Terry Richardson!) Juergen Teller started it, but Richardson finished it, and Yes, it's true, you can't buy talent in a camera store


• Chuck Close-true, they are paintings that look like photos that look like paintings that look like photos, and now, tapestries that look like photos, 12ft giants!

Re: Terry Richardson

You know, when I first started taking pictures, the only camera I had I borrowed from my mother. It was a point and shoot film camera. And I was shooting assignments with it (gasp). Some of my favorite, and I feel, best pictures I ever took were with that camera. Here is a self-portrait from that time:

Snappies let you do things you could never do with an SLR. With a P&S, it's just you, the camera and the subject, so your whole mind is on is this going to make a good/interesting/pretty/image. Pinhole "purists" may scoff at the AF, but for me it is still getting back to basics. Film +lack of control=less chances to get it right=better pictures. Try it as an exercise; I am this week and will post the pictures by week's end.

Yes, I was very thin here, size 2.