five YouTube videos that make me wish i had any sort of vocal and/or musical talent.

Joe Purdy — You Can Tell Georgia

Fun fact: Best song of his you'll see live. Also, I'd love to drink too much whiskey with this guy one night and talk about love and relationships, and how they ruin your life. (Listen to his songs, you'll get it.)

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Damien Rice + Lisa Hannigan — Rootless Tree

Fun fact: I have a girl crush on Lisa Hannigan. She is No. 2, right behind my girl Zooey Deschanel.

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Ingrid Michaelson — The Chain (Live)

Fun fact: I have a crush on her glasses.

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Radical Face — Welcome Home

Fun fact: If anyone pays attention, I wrote a poem partly about this song. The poem's not so good, but I like to think I'm sneaky.

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Josh Ritter — Kathleen

Fun fact: Best first line in a song maybe ever, yes? Yes. And his bassist, Zack Hickman, has the greatest style of any man on this earth. Just check out this stache. Also, read this fun story about Josh Ritter. His fans are cooler than your fans.

the 101 on a sunday afternoon {photos}

I drove up to San Luis Obispo this past weekend for an engagement shoot, and though the original plan was to turn right back around and head home the same night, once there I decided to sleep in the seediest, cheapest hotel I could find in order to get a horrible night's rest and hit the road early the next day. The plan was to take my time on the drive back and hopefully capture some cool photos of the 101 in daylight.

If I ever won the lottery and didn't have to worry about money for the rest of my life, I'd buy a modest flower shop and spend my days surrounded by tuberose and stock, and chasing my (eventual) kids barefoot through the backyard, taking endless amounts of pictures of them with gerbera daisies and daffodils. I'd have an entire room in my house completely empty of furniture, where everyone could paint and repaint art on the walls anytime inspiration struck. I'd build a darkroom and re-teach myself how to develop film again. But before that, I'd quit all my jobs, and drive anywhere and everywhere with my camera on absolutely no schedule, so I could pull over and take pictures of the entire world whenever I wanted. It's why I took a weekend to myself two years ago to drive to Big Sur and back, and it's why I spent 3 hours driving up to SLO this Saturday, and 7 driving home Sunday.

Anyways. Until the days of lilac and developer are upon us, here are some photos to tide us over.

{poem}

welcome home.

the solution is to listen to this song so loud
your ribcage vibrates,
though i don't know the problem,
but i'm sure it's been established
the fireflies are fucked,
and while she wears a white dress, there is no blood in this story;
only ink and cement
to build up the walls, our own Maginot Lines.

i'm drinking whiskey out of mason jars,
the same ones the fireflies drowned in
when you lost sight of Arkansas,
and i gave up the wheel.

looking to waste the last hour of your work week?

Seriously, what did people do for inspiration before Google?

Go outside and actually look at the physical world, I immediately answer myself. Which is coming soon enough — next weekend the magazine is sending me to Wisconsin, and I'm very much looking forward to the change of scenery. It is of course supposed to start snowing the very day I am there, but temps will stay in the 30s, which is a far cry from Toronto's -12 degrees. I'll have a few hours of free time, and I plan to do what I always do on these trips, which is walk around with my camera (though this time I'm also bringing my iPod and plan to play "Skinny Love" on repeat for my man Bonny Bear while I explore Milwaukee looking as indie and hipster as possible). But until then, it's been same old, same old in sunny SoCal. Because of that, I found myself sucked into a particularly thorough trek through the World Wide Web last night, and found a few gems that were too good not to share.

#ONE — artist Anna Garforth goes green with graffiti—

Anna Garforth is an experimental artist based in the U.K. who works with a variety of unconventional material in her project. "With a strong background in design and illustration, my nifty fingers work moss into beautiful lettering, cookie dough into edible posters and rubbish

into typographic wonder," Garforth says on her website. "So far my artworks have been used for public events, community projects, workshops, campaigns, publications and exhibitions both nationally and internationally."  This is one of the most whimsical, endearing forms of art I've ever seen. I want more than anything to do this myself locally. How great of a backdrop would something like this be for a engagement photo shoot or portrait session?

You can see  more detailed shots of Garforth's project here, as well as her other projects, including a moss cross she constructed for the Urban Psychic Garden. Even cooler, I found a site with step-by-step instructions on how do pull off a similar form of green graffiti yourself at this site, and I'm looking forward to trying it out. You should too! Now I just have to be decisive enough to pick which quote to use.

#TWO — mercedes illustrates just how much right brainers are better —

For those of you who don't know, my magazine job revolves around the advertising industry, which has made me appreciate even more a really creative, effective ad campaign. The above advertisement is for Mercedes-Benz, and though I don't have a clue why it would make me want to buy a car, I was enthralled by how beautifully visual it was. I just might have to blow this photo up and hang it somewhere in my office. As someone who dabbles in painting (I'm absolutely no good, I think it's much more about cathartic release than actual talent), the above picture was my favorite, but you can check out a lot more stills from the entire campaign, which included a variety of left brain-right brain comparisons, here.

#THREE — malaysia is added to my must-visit list, thanks to fireflies —

I've always been a city girl, born and raised, but the last year or so I can't shake this daydream I always wander off to of sitting on a wood porch with someone I love, late at night, whiskey in hand, in the middle of nowhere, and being surrounded by fireflies. The closest thing I've ever come to something like that would have to be the sporadic months I spent in Georgia as a kid, but there were no fireflies (or whiskey), so I'm not sure where this obsession with that scene comes from. Though photography is consuming more and more of my time lately, I've also been missing creative writing a lot (probably evidenced by the slight return to it here on this blog). I've been struggling for months to finish a poem about fireflies. I can't get it right, but it's there somewhere, and it's brewing in the annoying and inspirational way only a pissy, forlorn poem can brew, so when I found this photo of fireflies in Ontario, I was downright giddy. It's nearly impossible to decently photograph fireflies, but photographer Steve Irvine slowed down his shutter speed to capture an hour of activity outside his home, and this was the result. It's truly evidence that you can make photographs, not take them, and it's damn near astonishing to see the contrast in star trails to the patterns of firefly flashes. If I ever finish that poem, I'm sure it will be partly due to this piece of art. Or it will be due to visiting Malaysia, which I also discovered last night is home to the Kuala Selangor Firefly Park, one of the world's best-known places to catch site of these bugs in large quantities. So I guess I'm adding Malaysia to my list of future hopeful travels.

#FOUR — anonymous proves to be the coolest person ever —

This is an old story, but one that brings me to tears in appreciation of original art and people's love for the simple things every time. (Yeah, I'm a complete wreck of a person sometimes.) Last year, stories began to emerge of random works of paper art 

being left in Scotland libraries as an anonymous gift to "those in support of libraries, books, words (and) ideas." I've been a big fan of the paper art craze since discovering a Cheryl Sorg exhibit in Long Beach where she transformed every single word of the "The Odyssey" into this. I admire the attention to detail and the pure originality of paper art — I would never have the patience to pull off such works of beauty.

The mystery artist of works such as the one to the left has never revealed herself (she did leave one note confirming she was a woman — score one for the X chromosome!), even though 10 works in total have been left in random libraries throughout Scotland. You can read what little is known about this, as well as see more photos of all the paper art creations, here and here.

The story gets even more amazing though. As an increasing amount of media outlets began to report on the story and more reporters began to investigate who the phantom artist could possibly be, an astounding number of readers and those in Edinburgh responded, saying they'd rather honor the artist and let her remain anonymous. People in Scotland cherished the magical delight in the mystery and the art itself, over the need to know the who's and when's and why's and how's. And of course, I'm even tearing up typing this right now because there is something about that I find astonishingly hopeful. I am SUCH a pansy.

#FIVE — and this is exactly why i'll never be a Kindle fan —

"The Odyssey" is hands down one of the greatest works of literary masterpiece ever written, and it's been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. As a child, I devoured Greek mythology, even naming my first cat Athena, and my obsession over  

stories of Sirens and Muses easily grew into a full-fledged love of Homer's epic tale, and especially the character of Penelope. I doubt anyone would know beyond my graphic designer who was brilliant enough to incorporate the details she did into the branding work she did for me, but there are even symbolic traces of Penelope and weaving throughout my photography logo and business cards in tribute to "The Odyssey."

A few years ago, I started collecting copies of "The Odyssey." (It's totally shameful to admit, but I got the idea from "Definitely, Maybe" and the habit of Isla Fischer's character to buy every copy of "Jane Eyre" she comes upon.) I have this vision of one day adorning an entire wall in a room of my house with shelves and shelves of different editions and designs of "The Odyssey."

My collection currently only tops three or four different books, and most are relatively modern publishings. Last night, I found this first-edition from 1932 for sale from Raptis Rare Books here, and it took all the will power I had not to purchase it immediately.

See, what little bit of grown up sense of self I've managed to develop at this point is trying to master this crazy thing called budgeting.  I'm not so good at it, but I did manage to avoid pulling out my debit cart for this one — though I have been salivating over the image of this book ever since. Seriously, I want this book more than anything I've ever wanted, ever. Screw diamond rings or boxes of chocolates — this first-edition "Odyssey" from 1932 is just about the sexiest thing I've ever seen.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you kill the last hour of your work week. Happy weekending to you all!

'if music be the food of love, play on.'

For me, music and art go hand in hand. I cannot edit photos without having something on in the background, and more often than not, it's a good iTunes mix or Pandora playlist. In the same vein, any time a photo job requires a road trip, one of my favorite parts of the prep is crafting a new mix for the drive. This week I was struck by a random burst of inspiration (or procrastination) and I ended up reorganizing my music collection. For a long time now, I've wanted to share my love for Joe Purdy and Josh Ritter with however many few readers I may have on this blog, so I thought what better time than the present? :) I have a road trip to San Luis Obispo coming up for a photo gig, so I went ahead and made myself a few CDs for the drive, including the best of Joe Purdy (a two-disc collection, cause I couldn't narrow it down any more than that due to the insane amount of songs Mr. Purdy has written in the last 10 years) and the best of Josh Ritter. If you're looking for new music, I would highly recommend the following:

The Best of Joe Purdy (song title and album)

photo credit: Jacquelyn Rachel Photography, www.jacquelynrachel.com

1. Angelina - 4th of July
2. Balcony/Green Eyes - You Can Tell Georgia

3. The Ball Player - 4th of July

4. Been Up So Long - Last Clock on the Wall

5. Brooklyn I'm Calling - Take My Blanket and Go

6. Can't Get it Right Today - You Can Tell Georgia

7. The City - Only Four Seasons

8. Come Back Down - Only Four Seasons

9. Diamond State - 4th of July

10. Dress is Too Long - Last Clock on the Wall

11. Dustbowl - This American

12. Easier - Paris in the Morning

13. Faketown - Sessions from Motor Ave.

14. Hard Times - 4th of July

15. I've Been to Holland - Paris in the Morning

16. Kerosene - 4th of July

17. Make it Up - Paris in the Morning

18. Miss Me - Last Clock on the Wall

19. Only Four Seasons - You Can Tell Georgia

20. Outlaws - Canyon Joe

21. Pioneer - This American

22. Sad Clown - You Can Tell Georgia

23. San Jose - Take My Blanket and Go

24. Sinkin' Low - Take My Blanket and Go

25. StompinGrounds - StompinGrounds

26. Waiting on Something Good - Paris in the Morning

27. Wash Away - Julie Blue

28. Woman Go Home - StompinGrounds

29. You Can Tell Georgia - You Can Tell Georgia

30. You Don't Like Me Anymore - Sessions from Motor Ave.

31. You Should - Take My Blanket and Go

Fun facts about Joe Purdy: He refuses to sign to a label and is a songwriting machine — he has independently released 12 albums since 2001, and even if you don't know it, you've probably heard his voice before. His songs have been featured on "Grey's Anatomy" a few different times, and his big break came when "Wash Away" played out Season I, Episode III of "Lost" after the show's producer randomly caught one of Joe's live shows. He plays next in LA on March 2, and I'm horribly depressed there's a chance I might not go - I haven't missed a Joe Purdy concert in California since I first fell in love to "The City" back in 2007. Joe Purdy is also incredibly fan-friendly - you can listen to every single one of his songs in their entirety for free at JoePurdy.com/Music. So what are you waiting for?

The Best of Josh Ritter (song title and album)

1. Change of Time - So Runs the World Away
2. The Curse - So Runs the World Away
3. Darlin' - Bringing in the Darlings EP
4. Girl in the War - In the Dark: Live at Vicar Street
5. Good Man - In the Dark: Live at Vicar Street
6. Kathleen - In the Dark: Live at Vicar Street
7. Lantern - So Runs the World Away
8. Lillian, Egypt - The Animal Years
9. Long Shadows - So Runs the World Away
10. Real Long Distance - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
11. Right Moves - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
12. Rumors - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
13. The Temptation of Adam - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
14. To the Dogs or Whoever - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
15. Wait for Love (You Know You Will) - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
16. Why - Bringing in the Darlings EP
17. Wolves - The Animals Years
18. You've Got the Moon - Daytrotter Session, 4/12/2010

photo credit: Jacquelyn Rachel Photography, www.jacquelynrachel.com

Josh Ritter is hands down going to be the happiest person you ever see on a stage performing live. His smile and energy is outrageously infectious. I'd love to one day have the chance to tell him - if there was ever a way to say this without sounding like a crazed fan - how grateful I've been to him in the past for pulling me out of some very dark times with an impeccably timed show in my area. Also, I truly believe "The Temptation of Adam" is the best, most complex and un-cliche love song of our time. If you need any further proof of how cool this guy is, just look how he signed a vinyl edition of one of his albums the one time I met him:

So get listening, my friends! And the one thing I love in the whole world most is new music suggestions, so if anyone has their own songwriter obsessions they think I should check out, please let me know!

P.S. Special thanks to William Shakespeare for today's blog title. You rock, Billy.

nicole+brady {downtown fullerton engagements}

Hello, friends, and a happy long weekend to you all! A week ago I met up with Nicole and Brady for the first engagement shoot of this year, and I'm excited to share some of the pictures here now! These two were amazing to spend the day with, and very great sports considering I almost got us all arrested — I guess it's a federal offense to walk on railroad tracks. Oops. Though I think it'd up my street cred significantly (considering I have none), I'm happy to report we escaped the shoot with our freedom, which is a very good thing because I'm looking forward to shooting their wedding this summer even more so now after these pictures!

There's always one or two things that end up standing out about different shoots and certain clients, and with these two it was how much Brady made Nicole laugh. The joy they brought each other was very apparent and infectious, and I can't wait to see these two on their wedding day come this summer. :)

canada photos, aye! (or is it, eh?)

So I went to Canada over the weekend! Seeing that my New Year's Resolution for the past five years has always to some degree included "see somewhere new this year," I feel very blessed that my job at the magazine allows me to do this so frequently as of late, and to places I probably wouldn't go to of my accord. I spent my first full day in Toronto somewhere along these lines:

• Walk outside and immediately feel like I'm making every Southern California girl proud by thinking the weather wasn't that bad. 
• Bon Jour-nalism time for the magazine (thank you, Brandon Wirick, for the best play on words ever).
• Tour the CN Tower like the shameless tourist that I am. Did you know it costs $30 to ride an elevator up 1,815 feet, get a little giddy as you stand on a glass floor that high up for a few minutes, then spend the rest of your afternoon popping your ears to equalize the pressure? It does.
• Continue to think I'm superbly tough for not yet being cold. Even go so far as to leave my giant down jacket at the hotel, feeling increasingly cultured and East Coast-cool each block I walk around downtown Toronto.
• Take some nice, placid photos reminiscent of an autumn season like any other like this:

Then I feel like Canada got really pissed me at me for being the spoiled, completely unaware Orange County girl that I can be, because when I woke up Saturday morning, it looked like this outside:

I wish you could touch your computer screen and feel what this photo actually is. Because this photo is -12 degrees Celsius, with a wind chill of -23 degrees. And I am a California girl who turns her heater on when it hits 60 degrees Fahrenheit. But I was determined to walk the entirety of downtown Toronto before leaving, so despite the fact that I was so cold that every time I walked outside I started irrationally giggling to myself (for reals) out of disbelief, I persevered.

I can be an odd tourist sometimes. Besides the CN Tower, there wasn't too much by-the-book activity in Toronto that seemed that interesting to me. But I had seen photos of two local parks called Little Norway Park and Ireland Park that I thought looked beautiful, so I hailed a cab there (the driver actually asked me "Why would you want to go there right now?") and walked my way along Toronto's harbor all the way back to my hotel. Once the full-body numbness kicked in, it was actually quite pleasant.

So, even though my love for California has now increased tenfold, I really did like Toronto as well. It showed me a beautiful side of winter I'd never been lucky enough to see yet in my life, and I hope the photos I took capture that. If I wasn't so attached to flip flops and tans, I would even consider living there. :) The next work trip is Wisconsin, so stay tuned for whatever pictures I come out of there with (most likely involving cheese).