In search of the seriously beautiful...

I’ve been such a bad blogger this year! So much has happened, that I haven’t mentioned. It’s partially due to the fact that when you’re working with musicians and record companies there can be a delay between shooting an artist, and then seeing the final CD debut. But I also have to admit that I’m just behind… So I’ll try to rectify that a bit now – with another CD that debuted this year, with one of my images on the cover!

Marty Casey released the CD single, Crime of Fashion in the late Spring, and it’s only available with a purchase from his Silver Elements Jewelry line – available at silverelementscollection.com. You can hear a clip of the song at Silver Elements Collection: Music – just click on the song title on that page, and then in the popup window, click on the sound icon!

We actually shot the cover last summer, in an elevator in a swanky hotel on the Sunset Strip – can you guess which one? The shiny textured metallic wall may offer a bit of a clue!

My images have appeared on four CDs in the last two years – and of those images this one is definitely the closest to my fine art work. I’ve always been attracted to multiple and long exposures! And I love that Marty is brave enough as an artist to go a little wild with me, and make an image like this happen – and I love it even more that he chose it for his CD cover. Says a lot about him as an artist!

related posts

>> Marty Casey – I See Stars
>> LA Guns – Shrinking Violet
>> Lukas Rossi – So This Is Christmas

Seriously! I found myself on eBay! I was trying to find a magazine article that came out in June, so that I could finally blog it, and while searching I also found a reference to a CD cover I shot – on eBay – and as silly as it sounds, it made me super happy! I haven’t seen the actual physical CD myself yet, so even though I knew my images were used on the liner, it doesn’t really feel real until I can hold it in my hands – you know? But somehow, seeing my name listed in the credits for the CD, on this eBay listing, just made it all feel a little more real. Besides, have you really arrived as a photographer if you’ve never found yourself on eBay?

So here’s the article – it’s from All Access Magazine, the June issue – and they used some of my images of LA Guns in the article – which is very cool! And it’s a real printed magazine, not just online, which is doubly cool in my world.
Music, Musicians and Myths: by Kim Thore for All Access Magazine – June 3, 2010

And while we’re at it, here’s a link to an Italian music site called SpazioRock, that also has an interview with Tracii Guns – and uses one of my images.
Interview with Tracii Guns: by Daniele Carlucci for SpazioRock – May 27, 2010

I can’t wait to get a copy of the actual Shrinking Violet CD and see my images in person! But until then, it’s cool to stumble across my credit in a listing anywhere – even eBay – I’ll take it!



Shrinking Violet by LA Guns, was released by Favored Nations, and is available now on iTunes and at Amazon.com!

Dreams. You hear the word and some of you immediately think of goals and plans and making your dreams come true. And others will hear the word and immediately think of sleeping, and fantasy and the part of your life that happens subconsciously, deep in the night. The two definitions are so different, but sometimes I think, intimately entwined.

I dream about houses – in all senses of the word. I definitely dream and plan and have a goal to buy a house – absolutely! And I also dream about houses while sleeping. I think the overlap happens because it’s one of my deepest and purest desires – a little old house of my very own…

When I was a little girl I remember being attracted to old houses – if there was a Victorian house on a street, my eyes would immediately be glued to it, and I’d turn around in the back seat of the car, to look as long as I possibly could. It was a huge attraction. And I could tell the difference between truly old houses, and new houses that had been built to look old – and had big disdain for the latter. My parents built three different brand-new custom houses while I was growing up – houses in the best neighborhoods – with tile roofs and huge yards – but there I was lusting after the little old Victorian cottages we only saw when we went to Downtown San Diego. Even so, I’m definitely my father’s daughter – he may have liked brand new construction and perfect newness and I liked worn wood and wavy vintage glass windows – but deep down, our passion for houses was very similar – just different in the details.

My first apartment was the bottom story of an old house in San Diego, and since then I’ve lived in lots of rented old houses – but I’ve never owned one.

About a year-and-a-half ago I had a dream – I woke up thinking about this little old yellow house with a dusty yard. It was run down and needed work, but in the dream it was mine – my house – my home. And I was going to get to paint and repair and restore it, and make it look like it did in it’s heyday. It was such a vivid dream! And when I woke up I couldn’t shake it. At the time I was still thinking I wanted to live in LA – for business reasons – and this house just did not fit with the plan. But the dream and this dream house kept pulling at me…

I’ve always heard that when you dream about a house, the house represents you – and the different rooms represent different aspects of your personality. So if you find new rooms in your house while dreaming, you’re discovering new parts of your personality or new things you’d like to try. So I wasn’t quite sure what it meant when I was dreaming about a run down little old house in another city, when I thought I wanted to be in LA? How could I reconcile that?

But there was something about the dream that stuck with me. The house just felt like home. It felt like me. Even if I wasn’t sure I liked that.

This week, on a whim I did a search on realtor.com and the house in my dream popped up – and I was instantly drawn to it. Built in 1893, a Victorian cottage with a front porch on a dusty, weed-filled lot. Then I saw the photo of the kitchen – two-tone 1930′s tile work and 1930′s cabinets. Yes, it’s definitely the personification of the house in my dream.

And while I’m not ready to buy right now, Riverside has lots of similar homes, and when I am ready, there will be one for me. I know that. I dreamed it!

The image on top is the house as I saw it in my dream – sort of blurry and happy and soft. And the image below is how the rest of the world sees such a house – run down, and needing work. I’m honestly in love with both views. I’m easy when it comes to my dream house…

Just a few more images from Idyllwild last weekend….





I love this old redwood tree – it may not be as large as some of the giants up in Northern California, but it’s still massive – and beautiful. I also love the moss growing up the side. If viewed from the right angle, the redwood resembles a person with arms reaching up. It reminds me of the trees in fairy tales – not the scary trees that reach out and grab you – but the friendly good trees who are wise and kind, and shelter you from the elements.

And of course I have to include a few images of wildflowers! In idyllwild the wildflowers get a late start, since the elevation is so high, so they’re still going strong in the beginning of July.











And finally, the obligatory shot of Lily Rock. When most people think of Idyllwild, they think of Lily Rock – or Taquitz as it’s sometimes called – depends on who you’re talking to! I’ve personally never made an image of it that really excites me. Maybe it’s because everyone who comes to Idyllwild feels compelled to photograph it? Maybe it’s because I’ve seen some really excellent images of it? Maybe because landscape photography is not really my forte, and a shot like this is best left to the professionals? I’m not sure why I’ve never quite hit it – but I can pretty much guarantee that I’m not done trying. Someday I’ll get it!

In February of 2006, in one of my very first blog posts, I blogged about the Estudillo Mansion. An old family friend was deeply involved with helping to save it, and gave me and a few of my family members a private tour – it was incredibly cool! I got to see it in the middle of the restoration – and shoot it…


Since then a lot has changed at the mansion! I was there this weekend on Sunday, so I wasn’t able to go inside this time, but I was able to roam the grounds freely, and they’re beautiful. Hopefully soon I’ll get there on a Saturday – the only day it’s open – so that I can see the inside again. I’m excited to see what they’ve done to the interior.











If you know me, you know how I feel about fruit trees used in landscaping – I love it! It’s very Victorian – fruit and flowers – all mixed together. Just lush… And oranges? Just so Southern Californian!









The mansion was built in 1885 by Fransisco Estudillo, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, and dedicated in 2004. The plaque above is located on a stand in front of the house and reads… “May all who visit this distinguished edifice enjoy it’s beauty and remarkable history.”





The pepper tree on the right is huge, and old, and I’m definitely not an expert but I do know that pepper trees this large can be 100-years-old, so I like to imagine that this tree was planted right around the turn of the last century, and has been there almost as long as the house. Known as the California Pepper Tree, they were actually brought here from Peru by the Franciscan Friars – they were planted at the California missions – so they’re definitely historically correct! The whole inside of this particular tree is hollow, so I’m not sure how much longer it will survive, but it’s lovely to see still standing – so many people are so quick to chop down trees that are not “perfect looking” but this tree is still beautiful in it’s own way – and all the huge old trees make the back yard at least ten degrees cooler than the front yard – it was 95° F in San Jacinto on Sunday, but in the shade of all those trees in the back yard? It was wonderful!





If you look closely you can see all the different shades of mortar that have been used to repair this wall over the years.





These guys are located out in the side garden – if I remember correctly this garden was originally the “kitchen garden” – meaning it was where they grew spices and vegetables – and when it was time to start a meal, the cook would wander out in the garden and pick whatever was ripe and ready, and then go cook it in the kitchen – which was not attached to the house – too much of a fire danger. The attached kitchen was added to the house much later.









Yeah, only open on Saturday afternoons… Oh well!









I was surprised by the number of donors with the last name of Estudillo. This wall is located in the garden, it’s not part of the house – as you can see it’s made of modern bricks – not the more narrow vintage bricks of the main house.











Above is a garden, where every plant has a little plaque. It could be worth exploring all on it’s own – on another day…

And isn’t the sign on the right cute? I don’t know who it refers to? But it’s definitely fun!

I’ve been watching the progress on the Idyllwild Town Monument for a couple of years now as I drove by in my car, and yesterday I decided to get a closer look. The artist, David Roy, was busy working, but he took a minute to pose for me.















The entrance to the artist’s workspace is pictured above – notice the stone lamp posts and the Gargoyles atop each one – they’re wonderful! And funnily enough, they don’t seem out of place in Idyllwild…







David Roy at work, and one of the many other pieces of his work, on the property.







I wasn’t the only one stopping to look – the monument is a big tourist attraction. Note the guy with a camera up to his eye – I wasn’t the only one shooting photographs either! And in fact, the artist encourages it! For more on David Roy, see mantlecarvers.com

I love this image! I mean, really love it! It’s so light and bright and the colors are so soft – but the subject matter is as hard as can be.

I’ve never seen a Not Hiring sign before, but I totally get why it’s necessary here. A construction project of this size on the side of the 10 Freeway is obviously going to be a huge magnet for all the unemployed construction workers in the Inland Empire. But how sad that it’s necessary! How sad that a company could be so inundated with job seekers that they need a sign to help stem the flow. Unemployment is at 15% in the Inland Empire right now – just way too high.

I’ve been playing around with the idea of a project – on the economic crisis. Not seriously pursuing it as a project, but just sort of toying around with the idea. And this image is the best of the lot so far – and the first to focus on unemployment. I’m still not sure if I want to make a full blown project out of this, but I do plan to continue playing around with it, and seeing if anything comes of it.

Wasn’t today amazing! It really is starting to feel like summer is on the way, and I love summer, so that makes me very very happy!

In other news, the Fallbrook Avocado Festival is this weekend! If you’ve never been it’s the one Sunday of the year when all of Fallbrook’s neighbors come to town to buy avocados, hear live music, eat really greasy fair food – or escape the fair food by ducking into one of Fallbrook’s wonderful restaurants – and walk past 300 vendor booths selling everything from solar water systems to fine art to junky tchotchkes to more avocados – it’s all available!

SandDiego.org, the official travel blog for the San Diego Region, run by the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, ran one of my images on their blog today – from the 2008 Festival. It’s the image on the right.

And just because I like it, I’ll leave you today with one of my favorite images from that 2008 Avocado Festival – it’s just soooo Fallbrook! Pretty girls having a grand time – what better image of Fallbrook is there? You can see the rest of my images from that year by clicking here!

I’ve heard the wildflowers in the desert are really magnificent this year – we got a lot of rain in January and February! But even if you don’t get out into the true desert, you can find patches of really pretty wildflowers just off the freeway, all over Riverside County. These images were taken this afternoon, eleven minutes apart on McCall Road in Menifee, on the corner of Encanto for the first image, and on the corner of Sherman Road for the second – in other words, less than a block from the freeway.