[cello infusion] kristen miller

Away from the clink and clank of coffee cups, and filthy plates

I breathe your essence in heavy, discarded smoke

I soak it up, I drink it straight

And in its place, I leave an imprint that is me ~ K. Miller

you know when you hear music for the first time and you just dig it. it moves you, makes you think, expresses your thoughts - thoughts you didn't even know you had. that's how i felt the first time i heard the uber talented kristen miller. the most beautiful cellist you will ever hear. but kristen is more than a cellist - she's a poet - she stitches her gorgeous words with the most incredibly haunting and swoon worthy sounds. i never knew a cello could be so flippin' cool. kristen's music is cool. it's happening. it's rock. it's folk. it's hip. it's haunting and lyrical and mysterious and just right on.

kristen is all those things too. if she were a  tea she would be a delightful cup of iron goddess of mercy. pure.strong.beautiful and genius. infused with elation.

i had the distinct honor of shooting kristen. here are a few images from our sesh.

also and most importantly kristen's third cd will be released on 12 june - and i can't wait. i heard a few tracks. it's a collection of stunning sweet-sounds. cd's are available for purchase online at http://cellobrew.com

my favorite is "later that day" no wait it's "strange little valentine" no no no it's "walk"! good thing i can have them all! (and to my fellow photog friends - her music is brilliant to edit to - oh yes indeed)

and if you really want to be hip and happening - make sure you become a fan of kristen's on facebook. she has a little contest going on and the winner will receive a copy of the coveted new cd "walk"!

[a few small repairs]

i am renewing. rebuilding. rethinking. 

i guess you could say i am refocusing.

i have been lacking in the blog posts. i am very busy working on a new project and when the time is right i will be over the moon to share the news. in the meantime, i am revamping the website and this blog will be changing as well. out with the old, in with the new. less is more. fresh - clean - crisp - like the way sheets smell after blowing in the breeze. so i'm making a few small repairs. although there is something charming about a broken window i must fix the glass so i can see the world more clear. i have some wonderful shoots scheduled - from a musician to a model to a beautiful bride in miami. i can't wait to begin.

have a fresh spring and stay tuned!

xo

[the maternal lens birthday]

some may know that i am involved with four dynamic women on a blog called The Maternal Lens. it is our one year birthday over at TML and we have some incredibly exciting giveaways to help celebrate our birth. please click here and join in on the festivities. you won't be disappointed!

i also wanted to share a letter i wrote wishing my fellow tml'rs a happy birthday. friends are so important but women helping, guiding and supporting other women is the greatest gift.

happy birthday the maternal lens.

Four years ago this past December I became a mother for the first time. Five years ago this May I lost my own mother. My pregnancy was bittersweet to say the least, not being able to share it with my own mother but being completely thrilled at the new life growing inside me. During this time I left a career I had been at for over ten years, got married (yes I was 5 mos pregnant for anyone calculating!), and I started my own business selling loose leaf tea in a tea house my husband and I had set up shop in. my life had turned upside down and it wasn’t until after the dust had settled, my babe firmly planted in my arms, my tea business growing and me playing the part of wife and mother that I stumbled upon a website.

I’m sure a lot of you know the feeling – it’s late at night, you are in a dark house dimly lit with the glow of your computer screen. Baby sleeping (finally), a bit of peace, alone time. It was at a moment like this that I discovered an online community of moms – cafemom to be exact. What intrigued me the most was that there were other women out there in the world going through exactly what I was going through who had the same passion I did. The passion I speak of is photography. I haven’t mentioned that until now because it was there on that website that my slow burning embers turned into a huge flame. I’ve always loved photography but it wasn’t until the birth of my daughter Annie that I was hooked. I had met many women in the sub community on cafemom in the form of photography groups. It was here I had a platform to show off my art, to be encouraged and inspired on a daily basis.

The four women I met almost four years ago on that website are my fellow Maternal Lens partners - Megan, Shannon, Jennifer and Sarah. Somehow, through the power of the internet and the cosmos, we were drawn to each other like magnets. We had so much in common. We were mothers. We were photographers. We were friends. We chatted online daily. We launched our businesses at the same time, we cheered each other from the cyber sidelines, we encouraged, supported and inspired each other. It was during these powerful and delightful moments that The Maternal Lens was born. We knew we had something special to share with other photographers, other mothers, other friends.

I don’t think I have told these wonderful ladies how much they truly mean to me. how in some of the darkest times of my life they were beacons of hope. Their words of encouragement when I felt like I couldn’t breathe from missing my mom, have meant more to me than words could ever express. How jumping off into that big pool of starting a photography business was made less scary with them by my side. The advice on this crazy ride called motherhood helped me from going insane. But above all the best F word there is. Friendship.

Megan, Shannon, Jennifer and Sarah, I adore you. I love you. I am honored to be associated with you. you are so near and dear to me and I look forward to what our next year together will bring. You are all amazing women, amazing photographers, amazing mothers and amazing friends. You are cherished. By me.

Xo

meg

a lime slice - [randomness]

sometimes i just shoot to shoot. no rhyme. no reason. similar to my life lately. just going along.... hoping for calm waves, soft winds and smooth sailing. busy with this and that and gearing up for a lovely spring of shooting for reason or no reason. that is what i love about photography. when the mood strikes. click.

some randomness from the past few days....
[i do believe my faithful darling model will start to invoice me soon. yikes!]

a lime slice - [a walk in the quiet]

i took a walk the other day in a nearby cemetary - it had just snowed and the sun was shining and it was so nice to hear nothing but the wind through the trees and the snow crunching below my feet. it was a walk in the quiet.

a lime slice - [heavy sigh]

everything melted, rained, unraveled, became, grew wings, attempted flight,
flopped, tried again, succeeded. just another day.
monique duval

heavy sigh. i have this love affair going with some vintage cameras. i don't know why i just do. i have been searching ebay for a few that work. sure they make great props and it's always fun to experiment, but i want to get down and dirty with some film. i miss my high school days and my photography class - i can still remember the smell of the darkroom. when my father told me that he had thrown out my grandfathers equipment i almost stopped breathing. i often wonder if my grandfather (who sadly passed away when my dad was 15)and i would have enjoyed shooting together. i like to think that i caught the photog bug from him - that somewhere in the stars he sprinkled his photography dna down on me. it was a long time ago - but oh, what i wouldn't give to hold his cameras in my hands and to process my own film using his enlarger, deep down in the cold dark basement. days long ago. heavy sigh.