Flashback Friday: It's The Year { that i dread }

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...the one that brings these nasty things forth!  Growing up, my mom called these ugly bugs locusts, but they're really cicadas.  I don't care what they're called; I don't love them!  When I was small, my mom would catch these screeching things and squeeze them to make them screeeeeeeech even more and she would chase me with them.  So not fun.  At least not for me.  She was having a blast, however.  Hehe!

Miller&Miller Photography

Flashback Friday: Saturday Nights at the Cellar Door (and other fond clubbing memories)

Is this my second post on clubbing?!  What can I say?  I like to dance?

When I was in high school (millions of years ago), there was an underage club in Richmond, VA called The Cellar Door.  It was an interesting place; the music alternated from hip-hop (not my thing) to punk/new wave (my thing) every half hour.  The demographic of the dancefloor cycled continually throughout the night. 

My bff, Jennifer, and I would punk out and hit the Door every Saturday night (sometimes Fridays, too, but the crowd was better on Saturdays).  I really looked forward to it...really really really (read: hot punk boys)!  Sometimes afterward, we'd converge on the Burger King up the street, or sneak through the Fan (a district of Richmond where 2 teen girls should definitely not have been out in alone after midnight) or Hollywood Cemetery.

I've loved dancing from the Door days on.  I didn't go out much after high school...college and work took most of my time.  Then I joined the Air Force and didn't go out clubbing until I hit Misawa, Japan.  I know this will sound improbable, but that small farming town had one of the BEST Goth clubs EVER!  It was called The Garage and a couple of Americans dj'ed there, Basil and later, Jose.  Of all my hang-outs, The Garage is my all-time favorite.  I had some amazing friends there.  Great times!

I kinda have the clubbing itch, ya know?   

Miller&Miller Photography

Flashback Friday: My First Big Lens

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Back in 1992, I had a friend in Japan who was also very much into photography.  He had a vast assortment of lenses and he gave me a huge zoom lens once.  I was 20 and only owned one lens for my 35mm SLR until he gave me that one.  It was such a great treat and meant so much to me.  Now I have a vast array of professional quality lenses in my bag, but it's still fun and exciting getting new ones.  Monday I have a creamy and delicious lens coming (the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II) and I am SO EXCITED! 

Cheers to new toys!

Miller&Miller Photography

Flashback Friday: The Film Days

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I keep saying I'm going to take what few photos I have left from the film days and have them professionally scanned in.  The odds of that happening are...well, let's just say you have a better chance at winning the lottery.  So, I scanned in (on my cheap home scanner) one of the last photos I made in "the film days," back in 2004.  It was taken on my little Contax Aria with a Zeiss lens, probably my 100mm macro.  I do miss shooting with such high-quality lenses (although it's hard to tell from this crappy scan).  But I thought this was a sweet mommy-daughter shot.  The family portrait I did for them (they also have 3 boys) was enlarged to 30x40 (actually, I think it was larger, but I have a really bad memory) and has always been one of my favorites.

I love that this was made on a cloudy day and the colors were subtle and somewhat muted.  I think this shot would've been less interesting taken in full sun. 

And on that note, the skies in Arizona are crazy cool from this storm that's been entertaining us the past few days...get out there and make some photos!

Miller&Miller Photography

Flashback Friday: There Are Places (and people) I Remember

This week, I've had the Beatles song, In My Life, looping through my head almost constantly.  It happens when I find someone from the past who was important to me, or whom I really liked or admired. 

This week on facebook (if you're not on facebook, I highly recommend it!) I reconnected unexpectedly with three old friends.  One of them was my first love (if you've read my unfinished autobiography, you know all about him!).  We were 11 or 12, so it was completely innocent, of course (which makes it all the more sweet) but I truly and deeply loved him.  He moved away, then I moved away and we never saw each other again.  I never forgot him through the years, always wondering where he was, how he was doing, if he still looked the same.  I even dreamed about him from time to time (mostly during difficult times.  I guess he symbolized good things to me).  Then suddenly this week on facebook (thank you Ash, for telling me you'd found him...and for knowing how excited I would be!) there he was.  I can't describe how it feels to reconnect with people from a time in my life before the craziness of life set in and changed things, took away the innocence.  Wow.

Then I found my next-door dorm neighbor from DLI (we were studying Russian in the Air Force).  She was hip, cool, outgoing, fun, adventurous, kind.  She took several of us home to L.A. to stay with her parents a couple times.  I loved them instantly and actually cried when it was time to leave (long back story there, let's just say I had a traumatic childhood and leave it at that.  For now.)  Seeing her face again brings back such happy memories.

Then, I got a friend request from a crazy, funny, wild man I know from both DLI and Misawa, Japan.  The only memories possible to have of him are happy, funny ones.  He's hilarious and sometimes over-the-top (in the best of ways).  I'm so amazed to hear all he's done with his time in the Air Force--he's done it all, even spent time in Afghanistan.  He and his sweet and beautiful wife are still together and have two sons.  I love happy stories!  I'm so glad to hear from him!  It sure brought back memories of amazing times. 


Miller&Miller Photography

Flashback Friday: In Memory of an Old Friend

Today's Flashback Friday is dedicated to an old friend whom was tragically killed when a semi hit him while cycling in 2004.  I just found out today.

Steve Fronapfel was my first supervisor in Misawa, Japan.  Boy did he have a handful dealing with me!  Let's just say I was a little obnoxious and didn't always follow Air Force regulations (particularly with hair, haha).  Steve was always patient and kind toward me.  He was one of the smartest guys I ever knew.  He was very talented, too, and sold hand-painted Ukrainian Easter eggs (I think of him every year at Easter).  Even though I was never good at keeping in touch, I never forgot Steve.  He was truly a great guy and accomplished so much in his life.

Here's to you, Steve! 


Miller&Miller Photography

Flashback Friday: Living in Japan

If it weren't so late (I've been so swamped fulfilling customer orders [and checking out Hello Kitty gumball machines at Costco] I almost forgot about Flashback Friday!), I would dig up some of my old photos from Japan and scan them in for you.  Someday I might do just that.  In the meantime, let me share a few of my favorite things about Japan. 

I lived in the small town of Misawa, Japan for two years (from age 19 to 21) while serving in the Air Force.  When the C-130 landed on Misawa Air Base, I couldn't wait to get off that plane and start exploring off base.  After the mandatory in-processing, I wandered the halls of my dorm, hoping to find someone to take me off base and show me a little bit of the town.

Quickly enough, a nice airman named Russ took me out for my first peek at a very strange and foreign land.  He was a great tour guide.  Since he was dating a Japanese girl, he spoke the language pretty well and I loved hearing him communicating with the locals.  Pretty soon, I was picking up word and phrases myself.

I remember vividly the strange new smells and sights.  I took in the vast differences between the United States and Japan.  We checked out everything from clothing stores (where an extra-large Japanese shirt was just about my size--and I only weighed 100 lbs at the time!) to the grocery store (where watermelons were tiny and went for about $8 each, Fuji apples were as big--or bigger--than our grapefruits, and whole raw octopi were laid out on ice (ewwwww!).  Japanese restaurants all had plastic versions of their meals displayed in the window.  The side streets and alleys were NARROW--really narrow--I didn't see how two cars could fit without scraping each other, but somehow they managed.  Construction vehicles were like Match Boxes compared to the hulking machinery back home.  Everything was different and new. 

Soon, I was craving a visit to Tokyo (a 10-hour drive south).  My bff Rene, my roommate Sue and I decided to drive down for a long weekend.  In Japanese cars, there's an alarm bell that chimes if you exceed the "safe" speed limit, which (if I remember correctly) was around 60 km/hour (that's about 45 mph or so!).  Need I say that we drove for 10 hours with that bell chiming?  After a couple hours, we hardly even noticed it ;o) 

Tokyo was a wonderland of lights and people and amazing places.  Harajuku was like a dream come true--an entire section of the city (kind of like a borough of New York) was completely punk.  Punk music, punk stores, punk people (very cute on the Japanese, teehee)...love love LOVED IT! 

Clubbing in Tokyo was quite an adventure.  Each trip, we would find a couple new clubs to try out.  They were really big into the decor, which ranged from posh and frou-frou to just plain weird.  Wish I had pictures of those places! 

If you ever get the chance...see Japan!  You won't regret it!  I'm going back someday (when my little guy is old enough to keep the memories).  If you go, let me know; I'd love to hear about your adventure!

smooch!
s

Miller&Miller Photography

Flashback Friday: Dodging and Burning, Then and Now

Back in the old film days (I feel old when I say that!) I loved shooting black and white (Ilford, I miss you).  Even more, I loved working in the darkroom and watching my images magically appear in the tray of developer.  There were times, though, when the darkroom would get the best of me, especially if something needed a little more dodging or burning than normal. 

As we all know, even a perfectly exposed photograph can often have areas that need a little help.  In Photoshop, the dodge or burn tools are quick and easy solutions for darkening or lightening certain areas (there are many more ways, too).  But back in the darkroom days, dealing with such things required a bit of practice. 

I remember a photo I made that I really loved.  It was an old, partially falling down grist mill in the country (rural Virginia...reeeeally rural).  The old wood was almost shiny from being so worn.  A huge tree stood out front, just off to the side, and high grass decorated it all around.  The problem was the tall, dry grass in the very front of the structure.  It added a terrific element to the image, but needed a lot of burning. 

I will admit, dodging and burning made me nervous.  I would hold my tool, quickly and frantically moving it over the area in question while the enlarger shone it's light on my paper.  The timer would click the light off and I could breathe again (and hope for the best).  Nowadays, I often catch myself making that same frantic movement while dodging or burning in Photoshop.  I have to laugh and remind myself I'm not on a timer and gentle motions will do the trick. 

The negatives of that image were destroyed in a flood (that's a story for another Flashback Friday...a sad story), but I know someone who has a print of it hanging in his home (with my "amazing" burning talent, haha).  Next trip to VA, I'm going to go there and see if he will kindly let me borrow and have it scanned.  I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have that photo back, if only for myself.  I also hope to reshoot that same mill on my digital cam when I go back home in May.  Keep your fingers crossed that it's still standing!

Happy Friday!

Miller&Miller Photography

Flashback Friday: Wrought Iron and Dave Matthews

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I thought it would be fun to start a new post series called "Flashback Friday" in which I write down memories...not just photography-related, but sometimes little stories about life in general. So, to start off the series, here's a memory about wrought iron and Dave Matthews.

Back in 2002, while shopping at the Charlottesville, Virginia Whole Foods Market, I ran into Dave Matthews, who was also shopping. We shopped around the store together, chatting and being completely goofy, then sat in his car in the parking lot afterward and chatted a little more. He called me a couple times after that, just friendly conversation. Not that I'm generally the overly starstruck type, but I was really thrilled by this little interaction with Dave. He's such a truly nice guy! Too bad I wasn't hauling my camera through the store with me!

Later that year, I was hired by a couple of blacksmiths in Charlottesville to photograph a big, beautiful wrought iron gate they had just completed for Coran Capshaw, DMB's manager. Small world.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Miller&Miller Photography