ARE YOU KIDDEN ME? | Los Angeles, California & Portland, Maine

About maybe five years ago I bought a disposable camera from where I worked at the time. It was cat themed. A cat graphic would show up on every photo. Why wouldn't I buy this? I snapped a few photos of my own cats with it thinking it would be hilarious to have a cat face show up on my cat's face. This camera survived two moves and a plane ride to Portland, Oregon and back. Then it collected dust for years along side some other disposables. For a reason unknown to me, at some point, I ripped the cardboard off of the camera. So when I found it earlier this year, it appeared that I had a Kodak disposable camera laying around. I had the great idea of bringing it to a wedding and with me on a recent trip to Maine, hoping to finish the roll. When I got the photos back, man, was I surprised. I laughed, I cried, I hated myself.

This post is dedicated to the best dirt cat in the world, Kidden, who can be seen in the last photo yelling at me.

TACOMA, WASHINGTON

Back in August I went to Tacoma, Washington. I sucked it up again & got onto a plane. This time to see my favorite family & I am so glad I went. It was gorgeous. I stayed in the most beautiful home I had ever seen. They took me to a forest, a beach & a bridge. I spent a night in Olympia as well & found myself at a casino, which I wasn't mad about. Here are some photos from that trip that I took with Tim's Bell & Howell.

BUTCHER

Earlier this year, one of my best friends, Carrlyn, was moving into her new home. While packing, she found some things that she wanted to give to me. One of those things was a Bell + Howell BF-700 camera that once belonged to Tim Butcher. She was pretty sure it was from when he was in college & he never returned it. She wanted me to have it. I loaded it with film that night. The first photo I took with it caught me off guard. I had never heard film advance that loudly before. I was sure nothing was going to turn out. I've never been so happy to be wrong before. Here are some photos I've taken with it over this past summer. Every time I look into the viewfinder, hit that shutter release & hear the film advance, I smile & think about Tim.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

If you know me, you know I hate flying. One of my favorite pastimes is saying no when someone suggests I visit them if it involves getting on a plane. So when my cousin asked me earlier this year if I wanted to go to New Orleans with her to shoot a wedding anniversary event, I panicked. After overthinking it for a few days, I said yes. I knew I had to suck it up, face my fears and embrace experiencing a new city. 

I was only there for three days so I had to pack them with as much as I could. Each morning I would wake up, walk to meet my cousins, eat so much food, walk some more, take photos, lose money at Harrah's, pop into a bar, walk around to eat more food, maybe go back to Harrah's then finally get to my AirBnB to sleep before doing it all again the next day. Oh, at one point we were in the middle of a parade of Mardi Gras floats taking hundreds of guests to the Superdome. But that's boring... so here's some photos I took with a disposable camera...