100 Portraits

100 Portraits is a project I began toward the beginning of October in an effort to sort of go the opposite way of how I normally work. The stresses of coming up with an elaborate idea, a good location and theme were starting to interfere with the love I have for photography, so I figured I needed something that was simple, yet interesting to me to keep myself balanced. This is the beginning stages of what came from that.

Green Smoothies!

Alright,

This has absolutely nothing to do with photography... though I may post a couple pictures at the end, just to make it feel like more of a photography blog.  Anyways, I'm in the beginning stages of a new project for my photo II final... and I actually think it may turn out kind of cool.  We'll see though-- I don't want to get my hopes up too high.  It's a mix of clowns and sin.  That's all I'm going to say at the moment.

I've been on a green smoothie feast for the past two days and so far, so good.  I got to the point where I was drinking about one 32 oz. green smoothie once a day this summer, then my blender started being a jerk... and then I got lazy.  Macy got me a new blender for my birthday & I got re-inspired to try them out on a regular basis.  I was reading on some raw forum of a woman who went on a green smoothie fast (I like to call it a feast, personally... I think 'fast' sounds like you're withholding something from yourself... but green smoothies give you SO MUCH. Much more of a feast than a fast!) and so I decided to try it out too.  I have eaten some other cooked food, but I do plan to do this again relatively soon and have only green smoothies for a week or two.  I know I'll want mashed potatoes, rolls & vegan broccoli and cheesy rice casserole for Thanksgiving next week... so, this is a mini-feast, there will be a better one to come :)  My 1-year vegan anniversary is coming up and in honor of all that I am going to try to improve my health even more so by adding more raw foods to my diet.  Although I don't intend on becoming 100% raw (right now, we'll see if that changes!) it's hard to ignore the obvious health benefits of incorporating more raw foods to your diet.

Yeah, this hasn't been about photography at all.  That's okay though :)  If you have any interest at all in green smoothies, read Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko.  They are hands down the best thing I have ever added to my diet... and the one thing I would encourage everyone to add to theirs!

~Jesse

Music!

If you are a photographer who also loves music, there is nothing quite as exciting as the opportunity to take pictures of one of your favorite bands.  As of tonight, I am fortunate enough to add one more band to my  "favorite musicians that I have also photographed" list.  It's a small list at the moment, but at least I have one.  Anyway, I decided to not stay home and study when it was probably the more responsible choice and instead went to see my friends from The Javelin Dance and also one of my favorite bands, Dr. Manhattan.  I had communicated with them somewhat via myspace about doing pictures at some point-- but with school and midterms I wasn't able to do my first idea with them... so we improvised.  I used this terribly tacky gold tablecloth I got at a church yard sale, taped it to the wall and went from there.  Definitely not my best work, but whatever.  At some point in the future we can shoot what I originally had in mind which should hopefully be more exciting and fun to look at. 

Most of my time lately has been dedicated to studying, editing photographs for clients, doing some documentary photography work and trying to plan photoshoots to complete my photo II assignment.  I'm also trying to get everything organized for my portfolio review, which hasn't been very successful.  Knowing me I'll get it all done the Saturday before... or Sunday.  Blegh! I'm not sure why procrastination has hit me so hard in the past year, but it's quite irritating.  Once October 27th hits I will be able to chill out and not be so crazy--- I hope.  I need to clean my apartment... it is for real a disgusting mess.

That's it, I think...

~Jesse

myspace.com/drmanhattan

First post, alright!

I realized this weekend that I should probably have a blog, because I post way too many pictures on facebook and I am sure half of my friends aren't interested in them.  Besides, I love talking about myself so a blog could help with that.  I'm going to gear this primarily to my photography work, but I might throw in some delicious recipes, funny stories and rants every now and then.  

Today I got some good news and next Friday I will be doing something VERY exciting regarding my photography.  I'm supposed to keep it on the dl, so I can't really talk about it... but know that it is an amazing opportunity and I am incredibly blessed to be able to do it. :)      

Here are some recent photographs-- a few are of my friend Victoria and the others are of my friend Ashley... both are amazing models and wonderful people to work with.  Enjoy!