July 22nd, 2010
They’re beautiful, they’re big, and they change color according to the acidity levels in the soil. And they’re fun to play around with in an arrangement. In light of the last post being so morbid, I thought I’d share a pretty picture of the flower arrangement I made today.
I used blue hydrangeas, white snapdragons, waxflower, orange roses and magnolia leaves. This is one of my favorite ones so far because of the colors, especially the way the waxflower looks against the blues in the hydrangea.
Flowers are fabulous.
Tags: arrangement, d700, digital, florist, flowers, hydrangea, jessi bautista, nikon, photo, photography, rose red & lavender
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July 20th, 2010
Yesterday on my way to pick up some lunch in the neighborhood I passed by one of the most disturbing thing’s I’ve ever seen. In the middle of the sidewalk, not more than a few paces from children playing in the street and their parents sitting on stoops watching them, was the rotting carcass of what was most likely a dog. I almost passed it without even realizing that it used to be a living creature, a sure sign I’ve grown a bit too accustomed to seeing garbage and filth line Bushwick’s streets. But it caught my eye nonetheless and I slowed to try to understand the whole situation of the animal being here and the people being here and the conscious decision made by everyone who passed it to leave it there for the flies.
I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, but I came back to the scene a few hours later. This time there were not so many people on the block, just two men standing next to a nearby car. I spent about 15 minutes trying to photograph the dog and half way through one of the men leaned out from behind the car and called out to me,
“Smells pretty bad doesn’t it?”
The smell was unbearable and the reason I didn’t take any photos in color. After I left I felt ill for at least another half hour. The whole scene and attitude of the people and thought of this now unrecognizable creature was disturbing in a way that left me saddened but mostly filled with frustration towards the carelessness of the society I’m living in and the lack of respect that is awarded to other living, and dying, creatures
UPDATE:
This morning as I walked to work I called 311 and told them about the dog. They are sending the Dept of Sanitation’s dead animal clean up crew to take care of it. And it didn’t cost me a thing.
Tags: 400, black and white, bushwick, carcass, death, dog, film, fuji, jessi bautista, melrose, neopan, nikon
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July 15th, 2010
This past week I started on a new project of time lapsed night scenes. For now they are all taken in Bushwick, but I fully intend to do this wherever I go, now that I know what I’m looking at. I don’t have a light meter because they cost a fortune and do what brains can do, so I did a lot of bracketing. Each scene was shot at 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 minutes, and every image came out, which was the most exciting thing that’s happened to me all week.
Going forward, I’m going to shoot at a lower iso to reduce some of the graininess and bracket at 1, 3, 5, and 7 minutes. The images below are two I picked out and did quick scans of. I am seriously looking forward to actually making darkroom prints of these. And I’m contemplating doing a few in color just to see if I like the color of the street lights.
George Street between Central and Wilson, 8 minutes
Jefferson Street between Irving and Wyckoff, 6 minutes
Both images were shot on Fuji Neopan 400 film at f22 between 10pm and 12am.
Tags: art, black & white, brooklyn, buildings, film, jessi bautista, nikon, personal, photo, photography, time lapse
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July 12th, 2010
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being able to photograph Kristin & Alex’s wedding. It was a pleasantly small and intimate ceremony and we were able to take a few photos in Prospect Park before hand. Here are a few of my favorites from the day…
Tags: jessi bautista, nikon, photography, portrait, prospect park, wedding
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July 8th, 2010
What happened to June?? It’s so hot I’m waking up early and going to bed late because it’s impossible to sleep. Air conditioning is no longer a part of my vocabulary. I can’t remember what it was like before sweat was a part of my wardrobe.
So I’m finding things to do when the sun goes down and things cool off. This is my backyard lit by the streetlight in the parking lot next to us. These are just some random test shots I took – dropping off the film tomorrow! And picking up a shutter release and a stop watch so I can do this properly next time.
The one taken outside was shot at 250 iso at about f4 with a 30 second exposure. The following one is of Tim, only for about 5 seconds. Next round involves black and white film and the empty streets of bushwick. And maybe some more from the backyard once the timing is more resolved. Hold me to it…
Tags: backyard, digital, jessi bautista, nikon d700, photo, test, tim, time lapse
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May 24th, 2010
I have been working at Rose Red & Lavender since the beginning of April and not a day goes by there where I don’t learn something new and wonderful. One of the most recent projects I’ve been working on is making lots and lots of light bulb terrariums.
I started by learning how to make a larger terrarium (not pictured because it sold before I could snap a photo!). They are layered and it’s good to start with some rocks. After that, we added spanish moss, and a pretty good layer of it because it does compress quite a bit. Then a little soil and plants of your choosing! I have been using dwarf plants like rabbit’s foot fern and blue baby tears, and of course I’ve added miniature garden gnomes and tiny dinosaurs where I can.
The light bulb terrariums are a whole other ball game. They are so small you can really only use one plant. I hardly add any soil to them because it’s tiny and the inside of the glass gets dirty fast. Hollowing out the bulb was a challenge at first, but Kimberly (the garden shop’s owner) invested in a Dremel set which made the process sooo much easier and faster. Let me tell you, it is no easy feat to squeeze those plants through the bottom of a light bulb. It’s like building a ship in a bottle.
Tags: brooklyn, d700, digital, jessi bautista, light bulb, miniature, nikon, photo, plant, project, rose red & lavender, terrarium, williamsburg
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May 24th, 2010
Not long ago I was asked to take some photographs of recently-opened Bodega Wine Bar on Troutman and St. Nicholas in Bushwick. Woodworker extraordinaire Ted Kilcommons did a lot to design and build out the new bar and was looking for photographs to capture everything from details to the atmosphere.
Here are a few I liked from the first session of shooting. These were all taken around 5pm, with lots of natural sunlight coming through the windows. I used a lot of long exposures to capture the light as it fell across the wood, which gave me really great tones and emphasized the texture in everything.
This image is of Ben Warren, one of the owners of the Bodega, and also the bartender. His partner is Gina Leone.
Ted and I decided after looking at the first set that we needed a couple more in the evening. Something to really get the atmosphere and the whole look of the place. These are the two gems we ended up with.
Tags: bar, bodega, brooklyn, bushwick, color, d700, design, digital, interior, jessi bautista, nikon, photo, photography, ted kilcommons, time lapse, wine
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May 14th, 2010
In light of last weekend being Mother’s Day and the fact that it finally feels like spring again in New York, I want to share some of the photos I’ve been taking while working at Rose Red & Lavender.
Rose Red & Lavender is an independently run florist/garden supply shop/place where you can find unique and awesome things that you will love. Photographing some of the floral arrangements has been really fun for me, both because I don’t often have an opportunity to take beautiful photos of flowers and because I’ve been able to find a few spots in the shop with really amazing and romantic lighting.
Here are some of the bouquets I’ve photographed, mostly over Mother’s Day weekend. Everything that comes out of this shop is gorgeous (and often organic or home grown) so if you’re looking for anything plant related…. it’s on Metropolitan between Leonard and Manhattan (off the Graham L stop).
One last thing I might as well mention here – this is the bouquet I sent my mom on Mother’s day (she sent me a photo of it along with a picture of our cat). I ordered these from Bows and Arrows in Dallas who were recommended to me from a friend I work with at the coffee shop. The girl who helped me on the phone was so sweet and I think the arrangement looked super cool.
Tags: bouquet, brooklyn, color, d700, digital, florist flower arrangement, jessi bautista, mother's day, nikon, photo, photography, rose red & lavender
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May 8th, 2010
At the end of April I did some work for the Northeast Kingdom, my favorite neighborhood restaurant (and possibly my favorite restaurant in New York). They wanted current photos to better capture the details and atmosphere of the place as well as behind the scenes photos in the kitchen with Chef Kevin A and his awesome staff hard at work.
Below are a few of my personal favorites from the day. Everyone there was a pleasure to work with and if you haven’t yet been to the Northeast Kingdom, get to it!
Tags: brooklyn, chef, d700, digital, dining room, interior, jessi bautista, kitchen, nikon, northeast kingdom, photo, photography, restaurant
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March 30th, 2010
A week ago I took the bus from Penn Station to DC. It was sunny and warm (exactly the opposite of the past few days in New York) which made for a great opportunity to just walk around and enjoy the weekend.
I went down to see Sabina, a very good friend of mine, who doesn’t live there but happened to be in Washington, and to see Ann who graciously allowed me to stay in her fabulous house near Adam’s Morgan. (I did also get to spend some time with a few other great friends – you know who you are 
)
Getting more to the point: while we were out and about, it struck me how many coffee shops, restaurants, corner stores that we tried to go to were actually shut down and boarded up. Mayorga Coffee, for example, used to be in the Tivoli Theater in the center of Columbia Heights, but there was hardly a trace of it when we walked over. The next closest coffee shop could hardly compare without even seating much less the comfortable and relaxed atmosphere that Mayorga gave. It was such a unique space it was hard for me to see it go.
I don’t have a recent photo of the theater/coffee shop in disrepair, but I do have a few of DC buildings, the last of which shows just a fraction of the boarded up windows we passed. Following that are a few shots of Sabina goofing around in the city…
This first one was taken in Bethesda, and in fact the blue building that you can only see a sliver of at the bottom was completely abandoned. It used to house a bar and a separate comedy club, only the skeletons of which are left, though a friend did tell us that until a few days before you could still see the tables and chairs and all the liquor was abandoned on the shelves.
I don’t actually think this General Electric plant was deserted, but it sure did look it, and it was in the Navy Yard which is pretty desolate in and of itself anyway.
As we walked around the Convention Center, we saw that this whole block of buildings had boarded up windows, and then around the corner the next block looked the same. I don’t even know what they used to be, homes maybe.
Now to the more light-hearted stuff…
Tags: buildings, color, d700, digital, jessi bautista, nikon, personal, photo, photography, portrait, sabina, washington dc
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