another 'eerie' photo, and a little gaga

About a month ago I was shooting an event, which means also location scouting in the back of my mind. I came across an interesting little area in the building, mostly because of the wallpaper but also the lines of the walls and pillars. I shot a few frames and added it to the location folder. Played around with it in Camera Raw and got a general look/mood I thought kinda suited it. Didn't know who I wanted in the shot until I realized the person I was envisioning was strikingly similar to my cousin Rachel, when she curls her hair. Messaged her, she's in. Awesome. Make sure it's cool with the hotel, it is. So last week I went to her house, picked out her clothes, her hair was already perfect, and we went and shot it.

Here's my final two picks. Basically the same but one's closer. I can't decide which I like better. The closer one fills the frame so it's almost instinctual to like it more. But these days I really dig stuff where you see less of the subject, and more lines, more space, just more to think about to appreciate it. But I still can't make up my mind. If you want, feel free to tell me which is your preference.

My friend Leanne, without seeing these, asked if the shoot went well and if they were 'eerie' shots like I've been doing lately. That's kind of the perfect word for it I think. I kept describing some of my shots lately as, "depressing.. well not depressing. More like sad. Well not exactly sad either. Just, umm.." - you can see I don't have a way with words. But now I have a word. 

I also saw Lady Gaga last night. I like her not only for her music, but for what she believes in. She promotes equality amongst all of humanity, no matter who you are, or your background. Acceptance, creativity, hard work, love. It was all there in the show. You couldn't help but feel the energy. Some say she's over the top, does it for the attention, not genuine. Personally I think she's wildly creative, does it because she loves it and can use her stardom to bring attention to bigger issues. And nothing was more genuine than when she gave an empowering speech where you could feel her conviction and dedication in every word. And she has a hell of a voice, especially when she belts out tunes like You and I, where it's just her and a piano. A flaming piano at that. 

But the best part of the night by far, was when she sat RIGHT in front of me, I touched (grabbed) her hand, then she stops singing Alejandro to say to my friend Lauren, "I have my hair like yours now! Under the wig!" - And here's the picture off my little S90 as she was saying this:

And to top it all off, I just found out that photo won me a pair of tickets to see Katy Perry in July! Last night after I uploaded my pics, I went over to the Citizen site to see if they had a concert review up. They did, I read it, and at the bottom it said you could submit shots to win Perry tickets. I thought sure, what the hell, I have one cool shot with a little story. Submitted, went to bed, got a call today saying I actually won! Here's the interview write up thingy with the pic. Pumped. 

And to end off, those last two Ken Robinson TED Talks I said I would share. Here's one, and here's the other. Been a while since I watched them so I can't really give an accurate description, but I know they're about creativity and schooling. He's cool.