Florida in January

I love living in Pensacola, FL because we get seasons and they are generally mild. When I shot this session, it was about 50 degrees. Cold enough to dress in sweaters and scarves but still warm enough to sit on a garden bench and ride a skateboard. I know all of your Pensacola peeps are thinking what I’m about to say…yes, we have gotten colder than 50 degrees. We’ve actually had quite a few nights were we’ve been in the lower 30’s and even upper 20’s. (Does it count if it happened at night when only the plants were shivering?)  Anyhow, when the azaleas begin blooming in a few weeks, spring will seem even sweeter after our brief trounce into the burrrr zone.

~Trista

An Itty Bitty

Just around five pounds…this little peanut had so much energy. She is going to grow up always curious about her surroundings. I look forward to photographing her doing so as she grows. In the meantime…I hope these parents will enjoy the tiny little fingers and toes of their firstborn, this time is so fleeting…

Trista

Nice Article in the Penascola News Journal about the Diversity Exhibit

If you missed it this weekend…here is a nice article in the Art Review section about my exhibit. It will be open until Feb 20, so you still have plenty of time to enjoy it.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20090123/ENTERTAINMENT/901230320/1005/ENTERTAINMENT

~Trista

Nurturing Fathers-to-be

Pregnancy is such a beautiful miraculous time in a woman’s life and most fathers love to be part of their partner’s experience as well. I remember how my husband would lay on my belly at night listening to the girls whooshing around inside; it made him feel a part of the whole experience. I love capturing how much father’s love their unborn babies (and the person who lovingly nurtures that baby)…

What husband hasn’t gone out, at the bequest of his pregnant wife, for a special treat? This mom just happens to love oranges…

Good luck on the labor and delivery you guys…I can’t wait to meet your new little one in the next week or so.

~trista

Cute as a Button

As I watch this little girl grow up (I photographed her first year and now her second) the thing that keeps popping into my head as I proof her photos is that famous line…

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice.

What a doll!

~Trista

Devil’s Canyon…an Old Soul

About 2 hours east of Phoenix there is a chain of beautiful mountains that bear the scars of glaciers gone by and most recently by the mining for copper. In this third and final installment of my vacation photos, I share with you a few of these beautiful spots I found.

Doesn’t this photo remind you of the ruins of ancient civilization…if canyons could talk, the tales they’d tell…

The moon was just rising when the sun was setting creating this gorgeous color on the walls of the canyon…I just ordered a giclee of this for my foyer…

I will be back to posting photos from client sessions tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed this dip into another side of my art.

~Trista

Photos from the Middle of Nowhere…

I spent a day in the middle of the desert, about 20 miles north of Mexico. Civilization was nowhere around. The only sign of humans was the occasional border patrol vehicle rolling by. I got there about 15 minutes before sunrise. And for those who know me, that was quite a feat, not adding to the fact that I spent the night in a motel that  I refer to as “the filming location for every teen horror flick every produced.” It was all worth it because what I captured transcended the mundane to a level that filled all of senses with awe. Enjoy…

~trista

First Round of Photos from my Trip out West

I’m excited to share my landscape portraits with all of you, but I can only do a few at a time. I will start with a few of the highlights of sunset in La Jolla, California…

I call this one “Resting on Their Lover’s Back”

 

Look at the way the waves have carved out the beach…this is definitely quite different from the white sand beaches of my area…

So peaceful…this sums up my time in California to a T…

Tomorrow I’ll share a few of my photos from my trip to the middle of the desert near the Mexican border.

~Trista

Opening/Artist Reception Tonight for “An Interpretation of Diversity!”

After spending the last six months working with almost twenty children, my diversity exhibit has finally reached fruition! Please join me tonight from 5-7 p.m. at Gallery 88 (in the WUWF building on the UWF campus). You will really need to see this exhibit in person to truly feel the message it is presenting. The photos are printed small, matted in black without glass or frame, allowing the viewer to step in close to the pieces and spend a few minutes staring into the message within each photograph. This exhibit is meant to elicit a place in your brain that holds your childhood memories. Everyone will feel something different when they view these pieces and that is the purpose. I hope that this opens up a dialogue within the community about what it means to be “different” in our society.

The public artist reception is tonight, Jan 15 from 5-7, I hope to see you there. Please know that if you can’t make it, the exhibit will run M-F, 9-5 from now until Feb 20. If you need directions, call WUWF at 474-2787.

Finally, I want to thank all of the beautiful volunteers who came forward and participated in this project…
The children:
Ian Izonritei
Nathan Moore
Sophia Blouin
Liliana Blouin
Kalli Jolly
Jonathan French
Taylor French
Evan Moore
Julia Arnold
Carson Sistrunk
Zane Cox
Elena Marrero
Merridith May
Nora Taylor
Ethan Deang
Emelyn Carlson
Payton Zwierzchowski

The generous donation of matting was provided by Framing By Design which is located in Pensacola on W Street.

And of course, WUWF for the exhibit space and specifically Lynne Marshall for believing in the importance of the trans-formative message of this exhibit and giving it a public forum.

The Independent News has listed my exhibit on their weekend’s Hot List: http://inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=9324

Watch here for other media announcements as well. I hope to see you tonight and please let me know what you thought – either here in the comments section or in person tonight.

~Trista

Hearts Intertwined

So I leave this afternoon for my trip to California and Arizona and the thought of being away from my babies for 10 days has been eating me up. The longest I’ve ever been away from them in their 8/6 years of existence is 5 days – this will be double that! The girls have been clinging to me for the past two days…moaning about not wanting me to go and asking if I could possibly stow them away in my suitcase.

I came up with a plan to write them each a letter for every day I’m gone that tells them a little about my itinerary for that day. It was very fun putting together. I included facts about my location even sending them on a treasure hunt one day to find a plant that looked like a cactus in our plush Florida backyard (Day 3: Desert Adventure). I included homemade stickers on certain days with their name on it and a pretty heart graphic they could use MY Sharpies in MY office to color with -they will freak that they get to play with the Sharpies at my big desk (Day 5: Halfway Through). I also gave them a sweet surprise in each envelope: a heart-shaped, wrapped piece of chocolate for everyday varying between chocolate Reeses to chocolate Butterfinger. They are going to LOVE that the best, I may be creative, but I could never surpass the power of chocolate.

As I was looking through my necklaces while packing last night, I came across an old Indian necklace in my keepsake drawer that I got the last time I went to AZ/CA when I was 13 years old. I called my oldest daughter in, asked her to turn around and hold up her hair, and I secured the necklace, with the purple stone bird, around her neck. She was so excited and just stared at it as I explained to her its meaning to me when I was a girl. I asked her to keep it close to her heart during the 10 days so that we could be together in spirit during my vacation. She got tears in her eyes and threw her arms around my neck thanking me over and over again saying that the bird had already made her feel peaceful. I gave her younger sister a heart necklace so she would feel special too. I know that even though it will be hard for all of us, it will also be a special time as we reflect on how lucky we are to have each other and what we mean to each other.

I will still officially be working over the next two weeks, but it will be limited. Please don’t hesitate to call or email me if you need something. I am currently booking the last week of January if you are interested in setting up a session. This trip will be my annual reinvigorating vacation where I shoot outside the box and attend my annual pro photography conference, so when I come back I will be ready to try new things. I will share this excitement during my second annual Week of Surprises in early February.

~Trista