I'VE MOVED!

This blog has moved to...

WWW.SIMONEANNE.COM

I will no longer be updating this page, and all pages archived here can be found on the new blog. Please visit me there! :D

Expect:

-More pretty pictures
-An easy to use layout
-A clean, healthy look
-Lots of info

Also find me sharing adventures, travel tips & inspiration, & more at:

WEAREADVENTURE.US

&

my documentary photography+interview project on my hometown at:

WWW.MEETTHEMOON.COM

Follow along:

Bloglovin'
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter (personal) & Twitter (adventure&travel only)

I'm on Facebook! :D

I'm on Facebook! You should join me! :D 

I was a little hesitant about starting a Facebook page: How would it be different from my blog? Would anybody look at it? Would it be too pretentious? 

These were all of my fears. But the more I've continued to pursue photography, the more I realize how powerful of a tool Facebook can be for sharing my photos with more people. And I don't want to miss out. So. Here it is. Hello Facebook; join me! :D

Kinda Cool: Google Searching Simone Anne :)

This is what you get when you search "Simone Anne" on the internet. Look, that's me! :D 

Wishlist: My Next Lens

Is this Canon EF 24mm f/1.4 II Lens not the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? Try to not let me buy it for a while. I'm still reeling from the cost of the last one and this is waaay out of that league, ha ha :) 

Loving This! Camera Cake :D

Scrolling through photography websites I found this awesome cake. Please bake me one when you get a chance! ha ha:P 

Cake by: BethAnn, owner of Studio Cake; photo on the back of the cake/camera by: Apertura Photography

I found this posted on PetaPixel. Thanks! :)

I bet it was delicious too! Mmmmm... :)

Inspiration: Helping Kids With Cameras

I can't get over this awesome project! Some photographers teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club in Las Vegas for a day of inspiration, art, and hanging out with the kids. I can't say enough how cool I think this is. Let the video speak for itself. :D

Lens & Learn - Inspiring Kids Through Photography from Ron Dawson on Vimeo.

And for some cool photos (the video is kinda long) check out Grey Photography. Love it!  

Worth Reading: Lens, New York Times Photo Blog

The New York Times rocks. The epitome of good journalism is, of course, no less stellar in their photojournalism department. If you enjoy high quality images and love to read a story through the picture, there is nothing more outstanding that the New York Times Photo Blog, Lens. Check it out. DOOO ITTT. :D

Screen shot of today's photo of the day. What an awesome image. Seriously. 

(Check it: You can see the shells from the gunshots.  Daaaayum, what perfect timing!)

 Image shown: Luke Sharrett/The New York Times

Inspiration: Amazing Photographs from Haiti

This is what happens when you take an amazing photographer and put them somewhere just bursting to tell a story: Amazing amazing photographs from Haiti's front lines.  Justin Lyon's photos from this trip astound me, as does his story. The images are equal parts storytelling and art. Even if you just flip through the images he captured you'll be experiencing something that touches your soul.

All out of words, check out the slideshow here.

He has a lot of images of people that just completely drew me in. So personal. So intimate. So difficult to draw your eyes away.

Something about this photo just touches me. And plus I'm always a sucker for black and white images.

I very highly recommend this photographer and this blog post. Go Go Go. Words do not suffice.

Wishlist: Ephanie Camera Bags

Ephanie camera bags are my new favorite thing. When I'm rich and famous and traipsing all over the world with my camera (please don't doubt!) I'm going to own all of them. They are beautiful. They are stylish. They are everything a girl could want in a camera bag. Sooo beautiful. 

This image of their three products is from a screen shot off the website. Go look. They're bee-yoo-ti-ful. Sigh. 

You Know it's Your Birthday... :D

TWENTY is a big number but I'm ready for it. Every last moment. (:

The following two self-portraits were taken on assignment for a photography class I'm taking as part of training for The Daily Californian. It's slightly difficult to get one's whole face in the frame but I kinda like these images nonetheless. (:

Anyways, Happy Birthday Me. :D

Self-Portrait

A cool self-portrait I took of myself reflected in an old movie marquee--you can see lights around the edges blurred out a little bit in this photo. Anyways, I don't always have the coolest photos of myself (probably a product of my always being behind the camera) so this image, well, just kinda makes me happy. (:

Taken at the Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale yesterday. Other photos from that same day will be up soon, I think. 

P.S. My birthday is on Tuesday. I'll be the big TWO ZERO! Ack. 

ooo, Inspiration

One of my biggest inspirations as a photographer is this lovely lady pictured right here. Jessica Claire is a wedding and portrait photographer extraordinaire as well as one of the greatest artists of the camera working right now. Not only is she amazing with the camera at weddings, she rocks it on the street too (check out her art website here); as if that weren't enough, Jessica has one of the quirkiest, most intriguing, and most I-want-to-be-friends-with-you online personalities ever. I confess to checking her blog at least once a day for any possible updates. Shhhh...

This gorgeous images of Jessica shooting her first destination wedding (on location in Cabo!) was captured by her friend and second shooter Becker, whose images, clearly, are also top notch. 

I aim for this kind of dedication to an image. Ahhh-mazing.

In other news, I've been accepted as a staff photographer for The Daily Californian, the daily paper published on UC Berkeley's campus. I am oh so thrilled! You should check out their website, of course, but I also recommend a visit to the staff's photography blog. Hopefully you'll see one of my images up there sometime soon!

Photographers: Your New Favorite Accessory

Hey kids!

Meet the newest cool hip thing to have if you're a photographer, Funky Camera. I want to order ten but will somehow restrain myself. I'm thinking leopard print. Maybe some cute flowers. How to ever decide!?

Here are my four favorites. It was impossible to pick. Really. They're not my photos (they belong to Funky Camera) but I wanted to share oh so badly. Ah-mazing. Really. (:

I love the bright colors and funky flowers in this design. Is it too girly though? 

Or do I show some Cal spirit? Cal spirit and delicate flowers. I love the color scheme but maybe it doesn't pop enough like the last one...

Classy. Good for both fun and more professional events. Not sure it's my absolute favorite though... but still very nice.

Last but not least, this one is perhaps my favorite. Not sure how the faux fur would hold up to my special brand of abuse though. What happens when the faux fur gets dirty or wet? Hmm... such a dilemma.

Anyways, this is my new favorite accessory. Or will be when I finally get around to ordering. Just you wait. (:

P.S. I'm thinking the bright and beautiful flowers in the first strap. Thoughts? Suggestions? 

Poladroid. ohmigosh.

Dear friends, let me just say:

You have no idea how much your life is about to change. In absolutely unbelievable, completely wondrous ways. How so, you say?

Drumroll, please:

I'm proud to present this amazing, FREE software. Both MAC and (pc) compatible. Beautiful.

POLADROID.

I'm so excited I can barely say it: it transforms any photo, yes, any .jpg photo you have, into a very convincible Polaroid photo. And it does it in the most legit way possible. Once you've downloaded it you need only drag and drop your image onto the camera icon and it spits out an undeveloped Polaroid (with a very realistic "click" and print sound). True to form, you must wait a few minutes for the photo to develop (although shaking it really does speed up the process), but it's well worth the wait.

The only downside to the program that I can see is that there's no way for you as the photographer/editor to pick which part of your original 4X6 image shows up in the Polaroid image. I got a few where the subject was completely lopped off and the image was rendered ridiculous. I have decided to be happy regardless of this problem. (:

Check out a few (okay, a lot) of my transformed images below. I got a little trigger happy, but absolutely cannot wait to print some of these out for real. Polaroid effects make everything look extra cool. Check it and be excited.

The California Mission:

And another:

Lock. (here or here or even here).

Kenny:

The old, cacti boat:

Rebecca:

Yosemite:

Photoshoot for BARE magazine:

Berkeley at night:

Portraits of old friends:

And other old friends:

Candid photo on Spoul Plaza (Berkeley)

mhmmmm (:

Portraits of Jenni (:

Beach (this was from the red tide ocean adventure)...

Pride Parade 2009 (San Francisco)

And another from that day...

Roadtrip:

Berkeley Bowl

Another roadtrip photo:

I've been wanting to get a Polaroid camera for aaages now. The cameras are cheap but the film is soo expensive it's just ridiculous. Sigh. It's a bummer that this program can't print out the photos for free too, but as it is, I'm pretty happy. Poladroid is amazing and until I get my hands on a real Polaroid camera (and truckloads of film) this will most definitely keep me quite happy.

Thank you, Poladroid! (go download. now. trust me on this one. :D )

Kenny: Model, Photographer, Friend. (:

I have to say that despite all the beautiful things I see around me, one of my favorite things to shoot is still portraits of people. Poor Kenny. On our roadtrip I wanted so bad to shoot photos of people in the beautiful places we found that more often than not I forced him to, "Stand there!" for me and pose. He only puts up with it for a moment, but I always manage to snag a few shots before he loses patience with me. (:

But the upside of it all is that, lucky Kenny, I always get a few cool ones of him shooting. Exibition A of cool photographer in the field: [ :D ]

All Time Favorite Wedding Photographers

Ever since I started working with Shanti last summer, I've become slightly obsessed with wedding photographers. When I have spare time, and I know it sounds silly, I often browse the top wedding photographers to see what they're up to.

My favorite, of course, is Shanti herself. She shoots in both film and digital and manages, in a very traditional manner, to really capture the story of the wedding without letting the images themselves get in the way of the couple's love story.

Image ©Shanti Duprez

Jessica Claire is a cute little wedding and fine art photographer with a bit of quirk and flare that makes her unique and endlessly interesting. On days when I don't just admire her artwork, I'm wishing I could be just like her in every other way. :D

Image ©Jessica Claire

Gene Higa is a San Francisco based wedding photographer who, a bit like Shanti, really focuses in on illustrating the story of the couple being married without letting his images get in the way.

Image ©Gene Higa

One of my other all time favorites? Jose Villa. Based in Southern California, the coolest people hire him to photograph their weddings and he does them more than justice. For proof just check out the sock phonemon he's got going on. How much cooler can you get?

Image ©Jose Villa

The moral of the story? Some days I just really want to be a destination weddng photographer. *sigh*