Monday, June 30, 2008

Snoopy and Dock Dogs

It's been a bit hectic- we've had 2 friends with very sick (ie, in the hospital) children, so I saw my fair share of the Med Center this week. So, when I wasn't holding Megan, praying for our friends, or thanking all the powers that be that Meg is well and wonderful, I managed to take a few shots of my sister-in-law's new production of "Snoopy" which is playing at The Company Onstage, and the Dock Dogs competition at Discovery Green.

First, Charlie Brown:

IMG_0845
Kathryn is Peppermint Patty, who carries a torch for Charlie Brown.

IMG_1352

Snoopy and Woodstock:
IMG_0820

Megan has seen it almost 3 times now (she missed part of one rehearsal), and was singing along with the cast from the audience when she saw it this weekend.
IMG_1173
Yes, she has her feet on the stage.

A little food pr0n:
Waffles and Wings, The Breakfast Klub.
KBN_21841
I have never been so stuffed and miserable, and yet so totally happy after brunch.

Dock Dogs- now, this was fun. Basically it's a dog (with a serious affinity for water) with an owner that chucks a toy into this GIANT pool from a platform that resembles a dock (elevated above the water a few feet) and they judge the performance by the distance of the dog's jump into the water. Megan was SO up for this.
KBN2_1921

Of course, there were a few dogs that were hesitant to jump:
KBN2_1985

But for the most part, we saw some great doggie athletes.
KBN2_1957

IMG_2042


KBN_21847

And of course, the day couldn't have been complete with a little humiliation of my favorite Nikon shooter:
KBN2_2011

Good times. GOOD times.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Child Overload

Multiplicity, Take Two

I have had the fun and good fortune to be able to stay home with my 5-year-old daughter, Megan, for the last 2 weeks- since school is out and we're getting ready to re-locate (some day), I currently am without an 8-5 job. Now, mind you, Megan has been in daycare or school since she was 8 weeks old, and I have only been at home with her a total of about 4 months total out of the entire 5 years she has been alive, so this is a very new thing for both of us.

I have only been about to kill her 11,543 times in 2 weeks.

Ok, I may be exaggerating just a little bit, but I think you catch my drift. But there definitely have been some beautiful highlights to the last 2 weeks, and it is so fun to get to see her from the minute I get up (because she wakes up first) to the minute she goes to bed (because I am in the terrible habit of staying up WAY too late).

For example, she left her very first prank voicemail message. (I am still looking for the page in her baby book that commemorates that landmark developmental step.) One of the actors/writers that was involved in the 48 Hour Film Project, Adam, had quite an impact on Megan.

KBN_21294

I am sure you can understand why. He wears makeup.

He challenged her to a dance-off during filming, and she was quite taken with him, until she decided that he was too tall, too cute, and too funny for her.
KBN_20912

A few days later when Kathryn was calling around to see when people would be arriving for the premiere of the film, Adam told her that he and Megan had a 4:30 reservation at Chuck-E Cheese, so he would be arriving sometime after their date. So, it is fair to say that he opened the door for this.

The following Sunday we were all gathered at my in-law's house for Father's day. Kathryn recounted what Adam had said earlier that week, and I said, "Well, I think Megan needs to call him and tell him off for not showing for their date!" This is how awesome my kid is: she did it. After several rehearsals to make sure she remembered everything (lines supplied by Kathryn and myself), we called and got Adam's voicemail. Here is her message:

"Adam. It's Megan. I waited for you at Chuck-E Cheese and you never showed up. I am very disappointed. CALL ME WHEN YOU GROW UP. Bye."

I tear up with pride just thinking about it.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

No Autographs, Please.

You know, fame can really change a person. I mean, I still put on my pants one leg at a time, just like the rest of you, but the difference is that after I put on my pants? I'm "Woman in Cafe."

KBN_21147

So, after catching up on sleep for 2 days, I am down to the last 250 images (of around 1300) from the 48 Hour Film Project. It was the most amazing experience - I watched a film go from a room of people throwing out random ideas to the first "action!" to "that's a wrap" to "crap, it's 22 seconds too long" to "oh my god, WE DID IT!" The crew from SWD was top notch- brilliantly creative, resilient, hilarious, gung-ho, and damned good looking. It was a delight to capture them, and I am overwhelmed to have been included in the project.


48 Hour Filmmaker: Houston 2008


Update:
Here is a blog post from our director, Dutch, about his experience:
Dutch's Blog

Saturday, June 7, 2008

48HFP - 28 Hours In...

OH MY GOD I AM SO TIRED. We had a 6am cast call, so I've been up since 5:30. I am emptying my 8 gig card, 890+ images (and there at the end I was deleting anything I could tell was crap from the viewfinder). They started out over in the Heights in an old garage/barn/storage thing that someone owns, then moved around the corner to the market there at Heights and 6th, then shot at a building that is being built-out from the studs that is sandwiched between the barn and the marketplace, then finally to an office building over in the Galleria (where they were shooting the last scene when I left them an hour ago).

Let me just say this. I WANT TO BE A FILM NERD. It is SO FREAKING awesome to work around creative people, and the affinity for good lighting gets a cinematography nerd just as bad as a photography nerd. Basically, I stood around with the lighting techs, the director of photography and the director and we snorted and geeked out over the cool set-ups and AWESOME sunset we had today. I am so glad I got to do this.

I'm not the only one who geeked out about watching the filming- Megan and Kip came by to watch for awhile, and Megan was completely intrigued by what goes on behind the scenes of a movie. I think what helped a lot was that Kathryn is the star of the show, the genre they drew was "Film de Femme" so they needed a strong female lead actress. She acted her ASS off, going on only minutes of sleep. I was totally impressed by everyone involved in the production.

Oh, yeah. AND I'M IN THE MOVIE.

BOO-YA, BITCHES!!!

I'm gonna take a nap now, until the composer calls me to come shoot him while he is working with the initial cut of the film.

Friday, June 6, 2008

48HFP

I am totally having the most awesome weekend ev-AR! My sister-in-law, Kathryn, is part of a film crew making a movie for the 48 Hour Film Project here in Houston, and I'm photographing the "Behind the Scenes" shots for them. They have an amazing group collected for this project, and are frantically writing the script and planning the shoots for tomorrow as I am at home editing their photos (and, of course, blogging like a tween after a Hannah Montana concert).

Oh, yes. I have a lanyard. AND a black binder. I'M A PART OF IT! I GOT MELON SQUISHINS ALL OVER ME!

So, if you check out my Flickr photostream, you'll see gobs of stuff from this evening- the team drew for their film genre, and got some of the required elements (prop, line of dialog and character), I was there to snap away (and even participate in the creative process) at their creative genius.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

In Memory



Just found out today that Joseph Guilbeau passed away last Tuesday. I had the privilege of photographing Joseph on two separate occasions: last August at a performance he gave for National Night Out in his neighborhood, and then this past March at his home. I will miss his grocery store serenades. I will miss his thick Cajun accent. Mostly I will miss seeing how life radiated from him when he talked about music.