I had to interrupt this regularly scheduled photography blog to bring you a personal post all about my mom.  Being my #1 fan, I just have to wish her a BIG happy birthday.  Here are a few photos from my recent trip back home in St. Louis at our favorite annual tradition, Cardinals Opening day.

Happy Birthday Maude!  I love you!

This weekend I had the opportunity to display and sell some of my personal photography (see my vintage art photography post).  For those of you who came out to visit, thank you, thank you!  I really loved seeing all the familiar faces and really appreciate all your support!.  As many people expressed interest in attending but couldn’t here’s how it went.

My set up:

The boy and I decided to go check out some art before everything got started.  I, of course, brought the camera.

A little sangria for the walk. Yum :)

Of the few galleries I actually got to see… this was by far my favorite.  Besides being a fan of dragons, this was absolutely amazing!  But even if one isn’t, you can’t help but appreciate the amount of time and intricate details that went into these sculptures.  The light, the fabric, wire, bits of flair, it was so well thought out and executed.  The artist said it was a 5 month process working 80 hours a week and help with sewing the fabrics. I think the results paid off.

I made the boy pose for a few shots.. come on… I’m a photographer. I think it’s required.

The think tank.  The loft my friend so graciously let me show my work in.  Complete with retro beer vending machine, retro robot, and his rockin urban art set up.

My good photographer friend, Holly Steen of Cakes and Kisses Wedding Photography showed up to support me too!  Heart her.  Thanks Jeff for the great photo!

Holly was sweet enough to take some photos of me and my photography too.  Thanks for the photos Holly!

I wound up doing fairly well for this being one of my first art/photography showings.  I was actually most pleased with the response from my work.  Everyone seemed to genuinely like my photography and the style in which I presented it. I got lots of questions about my process and met some really great art fans!  Thanks to all who signed up for my mailing list too!

I still have some prints left over (and buttons too), so if you’re interested in purchasing any, I will be getting a store up on my site eventually, but for now just email me at shannon@shannonleeimages.com and I’ll hook ya up.

Some of you may be wondering why I have been MIA all week and curious about my cryptic facebook and twitter updates.  Here’s a little explanation:

On Monday, after receiving an email from a friend, my life was completely put on hold.  He rents a loft at the Los Angeles Brewery, an artist’s loft community.  Twice a year, over 150 lofts open their doors to the public, for the Brewery Art Walk.  My friend graciously offered me space in his loft to display and perhaps sell some of my personal work.  Thrilled for the opportunity, I wondered what I was going to be able to pull together in such a short time.

After a long run that evening, I decided to blend two of my favorite things: vintage and lomography.  I came up with these:

These are 5×5 prints on linen paper to make them a little thicker and give them some texture.  I will sell them in little packs of 4 that can be strung and hung with little clips, framed and used as general decor or anything else you can think of!

WHCC was so amazing and had these to me within two days without an extra charge.  I opened them today and almost started crying.  They are so perfect and more than I could have ever imagined.

I was also THRILLED to get my rush order of prints on buttons!!  They are so adorable.

Live in Los Angeles and interested in attending the Brewery Art Walk this weekend? Here are the details!

From the Brewery’s ArtWalk website:

The Brewery ArtWalk is a twice annual open studio weekend at the worlds largest art complex. With over 100 participating resident artists, you will have the opportunity to see new works, discover new favorites, speak with the artists and purchase artwork directly from the artists at studio prices.

Admission is free and so is parking. Come and support LA’s finest artists and take home some great works.

WHAT: Brewery Art Walk

WHERE: 2100 N. Main, Los Angeles, CA 90031

(at the 5 HWY and Main) I’ll be located in 620 Moulten #215 (upstairs) so be sure to stop by! Free candy!

WHEN: Sat & Sun, Oct 24 & 25, 2009

11-6 every day

I’ll be there from 10-1 on Sat and ALL day on Sunday.  Be sure to stop by at one of those times if you want to see me!  My lovely and very gracious friend will be covering my space for me while I can not be present.

Did you see it’s FREE?! Parking is free too! so come out this weekend.  It’s really a lovely afternoon.

Can’t make it this weekend?  I’ll be selling these prints and buttons online after this weekend and once I find the perfect place to sell.  Know of any great sites for this kind of selling? Let me know!  shannon@shannonleeimages.com

After deciding a second camera is necessary for all the weddings I have coming up this fall, I decided a full frame sensor was the way to go.  Many people ask what exactly that means.  I put my new full frame camera to the test almost immediately after opening the box!  Using the 16-35mm 2.8 lens on both bodies, I shot this mocked up comparison shoot with the lenses.  (and the help of my mom :))

As you can see, both images were taken at the same ISO, same f-stop, same shutter, same wide lens of 16mm, but they look QUITE different.  Although it’s no where near an exact comparison to the differences a full frame body vs a cropped sensor can give you, hopefully this helps to understand the EXTREME difference between the two sensors.

And that brings us to 5D MK II.  Please aquaint yourself.  World, meet 5D.  5D, meet world.

Opening the box!

Out of the box!  Finally! :)

That little rechargeable wonder… the battery wouldn’t charge fast enough! I wanted to shoot straight away.

And as you can tell, from above, I finally did get to try my new little beauty out. Only 6 shots in, I’m in LOVE!! I have THREE photo sessions this weekend and I can’t WAIT to try out the new camera…

… oh and but of course, my first picture with my new camera of course taken by yours truly. (with the 40D)

Stay tuned for loads more blogging updates!!

It was amazing to see the transformation this quiet town takes on during their beloved Ann Arbor Art Fair. For blocks and blocks lining the beautiful campus streets are closed as local (and sometimes far) vendors set up their goods in white canvas tents. For 4 days only, people flood the streets of the event to look at the art and search for treasures.

Trying on new shades.. :)

Everything feels “arty” here.  Even the fire hydrants are painted differently throughout the area.

Young voices of children running through the crowds filled the air with delight while the vendors quickly chattered about all there precious creations.  Water bottles were sold by girl scouts for charity.  No one has met a stranger here and everything is so homey and quaint.

The streets were lined with not only crafts but loads and loads of FOOD. It’s times like these I think no wonder American’s are so chubby.

But we couldn’t resist the locally owned Stucchi’s for some delicious ice cream and frozen yogurt. I’ve never seen another restaurant with so many options for frozen yogurt that tastes so much like ice cream it’s hard to tell them apart. (I had mint chocolate chip, yum :))

These little locally owned shops are maybe my favorite bit about Michigan and in particular, Ann Arbor.  An unfamiliar array of restaurants, hole in the wall food joints, and creative shops line the streets offering customers an alternative to the chain restaurants that dominate so many cities.   Everything is cleaner and safe and the food is fresher and tastier. There are recycle bins on every corner, an abundance of bike rental shops, and plenty of bike racks all over town.  It’s completely refreshing to see a town that is so safe and clean and lovely in America and I can only hope it will start carrying over in more and more cities soon.