Rayko's 3rd Annual International Juried Plastic Camera Show

I am honored to be a part of the RayKo 3rd International Juried Plastic Camera Show in San Francisco, California. The opening reception is February 26 and the show will be up until April 17.

Click here for more information about the RayKo Photo Center and the exhibition.

I Spy with my Plastic Eye Exhibit at A&I Hollywood

Last night I attended the gallery reception for an exhibit I am a part of -- I Spy With My Plastic Eye.

The exhibit pays homage to the plastic camera and my print "Childhood Memories", shot with my Holgaroid, is one of many amazing images in the exhibit. I feel so honored that I was asked to participate in this show.

The exhibit is at A&I Hollywood and benefits WeSpark, which provides free cancer support services.

A fine art book sponsored by HP is available for sale, featuring all images from the show with shot details and artists commentaries. The book is $40 and you can purchase it by clicking here.





Here is Aline Smithson's foreword to the book:


I Spy With My Plastic Eye is an exhibition visualized by photographer Astor Morgan. The exhibit, brought to life by A&I, is a testament to the unique qualities of toy cameras. Each artist approached their imagery with a singular voice, using a variety of film types, techniques and cameras. The photographs in this book speak of gesture, of time passing, of simplicity and complexity, allowing for a wide range of expression. And all of this magic has been captured through an inexpensive plastic lens, part of an inexpensive plastic camera that inspires discovery and serendipity. And that is the best part.

-Aline Smithson

Polaroid Team on Etsy

I was invited to join the Polaroid Team on Etsy and they recently showcased one of my Polaroid images on their blog. Click here to view the blog entry.

Etsy teams are groups of organized Etsy members who network, share skills, and promote their shops and Etsy together. The Polaroid Team has shooting with Polaroids as their common interest and passion.

Miss Scarlett

Holgaroid Images from the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs

Two Holgaroid images from my trip to the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs in June of this year.

Click here to read my previous entry on my trip to this fantastic hotel.

Happy 100th Birthday Santa Monica Pier

Happy 100th Birthday Santa Monica Pier.

My hope is that the images I have shot and will continue to shoot will pay tribute to a place that I love and hold close to my heart.

Santa Monica Pier images for sale on my Etsy site - click here.

See the images on Flick here.

A Little Piece of Home Journal

Don't you wish you could always have with you a little piece of home?

With Kolo's Essex Album customized by me you can.

Santa Monica, my hometown, has many iconic landmarks and I've included some of them in this lovely journal.

The Santa Monica Carousel and Ferris Wheel
Station 26 Lifeguard station
Vintage postcards of Santa Monica
A vintage map of Santa Monica from 1940
A glassine envelope where you can add a Santa Monica bus token or some other trinket

The rest of it is for YOU to fill out yourself with what you consider to be your personal little pieces of home.

The journal can also be additionally customized by adding a 2010 calendar (standard or accordion-style) or an address book.

Click here to purchase this beautiful little book.

Size of book - 5x5" x 3.6"
Each book has two inserts - photo sleeves (one already filled with an image) and
a blank journal insert which includes a glassine envelope. The address book or calendar can also be added for an additional fee.

There is also a pocket in the back of the book

Ace Hotel & Swim Club - Palm Springs

My good friend and fellow photographer, Laurie Bailey, came back from this hotel a couple of weeks ago and told me immediately that I had to go there myself. I went to their website and I was hooked!

The Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs was a former Howard Johnson that had fallen into disrepair. It reopened as the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in February of this year.

I don't consider myself the queen of hip but I immediately felt at home in this hotel -- from the record player in your room, the vintage-looking bikes you can ride and the old GMC van near the swimming pool (I looked for a choke inside the van but alas there wasn't one, my Dad's 1969 Ford van had one).






When you hang out in the pool or eat in their great restaurant you hear Bill Withers, Johhny Cash and Nick Drake over their sound system. There is also a real and I mean real photo booth in their lobby (which I went a little crazy with since it takes credit cards). I mean you just can't beat it.





I asked hotel management if I could photograph their hotel and they immediately said yes. So I brought every camera I own and every type of film I had in my fridge and shot away. I even shot a roll of (don't freak out people)......Kodachrome film and used a pack of my very precious Polaroid Viva Type 80 film with my Holgaroid.



I will definitely be going back there some time this summer to shoot more.

I'm Going to be Announcing Something Very Exciting in the Next Few Days

Yes, this blog entry is a teaser to something very, very big that I'm going to be doing. It is something that is going to involve all of YOU.

Check the blog again in the next couple of days for more details.

One of My Favorite Blogs {frolic!}

One of my absolutely favorite style blogs is {frolic!} created and written by photo stylist/floral designer extraordinaire Chelsea Fuss. Chelsea wrote today about my Holgaroid work, wedding photography and Etsy store. I feel so honored to be a part of her blog and look forward to reading it every day.

Click here to view the blog entry.

Station 26 - Santa Monica Beach - Holgaroid Image

As many of you know I'm working on a Santa Monica project. I went to my favorite lifeguard station yesterday, Station 26, but realized once I got there that I forgot a necessary piece of equipment to shoot it TTV. So instead I whipped out my Holgaroid camera and shot this image.

Being on that beach yesterday morning at 8:30 am reminded me so much of hanging out at the beach with my Dad while he surfed the waves. It brought me right back to being 8 years old.

I came home yesterday and anxiously went to my computer to see if this film was still available on Polapremium. Much to my disappointment it is not and I have only one more pack of this film.

This image will eventually be available on my Etsy site.

Polaroid Image in Lightleaks Magazine

I was so excited to see in my mailbox today my copy of Lightleaks magazine. They decided to dedicate the whole issue to Polaroid film and one of my images was showcased. If you would like to purchase the issue, click here.

The Missing Element

Here is the missing element from my photography project. Keep checking the blog to get more details.

Sneak Peek Into My New Photography Project

Here is a sneak peek of my latest photography project. There is an important element missing from these photos which I will tell you about in my next post.


The photo below shows all the camera equipment I used yesterday for the project.

New Rare Camera in my Repertoire

I bought this rare homemade camera recently and finally got around to trying it out. I went to the Santa Monica Pier on Tuesday and then went to Disneyland on Wednesday. It is made of wood and has the shutter from a large format camera and a 35mm Pentax lens. It creates very unique looking images. The camera back is from an old Graflex 120 camera. The great thing about the camera is it has a Polaroid back so once you have the correct exposure you just pop on the film back and shoot away and you know you've got the shot.
Here are a couple of Polaroids. I hope to somehow integrate this camera into my wedding work. Haven't tried shooting a person with it yet. That will be next.