I did not bring any wigs to Denver, so my Chameleon Shoots were not an option during my down time in the city, but I had another fun challenge that I love to do with my photography… Street photography with my Iphone. Here are some of my favorite images taken. I love documenting the world around me. I try to capture moments that tell a story, and that, in 20 or 40 or 60 years, will hold time for future generations to see.
Jonathon the Alien is back at Area 51
I just got back from a long drive to Area 51. This was the perfect day to bring Jonathon back home. Let me tell you about Jonathon the Alien. I am allowed to now that he is no longer with us.
A year ago, while I was at a Sonic Drive-Thru, I heard a knock on my passenger door. I opened it and in hopped a creature from out of this world. I took him home and we fostered him for the last year.
Here are some beautiful memories we created throughout the last year of living with an alien. Enjoy.
Jonathon the first day we met. He did not know how to use a seat belt after my asking him many times to put it on…
We stopped off for him to “Call Home”…that did not work as he did not know any numbers to call.
A few days later, after hiding out in our house, we took him out for a movie at the beach. He loved Toy Story and especially these guys!
We introduced him to our family. Here is Maci making faces at him and welcoming him to our BBQ outside. Yes, he fit in to the Cotton Family! …
Thinking he may be part fish, we brought Jonathon to the Beach to play. He was afraid of the waves. Ok, so maybe no relation to any fish….
Jonathon was a perfect companion when we had to do our daily chores. Waiting for an oil change on our car was a great time for him to learn how to read and enjoy photos of cars. He asked how we make them fly like his cars do.
So, I told him we wash our cars to make them fly. He loved washing our cars. Jonathon even helped the neighbors wash their cars, too. He was the most popular kid in our ‘hood!
Fall came, so I enrolled him in school. The kids did not notice he was different. Or if they did, they did not care. This is his best friend, Bert. Bert called Jonathon “Ernie” just for a hoot. We all laughed.
For Halloween, Jonathon wanted to be a Power Ranger Ninja. It was such a cool costume. No one in the neighborhood recognized him. (or so we told him…)
Christmas came and we went to a Christmas festival. Jonathon washed the sleigh hoping for it to fly, but it would not. He was disappointed and would not smile for this photo.
We had a great time at the Christmas event. He made wonderful friends there.
Springtime arrived and so did baseball season. Jonathon loved going to Angels games. The fans around him were amazed he actually caught a ball! Check out their expressions in this photo!
We taught Jonathon how to ride a bike! He is a natural. Here we are taking a break from our trek.
…Apparently he is more natural with the ladies, though. After this photo was taken they stopped and picked him up to ride on the back of their bikes. What a fun day.
When summer came, we took him fishing. He liked catching fish and actually compared it to how his friends catch cows and humans on earth. He kept saying “Let’s abduct more fish!”.
In June, we took Jonathon camping with our family. He loved that we could see the stars in the desert sky. He got homesick which made me want to see if I could get him back home. Maybe I could get him to a place where his mothership could come back and pick him up.
The next morning at the campground, Jonathon went to visit the other campers. He joined them for pancakes. He made friends wherever he went.
Oh, summer was so much fun. Jonathon loved the community pool. Here is a photo of him getting some sun. He used SPF 150.
Jonathon had a great time at the local fair! He loved the rides as they reminded him of flying in space. This photo is of him and his most favorite ride, “Alien Abduction”…he rode it 51 times.
Jonathon started shooting with his finger, and I had to tell him…NO…use the cork gun please. He obliged and won a stuffed “Sponge Bob Square Pants” stuffed doll.
One of my favorite images of my favorite alien kid on a horse. He loved it! He wanted to probe the horse, and I said “NO!” …
Jonathon said this tower reminded him of home. He likes towers. He said he wanted to pose “Cool” for his friends in this photo.
We went to visit a college, as we learned last year that Jonathon is so smart he could advance to a Sophomore college level. One of the buildings had a beautiful light display in its windows at night. Jonathon pondered and then told me he had to go back to his own planet. He missed it.
So we went to the forest fo Jonathon to communicate the best he could. His leaders told him, yes, he must head back to Area 51. They will distract the guards with a social media post about storming Area 51 on Sept 20th, so he can sneak in the back entrance and get back to the humans who have a landing site for the mother ship to pick him up.
Sept 20th, 2019 at 5am… Jonathon is sleeping like a baby, (he sleeps with his eyes open). This is the last image I took of him before we left to bring him back to Area 51. He was a good Alien kid. He was the best car washer. and he was an A+ student. We will miss him, but we know he will watching us from above in the UFO that looks like a shooting star in the sky. xo Peace Out my little Grey. Thank you for your visit.
Black and White Hasselblad Film Fun
I had the best time adding some film to my Capturing Souls Portraits last month.
Wow, it certainly took me back to the time we all spent as professional photographers using film. Loading it, storing it, processing it, and now, instead of printing in darkroom…scanning it, then retouching the digital files.
Here are some of my favorite images taken from three sessions, using my 60 mm lens on my hasselblad, with tri400 film.
Grant and Reanna Wilson
Nick Groff
Lee and Jennifer Kirkland
Drive-In Movies
One of the highlights of my trip back East last week was watching Toy Story 4 at the Fairlee, VT Drive-In.
There is nothing like waiting to enter in a line of cars because you get to the Drive-In 5 minutes before the owner removes the chain gate to let you enter. You pass the original box office to drive around to the make-shift ticket booth in front of the motel/RV concession stand.
I asked the ticket taker if Bob was still the projectionist there, knowing truly he was probably retired or dead. The man told me he has not been there for many years, and he is still alive.
We drive the car to the right side of the Projection building, driving up and down over the grassy humps...trying to find the perfect spot with a nice working speaker.
We received a piece of paper with the tickets which was “The Rules of the Drive In”, and realize after we parked in our perfect spot that we are in, it is in the “small vehicle section” and not the SUV or truck section. After a little anxiety attack, I rebel and decide since I know “Bob” I probably won’t be told to move. We also pull out our hidden Ceasar salads to eat like rebels, as no outside food is allowed.
There were other large vehicles near us, plus many who arrive late and block our view of the “must watch” previews as they backed into spaces with their headlights on. There are also many who don’t know how to turn off their motors to keep their 88.7 fm radio on, and those who smoke 10 feet from us. All in all, I loved this classic Drive-In Movie. It truly felt like heaven to me.
Here is a Chameleon Shoot I shot to represent my excitement and anxiety of the Fairlee Drive In. It was a fun, fun, night! (Except Woody should have stayed with his buds in the RV, but that is a different discussion....)
Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Waking up and seeing your Facebook News Feed plastered with the portrait you took of a VIP in the Paranormal Industry and seeing that she has passed away is quite a shock and heartbreaker. Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Rest in Peace.
I was so blessed to have met and photographed Rosemary Ellen Guiley over the past 4 years. Each year she and I talked about her coming to my studio for a session, as she traveled quite a bit to LA and would drive down to my OC studio.
She finally made it happen in January of this year. Not only was it amazing to spend some time with her one on one...the coolest thing was that after the session she was headed up to a Vampire Gathering in Los Angeles. She was the MOST fascinating woman and an inspiration.... It was an honor to capture her soul.
Sending my love to Joe, her family, her friends, and those she inspired in the Paranormal Community. xoxo
June - Summertime is here!
I love June, it is a time to breathe deep and appreciate the warmth and greenery. Today was the day that our weather went from 65 to 85, and wow, Summer is here. I love this image of Fisher and I when we went up to Venice Beach. This is such a great memory of a time gone.
My first Blog Post
I am testing out my blog, with my first post. I decided to share a photo of me dressed as Elvis, eating bananas off of our tree in our back yard.