tomika d.

a worthy start

2011-07-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

2011-07-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try and update this more often; Mainly out of complete boredom that I experience most days at my job. Because I don't want to carry my big SLR around with me all the time and film is a luxury that I cannot always indulge in, I've decided to start documenting a little more of what goes on in my life through the lens of my phone camera.

Not that my life is super interesting or anything, however, it is nice to tuck these little memories away to look back on later.

I'm looking forward to starting my three day weekend which will include hanging out with friends, BBQ's, swimming, and basically anything else that will get me out in the sun. Last weekend looked a little like this..

2010-11-28T17:59:00.000-08:00

I've always been a big fan of cooking and was somewhat forced to learn at a young age. Lately I've been taking a whole new approach on purchasing and preparing groceries; buying organic as much as possible, keeping track of price differences (this weekend I went to 4 different places to complete my grocery list.. yikes!), buying bulk grains and spices, keeping meals as healthy as possible, experimenting etc.

Last night I took a few of my favorite dishes and put them together and decided to document it. (click on photos to view larger)

shrimp seasoned with pepper, lemon pepper, chayenne pepper, garlic granules and lemon juice

chanterelle mushrooms, portobello, brussel sprouts and garlic

kale steamed and seasoned with bragg aminos

portobello seasoned with bragg liquid aminos, pepper, garlic granules and grilled

dressing made with veganaise, dill and lemon juice

chanterelle mushrooms simmering in butter, garlic and seasoned with pepper and salt

let the chanterelles cook for a few minutes and added shrimp

shrimp and mushroom mix on a bed of kale

steamed brussel sprouts and portobello mixed with lemon dill dressing
the end

found photos

2010-11-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

I randomly collected these photos in 2008 from the Anne Bonny. This little boy definitely grew up in style and his mom is a babe. My inherent jealousy is to a great extent.

1965-1969

February 1965 (front)

February 1965 (back)

January 1966

January 1966

February 1966

February 1966

May 1966

July 1966

October 1966

January 1967

September 1967

April 1968

April 1968

August 1968

November 1968

April 1969

Vain at Hard Times

2010-06-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

NYC

2010-06-24T09:29:00.001-07:00

Selling my closet

2010-06-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

(not really)

It's that time of the year again!

2010-06-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Lauren!

2010-06-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

inspiration hasn't been a good companion to me lately; however, i can feel it itching its way back into my life.

tara thomas

2010-03-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

my favorite photo from the series i shot of tara for my final at PCNW

Earthy armpit hair

2010-02-10T14:19:00.000-08:00

I sometimes forget how great my life has been the last 7 years living in Seattle. I feel very fortunate to have met so many solid people who accept me for who I am, have been of great inspiration and have helped me to become who I am today. I'm glad that there are memories like these to remind of that as well as how much of a dork I really am.

Taken by Lauren Max july 2008

This is my sappy post for the year.

Love at first sight

2010-02-08T16:32:00.000-08:00

busted - day two

2010-02-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

over the weekend i fainted and woke up in the dark on the bathroom floor with my face cut in a few places. this photo doesn't really do justice to how my face looks in person. this morning i woke up even more bruised and swelling.

&c.

2010-02-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

Wanted to show a little somethin' from the shoot on Sunday for &c. jewelry. This is a quick edit I did which will not be the final edit. So much work to do! So much excitement! I can't wait to see the final lay out.

etcetera jewelry

2010-01-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

Meghann, the designer behind etcetera jewelry, creates pieces that are unique, eye catching and timeless. She is influenced by her grandmothers native american heritage and strives to instill the same values of story telling, refuse and good medicine, within her work. She is interested in the apocalypse, anarchy and how these things might also be relevent to artmaking.

Above is a test shot her and I worked on last week featuring one of her necklaces. This saturday we are having a photo shoot with models and from then on I will be working on product shots. I feel very fortunate to be involved in the creation of her first look book. I think she has a lot of talent and have no doubt her jewelry is going to be successful.

Daily Candy took an interest in her jewelry and wrote about it. Check it out here and she also has a blog.

Please check out her jewelry and support your local artists!

a long time coming

2010-01-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

i've been expressing interest in establishing a selling account on ETSY for a while now and to no surprise it has taken me an unnecessary amount of time to accomplish such an easy task.
Last week I looked around my apartment and was uneasy with the realization that I have purchased a lot of stuff that I never use or wear.
When it comes to clothing and accessories I couldn't help my urge to buy and desire to collect rare vintage items. Unfortunately, with some, I never carried on with its intended use. Its time to let go. This is me growing up, no more splurging and finally getting rid of treasures that should be appreciated, so check out my ETSY shop and enjoy!

2010-01-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

I started attending the Photographic Center Northwest (http://www.pcnw.org) January 5th and so far have been mostly learning technical skills. To be honest it hasn't been much of a challenge for me yet, but I am looking forward to what is to come. These photographs are just a few that I have done for my last two assignments. They're not amazing or anything but I like them.

1st Assignment - Experiment with ISO, aperture and shutter speed while trying to achieve correct light exposure.

2nd Assignment - All about shutter speed.

viande assassin

2009-12-02T23:19:00.000-08:00

sneak peek from yesterdays photo shoot

2009-11-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

After lots of talk of working with eachother on a shoot, I met with my friend William, who is a hair stylist at Vain, last Wednesday and planned a concept for a shoot. Immediately after, I started working on finding a model and planning each shot in story line format. I had a week to plan 4-5 shots, get together a crew, figure out locations and wardrobe; It was a little stressful but I feel like I handled it well, although when it came close to go time I felt the pressure rising and couldn't help but to feel a bit nervous.

The day started at 9am and ended around 8pm. The day included us getting kicked out of a grocery store, taking about 200 photos in the rain and handling the insides of animals. I couldn't be happier with how the shots turned out and everyones performance. More photos to come..

Model - Isabel Arcelia Trujillo
Hair - William Scott Blair
Makeup - Britney McGowne
Photo assistant - Nick Bartoletti

(click on photo to view large)

killing memories

2009-11-12T11:23:00.001-08:00

holding onto memories is something I’m fond of, however, there are some memories that tend to be ones you can't seem to let go of. Ones that you had no choice to have: it is what life has dealt you. It’s not an easy process but I am learning to take that part of myself, that memory, forgive and forget and kill it.

2009-10-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

click on photo to view large

I love this!

2009-10-06T16:05:00.001-07:00

ReadyMade

nom nom nom

2009-09-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

i like popcorn

2009-09-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

an old favorite

2009-09-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Summer didn’t stick around long enough here in the Pacific Northwest. It always seems to flash before my eyes and all I’m left with are memories through photographs and a lot of hangovers. While I enjoy the heat, I am looking forward to autumn. The change of ambience, the exhibit of some of my favorite colors, layering clothes and new hopeful feelings are just some of the things I love about seasons changing.

I decided to post this photo because it is a great memento that sums up this last summer for me. Filled with change, excitement, intrigue, new great friends, and most important to me - a reminder that things will be alright, even at their lowest and to not despair.

The lovely Jenna De Rosa

2009-09-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

in an AD for Lucky Vintage

I worked as vintage clothing buyer/trainer for three years and Lucky Vintage, in my opinion, is definitely one of the best authentic vintage stores in the Seattle area. Staying true to vintage style, she hand picks jems from the 1920's - 1970's. You can also check out what Lucky has for sale on Ebay & Etsy (seller ID - Luckyvintage)

Lucky Vintage
4742 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 523-6621

Check out my flickr here! (click images to view bigger)

Keep an eye out for the AD in local papers!

2009-07-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

GIMME GIMME GIMME!!

2009-06-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

AAAMMAAAZZZZINNGGG!!

coming soon to etsy

2009-06-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Lucky Vintage

2009-06-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

took this over the weekend for a lucky vintage ad. (click image to see bigger)

this isnt the photo we're going to use.. jenna and i were playing around with it in photoshop to get some sort of idea how to add the logo and other text.

keep an eye out in the stranger, seattle weekly and possibly sound magazine for the ad!

you can check out the ebay store and also the shop in the u-dist.
myworld.ebay.com/luckyvintage&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:S...

4742 University Way NE
(between 47th St & 50th St)
Seattle, WA 98105

another job well done

2009-05-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

it's gratifying to see friends creative work published.

congratulations sea kay!

almost something

2009-05-23T04:05:00.001-07:00

one of the first photos i took of chris mansfield aka fences

Schedule
DateTime Stage
Sunday, May 24 3:15pm to 4:00pm Yeti

can someone bring me one of these, please?!

2009-05-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

lost of this lately

2009-05-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

and bad posture.

jenna de rosa

2009-05-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

young, talented and gorgeous

http://www.jenna-derosa.com
website still under construction

(click images to view larger)

yes, please.

2009-05-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

2009-04-09T17:26:00.001-07:00

my coworker just told me that my drink of choice which is vodka diet coke w/ lemon is called a skinny black bitch

how appropriate

2009-04-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

taking a bit of a hiatus
organizing/decorating to do, photos to edit, crafts, being alone
and looking forward to it
i'll be spending a lot of time in my (new) apartment
today is day two of not smoking
10 days off of work in august
decided to spend it in seattle
meet me at the beach..

(photo by kyle johnson)

random random monday

2009-04-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

my new sweater is itchy but too cute not to wear

the warm weather makes me feel good
bringin' back old feelings + generating new ones

this city is too small

is blogging the new livejournal + does anyone else think twitter is ridiculous?!
yes yes

got a cheap 35mm point & shoot thriftin
quick snapping
time for scouting + shoot ideas

sober hiatus day one

it's nice out + i'm sitting in an office.. boo!
would rather be at the park enjoying a big ice tea.. with someone.

bryce burritos trader joes 2 1/2 hours to go

show me something inspiring..

new york new york

2009-04-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

i've been day dreamin' a lot about new york for a while now
i'm planning a trip next spring
i know its going to blow my mind and i will want to move there

i'm ok with that

don't want to be in seattle forever.
this may will be 6 years for me & this shits getting booooring

so tell me what you like/dislike about NYC..

i want to be convinced to deal with the extreme weather

2009-03-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

i took some photos at the couture carnival benefit fashion show tonight for lucky vintage. (not sure who the slips were from - not lucky vintage) i caught a few shots from pro-foto strobes going into a beauty dish on someone else's set up (obviously). sick.

i haven't posted in a while because i haven't had internet (i do now!) and no longer have a digital camera (soon!). most of my free time has been occupied by setting up my new apartment and i'm ready to start shooting again. i just finished a roll, in portland, of 35mm with an old german camera that i borrowed from meg..

more soon from that and the fashion show

new things are happening

2009-02-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

soon baby, soon.

capturing the sunset

2009-02-11T23:58:00.000-08:00

meg is my valentine. we make one another very happy and cry when we laugh. we try to make the best of our times. this time was spent taking photos, watching the sunset, talks of life and offering my knowledge of a manual camera settings.

thats a wrap!

2009-02-08T02:59:00.001-08:00

the end of another great photo shoot.
today was a long day of preparing and snapping. im stoked about the end results but mostly what made this a great shoot, for me to do, was all the laughter and tears that were involved.

this was the last photo taken. for me it's a perfect capture of how we felt at the time; we had nothing more in us. giving up patience and trying not to make anymore of a mess.

a good mess.

more soon to follow..

(click to view larger)

nostalgia

2009-02-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

will you kiss me again so i can pretend we're kissing for the first time?
because when we kissed for the first time i was distracted.

i couldn't believe it was true that i was truly really finally kissing you...

self portrait

2009-02-01T16:57:00.001-08:00

we got a new couch last friday. i haven't had a couch that i could fully lay on in a long time. shits real.

i also purchased a few new lighting toys today at glaziers and just couldn't wait to use them.

if only life was always how this picture makes me feel.

2009-01-28T22:11:00.000-08:00

i can't wait for summer, cotton dresses, grass, photos and friends all around.