Finding the Light... in the strangest of places...

Music | Ode to Tip by Fred Anderson

Today I had an assignment to shoot some portraits. The home I shot in had fantastic light, especially upstairs where the bedrooms were. The main shoot was to take place in one of the empty bedrooms where I had some props set up. While getting acquainted with one of my subjects, I made a strange request to shoot in the bathroom of the first floor. This is why...

Looking at Angels...

Music | Spirit Lullaby by Sweet Honey in the Rock

A Place I'd Love to Go!

http://www.heimafilm.com/heima_trailer_files/Heima_trailerx.mov

Beauty is a Rare Thing

Music | Beauty is a Rare Thing by Ornette Coleman

Years ago, I was working an event with Randy Kepple where there were so many amazing and interesting faces, that we decided to hone in and isolate them in our photos. It was a great exercise in study and patience.

Today, during a lull in the event I was shooting, I was able to observe a face as the light danced across it as she moved. Briefly, I got caught up in the beauty of the moment, but was able to pull myself together and photograph her...



I get chills looking at stills from movies I love. The cinematic feel often translates to images in my imagination. Still but moving, having before and after moments that we can only imagine. If you've read any of Haruki Murakami you will have seen this face before, and in your head, you will have created a story.

I Call Dibs on this House First!!!

Music | Maddening by Frou Frou

Maison de Verre - Robert Rubin - New York Times

Flowers...

Music | Mohawk by Charlie Parker

I'm turning into a little flower-boy...

A New Day

Music | Gospel Train (Orchestra) by Tom Waits

I'm not proud to admit I am in the worst shape of my life. Being sedentary in front of a computer has wreaked havoc on my physical and mental well being. I've known that for sometime and did nothing about it. Nothing about it until yesterday... I joined a local fitness club and was given my introduction/orientation this afternoon. I had no idea that I was going to be lifting weights, and getting as many crunches as I could on this particular visit. I spoke with a personal trainer who was testing me for a baseline as to where I would start with all of the various machines. I decided I wanted to tone, shape and define, whats left to save of this middle aged body.

I've committed to make my business as a photographer work 3 years ago and my payoff has responded this year. Now, I'm committing to myself to be a healthier person to live a healthier life.

Step one...

Beauty in Symmetry

Music | Rain by Joey Fehrenbach

I've edited, processed and now putting the finishing touches on one of my commissions. This image threw itself at me and I immediately fell in love with it...

Happy in Chicago

Music | Better by Regina Spektor



I got to go back to the midwest to visit family and friends. I have to say that this trip make me miss Chicago in such a way that I wouldn't mind being back there. I have so many good friends and family nearby. It is tough being out west where my nearest family member is over 2000 miles away...

My previous visits back "home" didn't leave me with much desire to go back. My City was Gone. There stood another city that I couldn't much recognize and I felt I couldn't relate to in the same way as my past.

I'm still not sure what changed and made me feel differently about the city I grew up in. I guess time has a way of changing things and then change them again. I'm all ready looking forward to another visit...

Bullitt

Music | Love Lament by Abbey Lincoln

After having just seen the chase seen in the movie Bullitt, I wanna drive my car really fast...

Laying Down the Foundation

Music | Sweet Thing by Chaka Khan

Erio Mishima Photographié began in the fall of 2004 and enacted in 2005. The decision to start this new business was difficult for many reasons, but mostly because a large part of my life would have to be left at the side of the road as I try and move forward.

This year, 2007 has been fruitful. Thru sheer luck, a few early snap decisions, great people that I've networked with have culminated in a business that has kept me busy like I have not known for a long time.

This is all new territory and to make a business grow is not without many fears. I'm all ready thinking about 2008 and how I can try to ensure at least the same amount of business as this year. One thing I've never done is to spend money on advertising. My deadlines for 2 venues that I've decided upon was within a day. I did have the forethought to hire a copywriter. Angel Menchaca of Serif Design came thru with a brilliant piece of writing to help me with my ad in My Portland Wedding which can be seen here.
The same copy will also be published along with some of my photography in The 2008 edition of Oregon Bride Wedding Guide.

As Erio Mishima Photographié continues to grow, I'm looking forward to the new challenges that I become faced with. I want the foundation to be strong, so I won't have regrets in the future.

Just a pretty face...

Music Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap

I haven't been posting much, cause I've been working a lot. However, I've decided I can always post a photo or 2 from jobs and commissions I'm working on. So I'll be posting favorites more often.

To start off, here is Analaise just after we met...

Robot Boy

Come Here Boy by Imogen Heap

Connection

Music | Blues Connotation by Ornette Coleman

Sometimes I really love the internet. As cold and distant it can be, on rare occasions it brings together the world in ways no one would have ever imagined. I was thinking this as I was signing off on correspondence with my Japanese name to a black woman who lives in Atlanta. She had spent a few years in Yokohama working as a musician and fell in love with the Japanese culture. I was reminiscing about a Jazz bar in Yokohama called the Minton House. I found those photos and it brought me back to when I was there. Late evening with my 2 cousins, a girl who had a huge crush on me, music to the likes of John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Miles Davis, beer and edemame...

One really has to think how all things are really connected...

Fly...

Music | Without Anything to Numb You by Sia Furler

I've often leaned upon those closest to me for support. In times of vulnerability, we seek those with like minds to fend off our demons. Having support to know (or think) we are going in the right direction is important.

I'm going thru one of the busiest times for my business right now, ever. You'd think I'd have my master plan in place where everything is running on automatic. HA! Far from that charming thought, I'm moving along at a decent pace, but with trepidations I need to work out.

The number of files I'll be processing in the next 4 to 5 months is staggering, to me at least. And in trying to put my signature on each and every image I am finding is going to be the biggest challenge. I want to keep fresh and grow, yet keep my vision my own. I've refused to visit forums I used to frequent, mostly because I felt I had to keep up with the Jones' and jump on the bandwagon of the latest coolest software. I'm certainly much more open to my own thoughts, but with that comes my doubts.

I've confided with a few of my closest associates in the business on various topics where I feel I'm not stable and frankly, I'm not hearing what I thought I wanted to hear. I'm feeling more in a quandary than I ever have. This isn't the time to be feeling this way. I think however that I have to hop out of the nest and just do what I do. If it feels good, do it. I've accumulated enough knowledge to step off.

more later... my head hurts.

More Homage...

Music | Urban Angel by Natalie Walker





I remember as a kid my Dad would always keep the car nice and clean. We'd go out for a drive around town for some ice cream or to visit some relatives on Sundays. It was the day he had off to do whatever he wanted to do and usually, it meant going somewhere in the car.

I can remember every car he had since I was born...
1957 Chevy 4 door Bel Air
1962 Chevy Impala
1966 Chevy Caprice (the nicest car - my Dad let me drive when I was a kid. It ended up getting stolen...)
1969 Chevy Camero
1972 Chevy Nova
1975 Chevy Malibu
1980 Chevy Citation (which eventually became my car... ewwwww)
1985 Honda Accord
1986 Oldsmobile
1992 Pontiac Bonneville
1999 Toyota Camry (which he still drives today)

The Bird...

Music | The Chill of October by Client

As I was cropping this image, this song came on and I thought how appropriate... It's a sad photograph, but like the character in American Beauty, I found beauty in it.

Numbers Game...

Music | Durian by The Cinematic Orchestra

My busy season officially began as of last Friday. First, a rehearsal dinner, a wedding and an engagement session the following days jump started me into the frenzy that won't end until October.

With the exception of the rehearsal dinner, my file count seems to have gone up from previous events. Actually, I was wearing my final shot count for an event as a badge of honor. I know of photographers that would shoot in excess of 2000 to 3000 photos for a wedding. My numbers were always anywhere between 400 to 700. My view was that I'd wait for the moment and get what I needed as opposed to grabbing at a sequence and hope "the shot" was in there.

Of the weddings that I have shot this year, my average numbers have been noticeably, up. My count has been consistent at around the 900 area. I don't know what it means, I may never know. It's a phenomenon, just like the question I posed to myself about colour photos vs Black and White I talked about earlier. Is it growth, maturity, or just the changing nature of taking LOTS of photographs...?

This is the way I like to roll...

Music | All the Things You Are by Charles Mingus

Back in the late 90's, I had a 1985 Volkswagen Jetta GLi. I did little things to it to make the driving experience more personal. It was an amazingly fun car to drive. I kept that car thru to 2002 and went thru an Acura, Audi and most recently a Volvo. Today, I purchased another Jetta. A GLX with a VR6 engine, all ready lowered with nice BBS wheels, black leather interior and clean as a whistle. The car is 12 years old, but you'd never know it. Photos usually make cars look better than they really are, but I have to say, this photos is very representative to how the car looks...



This evening, my daughter and I went on a "fun" excursion. We did zero to 60, back to zero as fast as we could. We took on and off ramps about 30 to 40 mph faster than we were supposed to. We screached the wheels upon take offs as the g forces thru left and right hand turns slammed us on either side of our seats.

Driving is fun again. I noticed I was driving with a big smile on my face. I'm suprised i didn't wave to everyone, just because I was so happy.

Time is Money...

Music | Cherryco by John Coltrane and Don Cherry



Watches I won't be getting in the near future...