JENNIFER MENDEZ PHOTOGRAPHY

Day 241: Mr Happiness

jmpix — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 08:04:46 +0000

I didn’t have long to plan this photograph for my ‘Colour on My Skin’ collection. In fact, I had about 12 hours and this was the image that I couldn’t get out of my mind so I thought I’d run with it, considering my brain refused to conjure up anything else….in fact this scenario is part of my own every day life…getting ready for an afternoon walk with the dog (dogs…plural in my case). What is it they say about working with children and animals? Hugo had obviously not gone through the same vigorous training as Lassie, even though he looked the part. But after some careful coercion, he started to believe that the camera was not going to take him into a parallel universe without liver treats and a yard to dig up.

Once he got into position, he became such a diva…demanding treats and asking to be shot from this and that angle…luckily the dog was well-behaved.

Day 240: Do it

jmpix — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:22:33 +0000

Sometimes what you need to hear is staring you in the face. I mean, mine was literally sitting on top of speakers….could it have been shouting at me any louder? Exclamation Point!

Day 239: Testing One, Two

jmpix — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:10:51 +0000

I completely forgot to take a photo today and I even had an image in mind this time. Oh well, luckily for me…i accidently took this picture of a pen on my desk as I was testing something on Markus (my camera in case you’re new).

So, it was damn easy to choose a photo today…this is it. Prepare to be amaaaaazed!

Day 238: The Ramones

jmpix — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:02:10 +0000

I have to start this post with some disturbing news. People were injured during the making of this photograph. Ok, it was mostly one person and it was probably entirely not all maybe my fault. Had Liam not been so committed to get this shot in the bag for the sake of art, maybe I wouldn’t have had him repeatedly crush his leg on the kitchen bench. I mean, it didn’t look so painful at the time…alright, alright…he cringed every time he landed but I just assumed he was getting into character.

Even Laura suffered repetitive strain injury from teetering the dinner plate in her left hand frame after frame. To be honest, it would have been a completely failed shot if not for their complete dedication.

However, I’m still disturbed by the size of the bruise left on Liam’s thigh…hope he enjoys football training tonight.

Thanks guys. Here’s to art…

Day 237: Something

jmpix — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:22:47 +0000

I wanted to take a picture of a white wall but my camera had trouble focusing for obviously reasons (thanks for the idea anyway Mike). So I took a picture of the top of my bookcase, it just happened to have a dog hair on it. Phew, I was worried there would be no subject in this photo.

I thought a watermark might be overkill and detract from the image in this case.

Day 236: Out for Lunch

jmpix — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:15:26 +0000

We headed to Manly for a bite today, it was a good break from staring at the computer. There were men playing with little boats by the big boats….

That is all.

Day 235: The Northside

jmpix — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:27:05 +0000

I rarely travel to the Northern suburbs of Brisbane but today their was purpose. My new photography project continues and thanks to my lovely friend turned public relations representative Leesa, I had a day full of shooting with some of her friends. She also comes in handy to lug equipment to and from the car, hold reflectors and act as a body double for lighting checks. Gee she’s a versatile girl.

I woke up excited and nervous, interesting subjects awaited me and I wanted to do them justice. It was another case of trying to transfer what was in my head into a digital file. They had seen my previous work from Colours on My Skin project…so now there were expectations. No pressure.

We kicked off the day with Wez and one of the most incredible back pieces I have seen. I have to give some credit to Matt Cunnington at Westside Tattoo, he’s done an amazing job. It was well worth the 50 hours Wez spent in minor discomfort (okay, it probably hurt a little more than that…but hey…). He was unbelievably patient, we shot two different scenes and with the one you see below, I had him put on and remove his shirt almost 50 times. I’m sure his kids were thinking “gee Dad, even I know how to put a shirt on”. The patience continued when I had him iron a shirt to within an inch of its life. Good news though, that shirt is now permanently crease free!

Kent and Wendy were just as welcoming as I took over their home with lights and extension cords. I had been thinking about a sleeping shot for a while now and Wendy had mentioned to Leesa earlier that she also had an idea for a sleeping scene. Snap! So we messed up their freshly made bed and I stepped all over them like a Thai masseuse to get the right angle. Who said being a model was easy? The second shot was based around a lunch scene. I had again starved Leesa and myself up until this point but lucky for us, we all got to eat the props for lunch….including the dog who had a watermelon obsession. Wendy, like Leesa, hates photographs of herself. And Wendy, like Leesa, doesn’t realise how stunning and photogenic she is.

Well that’s enough ranting from me…here’s a couple of photos…

Day 234: Turn Around

jmpix — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:06:14 +0000

Sometimes it pays to take a look back. I only took one frame today, when I left my grandmother at the nursing home as lunch was being served.

Day 232: Vanity

jmpix — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:25:02 +0000

Apologies for the abysmal effort. It was one of those drive to every end of Brisbane days and although I lugged my camera around, I was uninspired by my surrounds. Markus (my camera) became a heavy weight and constant reminder of my failed attempts to capture my day. Gee, thanks Markus.

The night brought no further inspiration. My husband and I headed out for some late night shopping. Exciting news, we bought new pillows. They were ridiculous prices but we are hopeful that everything written on the shrink-wrap is 100% accurate. We are going to have the most phenomenal night’s sleep ever!

I should have really photographed these pillows…aah hindsight gets me again! Instead, here’s my copy of vanity fair (I buy it for the pictures) and the wilting valentines day roses struggling in our kitchen.

Day 231: Stuff ‘n Stuff

jmpix — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:00:34 +0000

Today I did…stuff. Stuff that kept me too busy to take a photo. But I managed to get something. Something….