finding the right camera
My first big girl promotion and bonus came in August of 2023, a year after I had started working full-time, and I wanted to buy myself something nice to commemorate the milestone. I chewed on a few things, from a fancy purse to furniture upgrades, but I struggled with making such a big purchase for a materialist good. I did know that I had a big international trip coming up, with two weeks in Spain, and that my phone, while still functioning, perhaps wasn’t the best camera to capture the upcoming adventure.
Growing up, I always enjoyed playing with my dad’s cameras, but there were bulky and cumbersome to carry around. I spent a good amount of my early college days carrying a Polaroid camera around, and I treasure the box of Polaroid photos I have as a snapshot into my eighteen year old self, navigating college and life beyond home for the first time. I figured a camera would be a thoughtful investment for my twenties.
One of my favorite photos, taken at the Chain Lakes Loop in the Mount Baker wilderness area. I love the reflection of the sky halo-ing a mom and her daughter, with the grandness of the lake behind them. This photo combines so much of my favorite themes: nature, scale, humans as proxy, a slice of life.
I ended up buying a Fujifilm XT30ii, after a bit of research online – I’ve always wanted to shoot on film, but to be honest, I’m lazy and haven’t crossed the activation energy to get into it properly. I’m a big fan of the film simulations – I shoot on a Kodak Portra film simulation – and I liked the option for interchangeable lenses. I did consider the overwhelmingly popular X100V, but the price felt right for the XT30ii (plus, I didn’t want to commit to a fixed lens). The most significant complaints of the XT30ii seemed to be centered on size; it’s a very petite camera, and folks with big hands have some trouble grasping it and will even resort to adding a frame on top. Not an issue in my book, more of a plus! At one point, I had gone into the rabbit hole of too many Fujifilm cameras and the technical specs of each, but realistically, my amateur approach frees me, in knowing that I don’t know enough to care, or care enough to know.
I opted for the 18-55 mm kit lens, and it’s come in handy for wider shots. A month before my Spain trip, my boyfriend managed the snag the elusive 27mm pancake lens, which folks raaave about as the perfect street photography set up. I love the pancake and shoot the majority of these photos on it, because having a light setup encourages me to bring the camera along. I’ll still get overstimulated on trips where I have my camera and purse hanging on me, but all-in-all the setup is convenient and made even more fun with my hot pink strap!
I’ve been chewing on getting a wider lens – the pancake can sometimes be a little too tight, but I think it’s been helpful to push me in getting the right shot.
reflections on craft
Bringing my camera feels like journaling in live time – I’ve noticed I am much more thoughtful in noticing things and keeping an eye out for “the shot.”
I think a lot about the notion of personal style and taste, in fashion, interior design, and more – I respect the hell out of people who have taken the time to get to know themselves and live that version freely. On that note, over time, I’ve noticed I’ve developed the personal goal of articulating my photography style more clearly; I want to look at a photo and know that the artistic choices have been exercised the way I see the world.
A way of better knowing that is by evaluating my work at scale and seeing what patterns emerge. Hope you enjoy this mini collection of my favorite photos and that you see some themes yourself.
This shot feels like a Where's Waldo adventure to me -- I took it at Tunnel Tops, the new(ish) park in the Presidio in San Francisco, where you get the most epic view of the bridge and there's just so many people enjoying the scenery.
markets, color, flowers
We’ll start small with a few photos from markets – going to markets is one of my favorite parts of traveling. Pike Place Market in Seattle is one of my favorite places on Earth; while it’s a major tourist destination, it has plenty of hidden gems of local life. I find the colors always to be a delight.
Photos from Pike Place, the Olympia farmers market, and a Spanish mercado. I love how these shots feel like still life drawings, and you might have guessed my favorite flower is the charming tulip.
Spring in the PNW is always a treat; I grew up in southern California, where there's no cold winters, so spring flowers always surprise me. I have a soft spot for rhododendrons, and I captured this particularly pretty bush on an evening walk to the park in Seattle. Bringing your camera along your normal route is always a fun exercise. The second photo is from outside the Olympia Farmer's Market, I thought it was such a gorgeous backdrop for kids in line for balloon animals. Really feels like spring wrapped up in one photo, the clouds almost look watercolored on!
perspective and scale
I love playing with perspective. I’ve noticed many of my shots are shot at a diagonal; I find shooting straight shots are a little too cookie-cutter for my liking (and I end up fiddling too much with the straightness of the shot), and I like that the diagonal shots feel like you’re walking right on by.
Snippets of that aforementioned Spain trip, from Barcelona and Granada. A park in Mexico City on the right. Now I'm wondering if I just love snapping live music and dancing!
Spanish architecture was out of this world, felt like it was timeless. I love snippets of urban planning in general, including this river pathway shot in Seoul right outside Gwangjang Market.
I also love working with scale, particularly with people as a proxy for size. I think figures bring a touch more interest into a photo and frame how grand of a scale we might be looking at. It’s also so fun when there’s a hidden Easter egg, like a little game of I-SPY.
These are some real moody photos -- ferry ride from Bainbridge back to Seattle after a camping trip in Olympic National Park, a single lit window in Barcelona, the sunset in Waikiki.
Outside of the Walker Museum, from a short trip to Minneapolis in the late summer. It was so beautiful in the Midwest this time of year; I had to remind myself of the biterness of the winter with all the snow plow signs. One of my favorite museums -- museums are some of my favorite places, and a proper outdoor sculpture garden really marries the museum with its environment.
A fun assortment of photos: Andrew at Volcanoes National Park, on the Kilauea Iki Trail, pumpkin picking in Seattle (big fan of the little pops of orange), morning sunrise from our Enchantments camping spot.
bring it all together, outside
I get to combine a ton of these themes in nature, and I’ve always just been so privileged to go to some incredible places. I never met a tree I didn’t like!
Both of these shots are from the Olympic penninsula, the left from my very first backpacking trip with my dear friend Elliott, and the right from when I snagged Sol Duc campground reservations. I always have trouble shooting in the woods because of how dark it can be versus how bright the day is, often leading to a bit of overexposure, but I still love the way the light looks in these shots.
I love how Seattle has four seasons and has the walking paths to take in the sights of the seasons changing. The left is from my daily walk back when I lived in Queen Anne, the middle from the Greenlake loop, the right from that same Queen Anne stroll.
First photo is from Volunteer Park, which I walked to almost daily back in Seattle, and it feels like the sun is shining just for this park enjoyer. Second photo is from Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park, which was a super easy hike from our campground. Andrew looks so tiny amidst everything.
From our Enchantments backpacking trip, in July 2024. We somehow managed to snag permits (less than 2% chance!) and spent three days, two nights in the Alpine Lake Wildnerness. In particular, I love how small we look amidst the rocks, like we're minature.
This Chain Lakes trip just keeps giving; I was surprised to see so many wildflowers in late August. I feel like my friends look like catalog backpackers here!
This is another one of my favorites -- in fact, it's set as my desktop background. From that same Chain Lakes trip, right at the beginning of the hike. I love how the people look like little ants.
Sea turtles on Oahu, seals along the Monterey coast, wild horses on Big Island. I was really proud of capturing the dynamicity of these horses; they seemed so carefree.
A collection of photos from PNW backpacking trips and our Hawaii vacation in June of 2024. Andrew and I always reflect on this particular trip being one of our most epic vacations ever; we got to do so much, from UTV adventures to manta ray snorkeling. It was the kind of vacation you need a vacation for, in the best way possible.
photography in the grandness of this world
Sometimes, when I review my photos, I’ll have a moment of frustration, that I only managed to take a few photos that I’m proud of. For every photo in this “hall of fame,” there’s probably a corresponding twenty that won’t see the light of day. This is a post for only the biggest of wins – we don’t have enough storage to cover everything else.
I have to remind myself that every single photo is an exercise in capturing precious moments, and these photographs each have a corresponding memory and feeling to them – I remember where I am, I recall how I feel, I know exactly where I’m in in the grandness of this world. I love how for me, my photography transcends time back to that one special moment, the specific smell and crispness of the air, the infinite gratitude to experience something so full that I can’t help but capture a permanent version of it.
Life in San Francisco - a walk along Fort Funston, fun sculptures at the SFMOMA. Moving to a new city as an adult came with quite a set of challenges, but there's no better feeling than getting settled into your place in the city.
From a day trip to Girona, an hour out of Barcelona. It's funny I look at this picture and strictly remember our whole fiasco of nearly missing our train because we didn't realize trains had security in Europe.
Our October 2024 trip to Japan - my first time and definitely not my last. I found Japan really hard to shoot actually for two reasons: my pancake lens felt a little too tight for how crowded the areas we visited were, and I felt like some spots were so scenic and overdone (let's be real, I consumed too much content about Japan trips) that it was hard to develop my own spin on them. Still, this picture of Andrew and me that a random stranger took for us is one of my favorite photos of all time. It feels like one of those photos my kids will look back on. Best part is I don't even think we're in focus 😹
Chloe in our second Seattle apartment, probably my favorite place I've lived so far. High ceilings, super quiet top unit, ten minutes from everything and everybody I loved in the city.
