2/28/2013
Snow Bound - Check out this super find from EBay, 1990 Winter Ski Set. I'm not sure about the 90's ski suit, but the sled and skis will get some good use for sure. Think snow!
2/27/2013
Trail Friends - While shooting the Flower Child on the Old Quarry Trail, I met up with a nice gentleman. The flower I was photographing sparked up a conversation. As we continued to talk and hike, I stopped to photograph Sierra with a Mule's Ear. I took her out of my pack, placed her next to the flower and the nice gentleman said, "Clever." Then he offers advise on placement and says, "that's a good one." We parted and went our separate ways, but before we did he wished me luck in all my future ventures. His kindness and openness made me smile.
2/18/2013
My sewing skills are limited to sewing buttons on a shirt, no joke! Sierra needs t-shirts so my only option was to dust off my craft box and create this simple white tee. Don't look too close, there are lots of flaws. No matter, she plans to get it dirty anyway!
Organization 101 - With all of Sierra's "little" items, I needed a place to store them. I picked up this cool Barbie suitcase from our neighbor's garage sale and used a jewelery organizer for her clothes and accessories.
1/25/2013
During the
Christmas holiday, Sierra picked up some used clothes from my nephew Liam’s GI
Joe collection. I sorted through at least 5 different patterns of camouflage -
woodland, snow, tree, desert, ground – who knew there could be so many patterns!
Sierra scored with this blue (non-camo) jacket and puddle jumping boots. The
knitted stocking cap came from my dear mother-in-law. She knitted me a stocking
cap to match, now that’s love.
9/8/2012
My friends and I completed a
leg of the Tahoe Rim Trail, 19 miles in 10 hours. Barbie came along on the
adventure but I never took the time to photograph her. I decided that I just
wasn’t in the creative mode that weekend. It was an amazing trip though and I plan
to photograph her on future TRT legs, as I plan to hike all 165 miles. This
photograph was a monumental moment when we decided to give Barbie a new name.
Meet Sierra! The gal that took our photo was named Sierra. The name was
meant to be.
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| Deann, Jenny, Moddie, Lisa - Post TRT dip in Lake Tahoe |
9/3/2012
Mt. Tam Lake
ride with Barbie and Moddie (my dear friend that accepts my creativity).
Beautiful day! Need to work on those prop lines in my photos. While
photographing a Mom with kids stopped and chatted with us for a bit. She wasn’t
sure what she thought about “The Barbie Project”. When she left the scene she
was still a bit dumbfounded, and she has a daughter.
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| Mt. Tam Lake Ride |
9/1/2012
What better
way to break in Barbie’s new bike than to shred down Northstar at Tahoe! That place
is CRAZY! Nolan and Max were instrumental in making this shot work. I needed four hands for this pose.
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| Biker back Barbie! |
9/1/2012
Barbie went
paddle boarding for the first time on Donner Lake. Mounting wax didn’t work to
hold her to the board but duct tape worked great.
Photographing was fun, the board floated so it was a success.
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| Donner Lake, Tahoe |
8/31/2012
Went to
Tahoe, camped at Donner Lake State Park. Nolan built Barbie a campfire. It was
a darling moment when a little girl from a distance watched us work and
photograph Barbie.
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| A Barbie fan in the background left |
8/23/2012
Took Barbie
to Shaffer Family Camp. No time for adventure, only enough time to work on
building her gear. During arts and crafts with Nolan I worked or Barbie’s
paddle board and paddle.
Today Barbie modeled a few clothing items that I have collected from various sources. I was disappointed in the fit. Her tops exposed her mid-section and her shorts and pants all hung low on her waist and when she sat down the Velcro fastener would open up in the back. Her clothes were much too tight for an adventurer to wear. Outdoor adventure calls for function, not fashion.
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| Nolan working on arts and crafts |
8/13/2012
Barbie’s new
bike came in today ordered from EBay. It’s a 1998 Mattel Doll/Barbie bike and
resembles a Mt. bike. The cost was $5.00.
8/13/2012
Went fishing
at Phoenix Lake. It was fun dressing and creating the scenes for Barbie. The
photography was a challenge, getting down low in the dirt and on rocks, whatever
it took to get the shot. The lighting (sun direction) and angle was critical
for a good shot.
8/5/2012
I aborted
Barbie’s first adventure. We were bound for Tahoe for her first backpack trip.
It was also an introduction backpack trip for my two boys. We car camped the
first night, then planned a backcountry excursion in the Granite Chief
Wilderness. Our destination was further than I thought and I was worried about
the kids having the energy to pack back out the next day. So we hiked out and
car camped on our final night. Barbie never had the opportunity to backpack,
although we did consider it a practice run with the kids and they did quite
well. I need to do my homework and find “kids friendly” backpacking in the
Sierra.
It was
probably for the best too as Barbie did not have the proper clothing for such a
trip. On our way home we stopped at Walmart and bought three Ken outfits for
Barbie. She now has a pair of jeans, a pair of corduroy pants, a pair of board
shorts, a tank top, a hooded short-sleeved shirt, and a knitted sweater.
Finally a good start to her active wardrobe. The tank is a little big but
everything else fits nicely with room to move.
The question now is, what adventures will Barbie go on and how often? Do quick gaunts up Mt. Burdell count? Or do I reserve her experiences to big trip only? She could have experienced the car camping with us. She could have participated in our aborted backpack mission (although she was in my pack, I never brought her out to photograph). Does she go on Mt. bike rides with me and I strap her to the handle bars? Do I keep an ongoing photo blog maybe on a weekly basis? Do I stage photo scenes or do they have to be real and authentic? At what point do I bring her out into the public? Do I take her to family camp? What is our mission?
The question now is, what adventures will Barbie go on and how often? Do quick gaunts up Mt. Burdell count? Or do I reserve her experiences to big trip only? She could have experienced the car camping with us. She could have participated in our aborted backpack mission (although she was in my pack, I never brought her out to photograph). Does she go on Mt. bike rides with me and I strap her to the handle bars? Do I keep an ongoing photo blog maybe on a weekly basis? Do I stage photo scenes or do they have to be real and authentic? At what point do I bring her out into the public? Do I take her to family camp? What is our mission?
7/30/2012
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| Nolan and Landon Sqaw Valley |
Today Barbie modeled a few clothing items that I have collected from various sources. I was disappointed in the fit. Her tops exposed her mid-section and her shorts and pants all hung low on her waist and when she sat down the Velcro fastener would open up in the back. Her clothes were much too tight for an adventurer to wear. Outdoor adventure calls for function, not fashion.
I researched
Barbie and Ken fashions on the internet and in stores and the fashions are very
limited - too glamorous, too fitted, too bright and never a big enough
selection. I suspected that I might need to design and create my own adventure
Barbie clothes but I was hoping not to since I don’t know the first thing about
sewing. Fortunately I know some talented sewers that might assist me in this
venture.
Barbie has
her first adventure on Wednesday. I hope I can at least find her something to
wear that would be appropriate for a Sierra backpack trip. I found an
over-priced Ken sweater and corduroy pant outfit at Target for Ken, if it’s
still there, I’ll have to start with that. I think I can sew an easy tank top
that a least covers her mid-drift and she can wear the tight shorts she already
has.
7/29/2012
Barbie’s birthday is July 29th, the day she was freed from her box.
I’ve been busy collecting and preparing clothes and supplies for her future. She will soon shed her tennis “You Can Be” Barbie outfit and trade up for outdoor adventure gear.
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| Clothes too fitted for action! |
7/29/2012
Barbie’s birthday is July 29th, the day she was freed from her box.
I’ve been busy collecting and preparing clothes and supplies for her future. She will soon shed her tennis “You Can Be” Barbie outfit and trade up for outdoor adventure gear.
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| First day out of the box and already climbing trees! |
Dee
ReplyDeleteawesome job - love it!!
Mir