Monday Memories - 6

self portrait photo outtake from Alice series by Taylor

This is a continuation of my Monday Memories 5 .

This time last year T was graduating from high school and it seems like yesterday in some ways and in some it seems ages ago. Isn't time and memory strange? How sometimes we can remember so vividly and then other times we can't remember something such a short time ago - like what we even did two days ago.
T put so much into this project and everything was well thought out. I enjoyed seeing her excitement in what she was doing and of course I enjoyed the fact that she asked for my input and we brainstormed together all the way down to what book Alice would have in her lap when she fell asleep (she chose the book of Etiquette by Emily Post). She even took Kodi outside for the first time, putting her on a leash, so that she could recreate the beginning scene when Alice falls asleep reading.
Anyway, not that this was long ago, I love this memory – it confirms what a great team we are . So I keep reliving those last few weeks, right before graduation, that she was working on her Alice in Wonderland project. We have such great stories that go along with each of the photos she took. And they came out so well. In fact just a couple of days ago T and a friend went to visit her highschool photography teacher in class and her teacher told her that she still uses T's final project as a guide and example of good work. The students in the class said, "You're the one that did that? wow you are amazing." So if nothing else she is an inspiration some. I know she is an inspiration to me.

All of the photos she turned in were taken with a manual SLR and she developed the film and prints in the dark room. The black and white prints I show here were scanned in so there is extra dust and such that wasn't on her prints. As well as the manual she took photos with her D-SLR using the remote control. And I'll might like to share those later because the color is amazing and she got some fun outtakes that weren't used for her project. She thought about using some of them to create bookmarks and I think that's a good idea.
So I'm going to share some of the photos with you. I guess as much as loving the memory, I'm a proud mother wanting to show it off – as mother's we like to brag don't we??

First off she wanted to establish the characters. She said I would be a good mad hatter because I'm short and have crazy wild hair. We had a lot of fun putting together the outfits and collecting china and chairs and such for the 'tea party' - making it look haphazard and crazy. The hat came from a friend at work who makes costumes.


The Cheshire Cat was her friend Claire. This one was the hardest to pull off – the mask wasn't so great. But she felt like the striped t-shirt was good for a black and white photo and complimented the wide grin.


"We're all mad here"


Originally I posed as the rabbit with the clock (she chose a clock with big bold numbers that she found in a box of my old things). Here she used her friend Claire again. Personally I think I did a better job but that's ok. T picked out an old vest from my dad's closet and collared white shirt for her to wear.

" No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late!"

The queen photoshoot was a lot of fun. She made a crown for her by glueing playing cards to a child's tiara. She wanted a red dress so she found a child's dress that came from Goodwill that seemed just perfect with a little lace collar. Her friend Devon posed for these photos and did an awesome job. T starting outside for this one but ended up in our bathroom because of the rose wallpaper – it was perfect! One of my favorite shots is one of the color images of her against the rose wallpaper holding Kodi. The funny thing was she is so afraid of cats but she did it anyway. I was in the shower holding up a flood light and kodi was reaching towards me with a really intense look in her eyes and her claws out. I'll show you that one today and then maybe some of the funny outtakes later. Hope you don't get tired of this.


"Off with her head"

Here's the one I just love. Isn't Kodi intense? Too bad I wasn't standing just a bit more forward so her eyes were focused towards the camera. There's always things you see you could have done better. Maybe next time.