. . . . . . . .

Polaroids have always cheered me up when I’m feeling blue — in fact, the very first time I ever picked up a polaroid and used it creatively was for this reason. So when a few friends of mine came by, we took a walk on the beach and I brought along my polaroid with me. Each image produces magic for me, and I always get a surge of joy each time the the image appears to my eyes. It’s the instant gratification of digital, with the satisfaction of holding a real print in your hand. Nothing beats that.

the columbia hotel . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

the columbia hotel . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

stumptown coffee at mix & breadboard restaurant . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

stumptown at mix cafe . ashland, or . polaroid sx-70

lithia park . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

lithia park . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

lithia park . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

lithia park . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

deer at lithia park . ashland, or . polaroid sx-70

deer at lithia park . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

breadboard restaurant . ashland, or . polaroid sx-70

ashland hills . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

on the way to medford . ashland, or . canon 5d mk II

the road there . medford, or . canon 5d mk II

self portrait . medford, or . canon 5d mk II

the most amazing person . medford, or . canon 5d mk II

sammy & julie & richard . medford, or . canon 5d mk II

bear & sammy . medford, or . canon 5d mk II

hands . medford, or . canon 5d mk II

a letter from kim’s . medford, or . canon 5d mk II

kim’s chinese and american foods . medford, or . canon 5d mk II

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Well, here I am, finally blogging the second half of Ashland. It took a really long time to blog this portion of the trip because it was the most personal to me, and I learned a great deal about myself from it. I’m still not sure what to say, but I will tell you what I did love about it.

+ the most charming hotel I stayed in — The Columbia Hotel, which is a European style hotel had real keys and such charm. Hotels like this don’t fit everyone, but I really loved it.

+ mix cafe — where I discovered Stumptown coffee. I was in heaven after that.

+ lithia park — I had to make another stop at this lovely park in the morning after going there the evening before. Which brought me to the best part of the park — the little deer family I stumbled upon! And they must be so very familiar and comfortable with humans because they allowed me to get very, very close! Of course, that one deer kept eyeing me as I was taking photos.

+ breadboard restaurant  – um. yum.

+ family friends — one of the largest reasons I wanted to come to this area was see old family friends that I have not seen in about 18 years. It was amazing catching up with them, hearing stories about my family, and my parents when they first immigrated to the US. I learned more about myself in this section of the trip than I have in a long time. At least, about my history. I read letters my dad “wrote” & got to see places where they had been before me. Before I came into this world. It was amazing.

+ josh ritter — And, it was our family friends who introduced me to Josh Ritter & his wife Dawne Landes, who I listened to the majority of my trip back home. It turns out that Josh is a part of the family that I went to visit. So a part of my roadtrip music collection grows. I pretty much listened to the music I collected during this trip for months after coming back from it.

Learning about my history, about my family’s past makes me feel like a part of something larger, something more important. I almost felt, rooted. I don’t know how to describe it, really. I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I was going on this entire trip — what I would learn & see & do. But I have gained so much and I am so grateful for it. This made me want to go back to China someday because when I went many years ago, I wasn’t into photography just yet, so I don’t have good documentation of all the things I saw and learned. So that is definitely something I will have to do in the future. :)

Now, it is time to drive home.

*

Previous road trip posts:
the beginning. | day one. | day two. | day three. | day four. | portland . the home. | portland . the city. | patrick’s point . film. |seattle . part one. | seattle . part two. | the man in the alley. | the road to ashland. | ashland . part one. |

. . . . .

I know it seems that all I am posting these day are polaroids, I need to post some regular photos! Film images are just too easy though! More to come soon <3

. . . .

A totally adorable and darling couple? Yes. A totally gorgeous venue set in the Santa Cruz mountains & redwoods that I simply can’t get over? Yes! <3

Mysterious and vintage/dreamy b&w polaroids from Sherrie & James’ wedding! I just LOVED her dress, can’t wait to show more. <3

. . . . .

A gorgeous couple in polaroids to start the week! I cannot WAIT to post more images from their wedding (maybe I should post images from their engagement session first! lol). Gorgeous, gorgeous!

. . . . . .

Um, how awesome is this 60′s vintage inspired shoot that I recently did with Kristine & Jay? I absolutely looooove how these polaroids came out, can’t wait to share the rest with you! More to come soon :)

. . . . . . . . . .

Circles & lines. :)

(again, I know it’s not the weekend anymore, but that’s okay) ;)

. . . . . . . . . .

So very Southern California.

(and yes, it’s technically no longer the weekend, but I wanted to post one more) ;)

. . . . . .

It feels sooo good to be back on my bike & riding again <3

. . . . . . . . . .

Time Tested Books. A lovely little used bookstore in Sacramento, CA. :)

. . . . . . . . .

<3

. . . . . . . . . . .

Been doing a lot of daydreaming lately, mostly about waking up early and walking to the beach for a morning stroll. :)

Just the idea of taking walks to somewhere lovely! It keeps me going. :)

.

What have you been daydreaming about lately?

. . . . . . . .

This image is one of my favorite polaroids I’ve taken – I just love how you can see my kitty’s reflection in the window. So gorgeous.

. . . . . . .

I know I haven’t been posting very large posts recently, a lot has been going on and there are many changes coming ahead. I am so dying to share with you posts from weddings & engagements and other shoots that I have done, but sitting down and picking images for a blog post and then editing the images just for the blog post is a lot of work! Hopefully soon I will be able to share again, and catch up with all my terribly behind blogs!

A lot is in store for the future! And I am very much looking forward to them & sharing with you all.

happy valentine’s day <3

This is an old polaroid I took, way back when I was in my last year in college in 2004. The edges are discolored a bit because it was a part of a gift for Zach for his birthday, where I did polaroid transfers (and regular polaroids) and bound them all in a book. There were a few transfers that did not come out, so I stuck regular polaroids over them. And this is what happened to them, 6 years later.

&

happy chinese new year!

To be honest, I have no idea what those banners say. This was taken in 2008 when I went home for Christmas – this image was a part of a series of polaroids as well – but these were just images of home.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Two holidays in one day, how fun is that? :) I hope you are ringing in the new lunar year with your very special valentine ;)

(and I hope to share the rest of the images from these series someday)