Nectar & Light

a very happy birthday to nectar & light.  this has been such a blessed and wonderful year and i thank you all so much for being such an intricate part of it.  it was rather selfish of me to ask you what your favorite posts have been; but i was touched by the responses - your favorites are mine as well and it moves me that you have found such inspiration and kinship in them:

~ remembering;

~ i am thankful for;

~ bittersweet;

i am also excited to learn that the recipes are also popular as i have some upcoming news to that effect.  thank you for a wonderful year friends, and a special thank you to my friend matt who pushed me in the right direction a year ago and convinced me to return to blogging...

thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me... and the winner - randomly chosen from the depths of adie's rhinestone-studded pink cowgirl hat is... hanne!  thank you, i can't seem to stop saying thank you - but the comments in that post were the truest reaffirmation that sharing - and this blog - is so good for my soul...

xoox~jla 

 

i will be sharing a lot of happy news over the next few months - so much going on - so much to be grateful for!  first up - something i have been dying to share but wanting to wait until the contract was signed:  Chronicle Books will be publishing 20 of the polaroids {including those above} from for the love of light as a special note card set to be published in Fall 2009.  Working with Chronicle is the most amazing professional experience i ever could have imagined.  i am eternally grateful for their interest in our little project!  i will keep you updated when i have a firm release date and a list of retailers in which you can find the cards...

xoox~jla

{photos above clockwise from top:  anna beard;  yu-i chan; mathias meyer and amanda gilligan}  

next tuesday, on the 27th of january, nectar & light will turn one.  it is hard for me to fathom that it has only been a year - i feel like the connection i have forged with you and the sweet comfort of this space make it feel much older.  in celebration, i would like to gift one of my reader's with something very special.  above are pictured two fine art giclees of two of my polaroids.  they are professionally printed on 8x10 fine art watercolor paper and hand signed and numbered AP {artist's proof} as they are each one of one.  they are finished in clear, border-less frames, ready to hang - and they are yours.  simply leave a comment in this post {by the 27th} telling me what your favorite post was this year and why and you will be entered to win this set of prints.  i will randomly select a winner on the 27th.  thank you so much friends...

xoox~jla

thank you so much for your patience friends - jeniferaltman.com is back online with a new look; one that - to me - feels much more personal and much more me.  i hope you enjoy browsing and thank you again for your supportive comments and warm emails...

i had to stop by this weekend and share with you the best news i have heard in some time.  i am actually in much need of champagne this news is so delicious.  polaroid looks to have been saved by one of it's strongest and most dedicated supporters.  visit the impossible project to learn more, read this article and a special thanks to Save Polaroid which has been an integral part of this campaign.  i am still not breathing after reading the news...

xoox~jla

after a week of stress and anger and subsequently illness, i woke up headache free and in wonderful spirits today.  thank you for all of your warm and supporting comments, i cherish each of them.  so here is a cupcake for you.  enjoy.  i have yet to start rebuilding my sites - they are gone it seems so i have a fresh opportunity to do something new, unique and hopefully exciting - i hope to have something up in the next week or so.  and i have been listening to a lot of blues the last fews days - not because i am sad, but because it makes me feel alive.  i have a crush on johnny "guitar" watson {if his music does not make you weak in the knees, you need to check our pulse}, t-bone walker and etta james - they fill my veins with life anew.

i have three huge deadlines looming overhead so posts will be spotty for the next couple of weeks - i can not wait to share some of them with you - i am still in shock over one of them {don't you just adore secrets?}  have a lovely weekend friends - and thank you...

xoox~jla

p.s. the shot above is from my first roll through my yashica-mat 124g...

 

it has been a hell of a week.  to begin with my sites jeniferaltman.com and rosyeveandfey.com have been down with next to no explanation from the host.  to think that all the text and of course the hours i put into building both sites could be gone for good, i find myself quaking with rage at the lack of involvement by the host to right the situation.  and i try to be a proper so i will not scream the name of the company at the top of my lungs in fury - but i will be happy to let anyone who is thinking of purchasing a photography template website know who this company is via email.  so, you will have to excuse me for the week while i rebuild the sites on an .html platform from scratch.

and then... last night i received an email from a VERY caring and wonderful person who stalks sites like Polyvore for inappropriate use of copyrighted images.  apparently, a repeat offender of such use, stole one of my images from flickr, bastardized the photograph with her "own" digital art and claimed the image as her own.  i have been dealing with this in some shape or form for over a year - people lifting my images to use on their blogs, and own inspiration boards - and while i was still seeing my work credited to me, i convinced myself i did not mind.  that is said and done.  stealing is stealing and people seem to have a warped sense of what they feel they can use or not on the internet - especially photographs - i think people devalue it as an art so much, they do not even believe they are doing anything wrong.  i want to thank those of you who over the last year have emailed me asking permission to use my work - the thought and level of consideration is warming - thank you.  because of this situation last night, i have moved my flickr account to Friends & Family only and am looking at ways to protect the work on my blog.  believe me, i understand that when we make the conscience decision to put ourselves and our work out there we are all taking such risks, however, that by no means makes it right.  

 

hello friends!  i hope you had a wonderful little break.  i made a quick, and very therapeutic, trip to atlanta, came back to a lovely hanukkah celebration with my family and then hosted our dear, dear friends garrett & chrissy {chrissy in the butterfly house at the zoo above} for a week.  it has been a beautiful few weeks and i have to be honest - i am having a hard time getting back to the norm.  i am feeling a bit misplaced so to speak.  music always sees me through these fogs and i would love to share some of what i am listening to right now:

to haunt, mystify and meditate...

~ bat for lashes; this video is the most hauntingly delicious thing i have seen lately {besides twilight.}

~ black mountain

~ seabear

~ thao

to help clear my head...

~ glass candy

~ ladyhawke

~ pop levi

and when i need to wallow, he is always here for me, always.

if you are looking for an addition to your itunes diet, my cousin introduced me to eMusic and i am little obsessed - all labels are independent and i have found so many new favorites.

a very happy new year and i will check in soon...

xoox~jla