the dailies: jen tauritz gotch.

Daily time! My new favorite photographer Jen Tauritz Gotch (who graced the cover of this month's eZine) was kind enough to let us tag along on her FABULOUS photo shoot this past Friday. Enjoy, and thank you dear Jen! :)
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Dailies, huh.? A day in the life. A day in my life, no less. I wish I could say that this will give you some insight about my goings on, it probably won't. As a prop stylist my days are often quite varied. There is no Monday to Friday. There is no 9 to 5. You might find me lounging poolside at The Parker Palm Springs on a Wednesday and shooting the Nordstrom catalog at a studio in Venice Beach on a Saturday. Hard to say, but I will say this . . . On Friday, March 28th, this is what I did:

5:03 am – This is not the time I had planned to wake up, but this is the time my kitty wanted me to wake up. So, I'm up. She is hungry so I feed her, look at the clock and realize it is too late to try to go back to sleep, plus, I've got blogging to do.

I spend a bit of time in front of the computer, posting to my blogs and flickr, trying not to lose several hours in the process. Time is precious today. I have to get to the flower mart and be back home by 7:00.



5:54 am – I get dressed (into a dress. A brand new dress from h & m -- shhhhhh, don't tell Andrew. He'll kill me. We are supposed to be on a spending sabbatical to save money for our trip to Paris) and head out the door.

6:15 am – Traffic was good to me. Ahhhh, yes. The flower mart. A gift to the senses. All of the beautiful flowers and their sweet scents. I am overwhelmed as usual. I am really tempted to buy some peonies, they are my favorite flower (very original, I know. Hey, at least I didn't pick red roses - - oops. Sorry if your favorite flower is a red rose). I don't get the peonies. Instead I get a couple of bunches of anemones, 3 bunches of poppies and a dark pink water lily. You see, my friend Jamie and I are doing a test shoot today. I am trying to build my photography portfolio and she is trying to do the same for her styling portfolio. So we have joined forces, and budgets, in an attempt to create something we have named Awesometown.



6:45 am – On my way home from the flower mart I cut through downtown to avoid the freeway, which has now become a major parking lot. I drive down one of the main streets of Chinatown and remember how often I used to wander the streets buying up little silk slippers with floral embroidery, giant paper lanterns with gold tassels and whatever other fun little bargains I could find. I pass an open meter right at the entrance of one of the little shopping districts so I quickly pull into the spot. I know nothing will be open, but I have my camera, so I thought maybe I might see something lovely to photograph. I did. A ton of pink silk lanterns. The morning light hitting them just right. I don't even wait for the Polaroid to develop. I have to run. I am late.



7:15 am – Back home now, and the most amazing part of my morning is about to start. Waking Andrew. Not fun. He loves his sleep, but he promised to wake up and help us with our shoot. He actually studied photography, so he is much more knowledgable than I am.

7:20 am – Jamie arrives with a boatload of great stuff, and together we make the prop barn look like a candy store for grown up girls. Bright colored purses, polka dot umbrellas, colored glass bowls, pink elephants . . . the list goes on and on.



Gosh. I have already written a ton and it is only 7:20. Yikes. I hope you can stick with me.

8:03 am – "Andrew, Wake Uuuuhhuuup! Andrew? ANDREW!!" He's up! Jamie and I have coffee and breakfast while Andrew gets himself together. He's not a breakfast person, at least that's what he says. Yet if I cook bacon, he eats breakfast. I also make Jamie and I some kale, celery, cucumber, carrot, spinach, apple juice. I'll call it kalerycucaspinacarapple juice. It tastes pretty good. Good for the brain (we hope).



8:50 am – We finally start shooting. It's more difficult than I thought. I have rented a digital camera and it is much different than the Polaroid or the Hasselblad. There is just too much information in the photos. No dreaminess at all. Yuck. I'll have to get to the bottom of this. For now, I will shoot Polaroid and 120 film as well, just to be safe.



10:20am – Mimosa Break. Why not? I'm running this shoot and I say 10:20 is mimosa break time. Fresh squeezed orange juice, cheap champagne left over from our New Year's Day party and a splash of Cointreau - - Delicious!



1:30pm - - We got so involved in our shoot that we almost forgot about lunch. Almost. Jamie and I each had rotisserie chicken, Andrew had a pulled pork sandwich and we all shared fried plantains and french fries with the best garlic aioli you have ever tasted.



2:12pm – Back to work. Still haven't "broken the code" of the digital camera, but we're getting there. Andrew and I are ready to kill each other. For two people who love each other a whole lot - - we can really throw down. I guess we are both pretty stubborn. Actually, let me rephrase that. We are both very, very stubborn. I am having a hard time with his teaching style, and I tell him so.

Jen - - "You are being so mean."
Andrew - - "I am just trying to teach you."
Jen - - "Well you need to find a new TEACHING STYLE." (All caps to emphasize voice inflection)
Andrew - - "Well you need to find a new LEARNING STYLE."
Jen - - "FINE. I WILL!"
Andrew - - "FINE, YOU SHOULD."
Jen - - "fine."
Andrew - -"fine."

Then we shared a kit kat and made up.

5:00pm -- I can no longer focus. The light is starting to die, and I am quite grateful for that. My brain is fried. I guess having fun like this is kind of hard work. Jamie goes off to pack up all of her stuff and I apologize to her for not being able to help. I have to go to bed. I can barely keep my eyes open.

7:03pm -- There is no way that TWO HOURS have passed. Insane! I woke up in that yucky way where you kind of jolt up, and then you are super confused. What day is it? What time is it? Am I supposed to be somewhere? Plus, I actually feel worse then when I went to sleep. Oh
well. No time to dwell on that. I have to run out to Target to get some props for a shoot I am working on tomorrow. It won't be as fun as today, because I won't be the photographer, just the lowly stylist. Oh, poor me.



7:30pm – I find myself standing dumbfounded in front of a wall of sheets at Target flanked on either side by my brother and Andrew. They are staring at me and I am staring at the sheets. All I have to do is find off white sheets and I just can't. My brain has ceased all operations. I tell them that we have to leave right away. I can't think. I want to get out of here, and I'm hungry!



7:42pm – Our local pizzeria now has a little dining room so we decided to check it out. A bit strange, a bit quirky, but it worked. We shared some pizza, pasta and garlic bread, listened to some live music (which sounds really cool, but I'm pretty sure it was this band's first gig and the rest of the patrons at the place were all of their relatives).



8:50pm – Home at last. Feed kitty, brush my teeth (too tired to do anything else – i.e. wash my face, put on eye cream, etc, etc.) and hop into bed. Didn't even put on my pajamas. Just hopped right in there. In my new dress. That kind of a day, I guess.



8:59pm – Set the alarm on my cell phone for tomorrow morning.

8:59pm (about 32 seconds later) – I'm fast asleep.