treats.

amandajas: best new york rooftop meal yet, courtesy of...

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:50:56 -0400

amandajas:

best new york rooftop meal yet, courtesy of @helenadagmar.

This is my roof for nine more days. I will enjoy it.

Amanda, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:00:16 -0400

Amanda, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

Amanda, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:11 -0400

Amanda, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

Todd, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:00:09 -0400

Todd, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

"The perfect balance is committing to only those crafts that you can perform with satisfaction even..."

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:58:35 -0400

“The perfect balance is committing to only those crafts that you can perform with satisfaction even if you have to do so in utter obscurity. Then, put your work out in public as part of the process itself—if you’re making homebrew beer or an Arduino hack, make a video or write about the process as a means to think harder about the details of it. If you’re a writer, think of putting it online as simply having the work backed up in one more place. In this way, you open yourself up to the spectrum of possibilities, ranging from utter obscurity at one end to global fame at the other. Far more likely is something closer to the obscurity end but much more satisfying—that you will draw the attention of a relative few who share your interests.”

- Adam Gurri basically writes my book for me (via austinkleon)

Daniel, May 2013.

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:00:29 -0400

Daniel, May 2013.

Nina in the grass, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:00:29 -0400

Nina in the grass, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

Nina trees, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:00:12 -0400

Nina trees, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

The barn yard, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:00:21 -0400

The barn yard, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

Nina in the barn, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:00:21 -0400

Nina in the barn, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

Jimmy Marble, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:00:17 -0400

Jimmy Marble, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

2905(miles): Trip 002!

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:51:00 -0400

2905(miles): Trip 002!:

Thanks to the newly-launched NYC/SF newsletter 2905(miles) for featuring me in their newest issue! I mostly talk about why I moved to New York, and why I’m moving back to San Francisco.

2905miles:

(Photo credit: Pei Ketron)

Featured Passenger: Helena Price

What’s your historical San Francisco and New York connection?
Currently, I’m living in Brooklyn, New York. I lived in San Francisco for three years prior to Brooklyn.

I was familiar with New York first, growing up in North Carolina. It was the one “big city” that all of the rebellious, creative-types moved to after college. I chose to go to San Francisco instead.

I originally moved to pursue an MFA in photography, but I quickly found myself working in startup land, first at a digital agency, then running comms teams internally at a handful of startups. I lived and breathed San Francisco tech, while still trying to take a photograph here and there on the weekends.

Last year, I began spending about 25% of my life in New York, as I was the sole west coast employee of a New York-based startup. I quickly fell in love with bi-coastal life, and with New York City, and then next thing I know, I’m living in Brooklyn.

Describe your experience in NYC.
I love New York. It’s magical.

Honestly, Brad Smith describes it best in his interview with The Great Discontent:

“I love this city for so many reasons. One, it creates constant drive. There is a very high competition factor in the city. You want to be successful because making it in New York does mean something. The other thing is that I love how this city makes me feel very small and insignificant. There is something very comforting about laying my head down on my pillow at night, knowing I am closely surrounded by millions upon millions of people, all crammed in around me, in shoebox sized apartments. I’m an anxious person and, in a weird way, there is something extremely calming about how this city makes me feel insignificant. New York, for being what it is, can also be the loneliest place in the world. You walk the streets with millions of people or sit on the subway next to some of the most beautiful and interesting people, but we rarely say a word. There’s something wildly romantic, yet heartbreaking, about that.”

Personally, as someone who’s deeply invested in tech AND a million other things, this city has so much for me. Tech itself is so influenced by other industries here—media, art, advertising, publishing, fashion, you name it. I love the variety it affords the web products being built here.

Then there’s everything else. The creative scene, the photography scene, the filmmakers, the shows, the galleries, the projects being launched and premiered. I’ve spent more time in the creative community than anywhere else while I’ve been here. It allowed me to get back in balance with my creative work and return my focus to personal projects (everyone has at least five personal projects in New York, it seems).

More than anything, moving to New York helped me figure out what’s important to me and what I want to spend my time working on. That’s invaluable.

What was the biggest challenge of moving from SF to NYC?
I moved here at the beginning of winter and, my god, coming from California, winter here is hard. If you ever find yourself in a position to move to New York in November, don’t. Just wait ‘til spring.

I also don’t recommend trying to move during a hurricane. My plane was supposed to land at the exact hour that Hurricane Sandy also landed in NYC. Long story short, I ended up homeless living in airports for a bit.

Logistics aside, it was difficult leaving a city that truly has everything I want. I love tech, but I also love photography, and fog, and cliffy beaches, and climbing hills, and eating cheap Indian food in the Tenderloin, and road tripping around Northern California. Sometimes it takes leaving to know what you really want, and while I love New York so very much, I’ll be moving my home base back to San Francisco soon (two weeks, in fact).

How can NYC and SF best engage with each other?
Oh, I don’t know. When I think of the times when I feel most connected to my networks on both coasts simultaneously, I’m often at a conference or event. Look at something like (love it or hate it) SXSW, or newer, more curated events like XOXO or even Phoot Camp (an annual invite-only creative retreat for photographers). While there’s not going to be a cure-all for bringing the greater NYC and SF scenes together, I think we can learn something from creating experiences that bring together individual communities (dev, design, photo, fashion, etc) from disparate cities for a few days. Magical things happen.

Perhaps we can recreate this online in new ways, or on an individual level, simply planning a group trip of specific SF/NYC folks to a random destination with a light agenda can have the same effect. Let’s do more of this.

Favorite SF secret spot
It’s no secret to some, but eating toast from Trouble Coffee while sitting on Ocean Beach is my idea of the best way to spend a morning in San Francisco.

Favorite NYC secret spot
Upstate. Ok, I know it’s not in the city, but it seems like the majority of NYC has no idea it exists. Go get some fresh air and hike by the Hudson River—it’s just a $20, 45-minute train ride from Penn Station.

You recently left your full-time job to do your own thing. Typically, we ask “if you were not at job x, what would you be doing?” So instead: what are you looking forward to doing over the next 6 months?
My next six months are full of changes. I recently said goodbye to my last startup, and made the jump into full-time photography. I loved working in startupland, but I’m way too eager to work on my own ideas. So I’m packing my bags, moving back to San Francisco, and building my business. You can follow my progress at http://helenaprice.com/blog.

Inflight Entertainment: tell us what song/album, TV show, podcast, or web videos you’ve been watching lately.
I’m not gonna lie, my guilty pleasure is watching lots of Bravo and Food Network reality shows while flying cross-country on JetBlue, but otherwise, you’ll find me editing photos to tunes in my headphones. The new albums by Wild Belle, James Blake and Major Lazer have been my soundtrack on repeat lately.

Lisa, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:00:25 -0400

Lisa, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

Amanda, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:22 -0400

Amanda, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

Amanda & Maddie, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:14 -0400

Amanda & Maddie, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

quesofrito: get rad with cait and yael. Sea Blues launch party....

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:21:58 -0400

quesofrito:

get rad with cait and yael.

Sea Blues launch party. tonight. bushwick.

Yeeeeeah Cait! I’ll be there. You should be too.

https://www.facebook.com/events/403587269739278/416812305083441/

Theron & Maddie, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:21 -0400

Theron & Maddie, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

Garrett, May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:00:28 -0400

Garrett, May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

Sunset river adventure. May 2013. From The Barn in Tivoli

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:07 -0400

Sunset river adventure. May 2013.

From The Barn in Tivoli

I know you probably get asked this alot but, what kind of camera do you use?

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:14:00 -0400

If I’m shooting digital (which is most of the time, these days), 5D Mark II with a 35mm 1.4 lens, always and forever.

I actually just recently wrote the story of how I acquired my gear (I’d been borrowing office cameras for years until I recently quit to go full-time freelance).