It’s been years since I’ve seen Carl and Zack and I’m amazed how much they’ve both changed since I saw them last. Everyone told me how tall Carl was, but it didn’t sink in until he was standing next to me... and he was the tallest! We had fun shooting fireworks, that’s Zack shooting a roman candle. And I couldn’t resist getting some pictures of their dog Kaylee whose tongue sticks out like Maes.

Katie

Filo Show Opening

The show went over great. We had wine and delicious desserts to serve all courtesy of Maria the owner pictured standing with me. People came from Asheville and Black Mountain to see my work. It was very exciting. Most people asked about my German Castle print and how I was able to take it. I stayed after for the swing dancing with some friends and that was fun. Even though I didn't sell anything, it was still a great opening.

Katie

My Next Ship: The Rotterdam

The leaves are turning, people are dusting off their sweaters, there's a chill in the air; it's that time of year…no, not Fall, it's time for me to get out of here and go some place warm. This Four month contract with Holland America will take me to the Mediterranean and South America.

I fly to Athens, Greece next Friday and I fly back home February 10th with plenty of time to spare for the Oscars which will be February 25th this year. It's a good thing that I'll have lots of time to make it home because I'm flying back from Antarctica, well not exactly, but Ushuaia, Argentina is pretty darn close. They're the closest port town to Antarctica.

I'm really looking forward to my month in the Mediterranean with ports in Italy, Morocco, Spain, and Portugal. I've done South America before and there are only a couple of new ports that I'll be visiting this time around. One of those ports is Antarctica it's self. We aren't actually going to be stopping there, it's not like there's a dock or anything, but for three days we're going to be cruising there. I can't wait. I get to see it before it all melts away.

Katie

Show Opening

Mark your calendars for my opening Friday October 13th (no, I'm not superstitious.) I'm having a show opening of my Photography from Europe at Filo Pastries in Asheville. Dad and I have spent months making all the frames and the largest are about 3 and a half feet, so they look really impressive on the wall. If you're in the area, you should stop by between 5pm and 7pm then stay for swing dancing after and bring a friend.

The photos will stay on the walls for a while so if you can't make it to the opening you can always come later, but of course I might not be there later to sign autographs and whatnot.

Filo is a fantastic café and gourmet pastry shop. Order a chocolate anything and it will be incredible. If you're diabetic, bring extra insulin. If you're on a diet, indulge its worth it.

Filo is located on Tunnel Road across from the VA. If you're coming from downtown on tunnel road you will see Filo just after the Ingles and just before the Blue Ridge parkway. Hope to see you there. I've attached the front and back of the postcards I'm getting printed up.

Katie

Vanity Mirror Review

A long while back I sent Vanity Mirror off to Film Threat to be reviewed. Film Threat is a site started by Chris Gore, who's an independent film reviewer and film festival guru. They have a reputation for giving their honest opinions about films and not sugar coating everything. Vanity Mirror got a 3 out of 5 stars which is "good." No stars is "crap" and 5 is "perfect" so I'm pretty happy with my good. Here's the review:

Katie

Film Threat
VANITY MIRROR
by Rory L. Aronsky
(2005-10-10)
2005, Un-rated, 10 minutes, JKR Productions

Yeah, vanity can be a real bitch. Keep preening yourself like that and soon it’s all you’re thinking about. The hair’s got to be a certain way, and there’s so much primping to make Narcissus wince. At least that’s the intention for the blonde-haired woman (Julia Denton) unsettled by an ugly half-done Robocop prototype kind of man (Sean Larsen) holding up a flower. He likes her beauty, but she doesn’t like him.

Now it could be that her rejecting him leads to the darkness that settles down upon her or it could simply be that she’s just gone paranoid over keeping her looks, especially when a mirror image of herself begins to mutilate itself. The mirrors magnify the wrinkles and the stretched skin. She looks like she’s in her late ‘20s which makes immediate aging impossible, though Katie T. Damien is also reaching for a kind of “Tales from the Crypt” vibe here, with uneasy black-and-white cinematography which is effective, but makes us wonder what kind of lesson she’s exactly learning her. Love your fellow freak? Watch out for the skinhead with the squinty eyes? Don’t shave in those sexy places after midnight? There’s a foreboding feeling here, but it doesn’t quite reach fully around giving that kind of brain wedgie to make you wonder even further about the character. Atmosphere, and not much else. The character may feel disturbed, but we’re not.

Mt. Pisgah

Rebecca and I went on a little road trip to Mt. Pisgah with our friend Kristin who came down from DC for the weekend. The weather was fabulous and we had fun hiking on the trails and just sitting around enjoying the scenery. Mt. Pisgah is really close to us. It's only about 30 miles South on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but I think it took us 45 minutes to an hour to actually get there because the roads were steep and windy.

I don't have a picture of Mt. Pisgah itself because from where we were, it just wasn't that exciting of a view. I took a picture of another cool mountain a little further South. I don’t know which one it is but it looks neat. I would recommend Mt. Pisgah on a clear day when the sun is setting. There's good hiking and good scenery. I prefer Mt. Mitchell, but Pisgah is a close second.

Katie

Shooting Party at Biltmore

Last weekend I shot a mega birthday party celebration for a multimillionaire at the Biltmore Estate. They had two parties and one day of activities. The day of activities was the best because when the guests were all gone the guys running the events let me and the other photographers try them out.

There were three different stations set up on a secluded side of the Biltmore Estate: skeet shooting (which we didn't get to try,) archery, and Land Rover driving school. I had never shot a cross bow before so I tried my hand at that and got three bulls eyes, but I felt like I was cheating because they had a really great scope on the bow.

The most exciting thing was the Land Rover Experience. We all got to drive a new Land Rover through a muddy obstacle course to see what it could do. At one point it felt like the car was going to tip over, but it didn't. That was a fun time.

Katie

Time at the Cabin

Toward the end of our all too short stay at the cabin, papa took me and my cousins out to see some countryside. We all got a nice group shot on the top of a mountain, then we went to see the temporary flight 93 memorial, it's just a few miles from the cabin. And a trip to the cabin would not be complete without a swim in the creek. As you can see from the photos, it's sweater weather to say nothing of the temperature of the water. Kyle had never been, so he really wanted to swim. I was the only other person crazy enough to go with him.

The cabin has always been one of my favorite places to go since I was kid. I'm so glad I had the chance to take this trip and see so much of my family. My thanks go to grama and grandpa for being such great hosts as usual, to my parents for driving, to aunt marnie and aunt janny for conspiring to put this thing together and to my cousins who flew all the way up from Florida.

Katie

Fish Fry

Yum, look at that delicious fish. Every year my grandparents host a fish fry at their cabin in Pennsylvania with all the fish that my papa has caught and saved. This year I think he said they cooked 162 pieces and they were all gone before the party was over. Dad and papa fried up the fish in the garage because it was raining, but that didn't slow down the party.

Lots of friends and relatives showed up. Including Kerri and her husband Jack who went straight to the garage to sample some freshly cooked fish dad made. My great aunt Barbra, who hates to have her picture taken, showed off her wonderful smile for the camera and said that I would be off her black list if I made her look young and blond, so there you go. Of course I hardly had to do a thing to the photo.

I got a shot of my cousin Albert and his wife Cori with Nancy sneaking up behind them. Then I handed my camera over to Nancy to get a picture of me with my cousins and Grandmother. I told grandma I was too tall to sit in the chair and that I would cover her up, but she just laughed. But I scooted down at the last minute, so ha ha grandma.

Katie

Grandparent's 50th

I just got back from a trip to Pennsylvania to my grandparent's cabin for their 50th wedding anniversary. We had an original shot of them cutting their wedding cake and with the help of a local baker we recreated the cake and the shot. My cousins, Albert, Kyle and Jessica, flew up from south Florida to attend. Mom, Dad and I drove up with our pug dog Mae West and yes her tongue always sticks out. My cousins thought it was hilarious and posed for a picture with her. After some toasting and celebrating with family we went straight into the annual fish fry party. More on that in the next chronicle.

Katie

Tennessee

I just got back from a shoot in Tennessee with Michael the photographer that I went to Chicago with. As a state I have to say I didn't get a very good impression with the exception of the Eastern side that is close to where I live. We shot in Jackson for a few days. We passed through Nashville and were close to Memphis, but we didn't have time for a trip out to really see either city, so I can't comment on them. The part of the state that I saw was just kinda blah. The air wasn't clean and the landscape wasn't pretty. I don’t know that I could recommend Tennessee as a visiting place, but they do have cool looking storms with incredible lighting. I managed to get a good shot in on our last night there. And the shot of Michael taking a picture of the mountains on the side of the road, that was back toward Asheville. So yea, don’t go to Tennessee for a vacation, come to Asheville and visit me instead, it's much prettier here.

Katie

More Chicago

Day two in Chicago was the day of the cancelled shoot, we still had another shoot to do, but it wasn't until later in the afternoon. So Michael dropped me downtown to go touring while he took care of some business. I walked around and saw some more of the awesome architecture. I spent most of my day at the Chicago Art Institute. They had some fabulous works, including an extensive collection of Rembrandt and Monet. All in all it was a great trip. Chicago is a big city with lots to do. It was a fun place visit, but it might not be so fun to live in.

Katie

Chicago

I just got back from a four day trip to Chicago. I was working as a photography assistant to Michael Mauney, a local commercial photographer and the same one that I worked with on the trip to New Mexico. This trip went pretty well, we got all the photos we were set up to shoot except one where the subject cancelled at the last minute, but because of the cancellation I had more time to explore the city.

I've had to divide this trip into two chronicles. This first one is from the first day we were there. The weather was great. The blistering heat wave that everyone had been suffering through just the week before was over and we had comfortable if not cool weather.

Michael and I did the tourist thing and walked around the city. We went to a park and saw a giant bean. I'm not kidding there is a large metal sculpture in the middle of the park that's shaped like a kidney bean. I took a picture of my reflection in it with the city in the background then I found it was even more interesting underneath and I got a really cool shot of all the weird reflections there. Being a photographer, Michael prefers being behind the camera, but I managed to get a quick shot of him working. More to come, with day two.

Katie

Sunflower

Dad picked me a beautiful sunflower from the garden the other day, so of course I had to sit down and photograph it. This email goes out in particular to my good friend Jacob. Here I have attached not only the shots I got, but also the set up. A rocking chair, a peice of black velvet, and some sunlight, that's all you need. Well maybe a chair that doesn't rock would have been a better choice, this one was just convienient.

Katie

My Birthday

Mom and I had a joint birthday party yesterday since our birthdays are just two days apart. We celebrated on the day in between. We wanted a small dinner party, so mom invited a few of her concierge friends and I invited my photographer friends. In one of the photos mom is holding a big bundle all in bubble wrap. This was brought by Brian and Gry my photographer friends. It was bubble wrapped as a joke because the last time they came to the house was for the Oscar party and Brian brought a bottle of wine, but when I went to give him a hug, I knocked the bottle out of his hand and it smashed all over the floor. This time the bottle made it safely. We had some great Bar-B-Q and everyone had a good time.

Katie

New Mexico

I just returned from a shoot in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was working as a photographer's assistant on a commercial shoot. It was my first visit to New Mexico, and I have to say it reminds me of old Mexico. I tried both red and green chile, not to be confused with chili (the latter is like a stew and the former is more like a sauce) I went inside an old pueblo house and even wandered through an Indian reservation.

I was out there for two full days and after we wrapped the shooting, we still had a little time on the last day so I went to the Petroglyph National Monument where you can see all the neat whitish figures in the black stones (though they look like they're painted on, they are actually chipped on the surface by the ancient pueblo Indians to reveal the white underneath.) They were allover the side of the mountains, but you really had to search to find them. Then we all took a tram to the top of the Sandia Mountains and watched the sunset. New Mexico is dry, dusty, bright and beautiful and the people are all very friendly. It was a fun place to visit.

Katie

4th of July

For the Fourth of July, mom, dad and I went to Black Mountain (a small town near Asheville) to see fire works. They were great until we got rained out in the end. There was a huge grand finale as they set off everything left at once. I managed to get a few good shots before the rain started.

Katie

Commercial Contest

I finished both my commercial entries to the "any way you like it" video contest to promote tourism in Asheville. You can see them both on you-tube.com just follow the links below.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0Va5irZfuc
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Rc0T0ieH8

Katie
P.S. - Don't forget to give them a rating and tell me which one you like best.

Looking Glass Falls

For dad's birthday my family went to sliding rock and looking glass falls. It was only like an hour drive from home, but it rained pretty much the whole time. They wouldn't let anyone swim (or slide) at sliding rock because the water level was too high, so we walked around and put our feet in the water and were very tempted to "fall in." At looking glass falls there isn't anyone there to tell you not to go in the water, so me, mom and Rebecca went for a dip then I set up the camera and got a shot of us all standing by the falls. Despite the rain, we had a blast and I'm sure we'll be going back a few more times before summer is over.

Katie

Mystery Dinner Train

A while back I went with my family and Jack and Vickie on a Mystery Dinner Train outing. There's a place in Tennessee (Asheville is close to the state border) where they have an old steam train that does dinners in each of the cars that are served while the train makes its way through the near by towns and countryside. While you're having dinner and enjoying the ride, there is a troupe of actors dressed in 1930s style costumes that come and go through the train and act out a murder mystery at the end of which you have to guess who did it. Rebecca and I got all dolled up in vintage dresses and created quite a stir. The actors took a liking to Jack and got our table really involved in the drama. It was a lot of fun and a fantastic evening out.

Katie

Commercial for Asheville

I'm working on a commercial for a local contest. Follow the link below and tell me what you think of it so far. There is no sound yet, I plan on putting it to music.

Katie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUtUTahxNak

Dinner Party

We recently had Jack and Vickie Kitts-Turner over for a dinner party with our neighbors, the Robertsons. Jack was Rebecca's bassoon instructor from Florida and thus began a lifelong friendship between our two families. Jack is a fabulous bassoonist and together he and Vickie make a marvelous musical team.

It seems that each time we get together, where inevitably Jack, Vickie, Rebecca and I all play in an impromptu woodwind ensemble, the thing that is in greatest demand is not just the live performance, but Jack playing a recorder out of his nose. He obliged me and let me take a picture. I wish you could hear it as well, he's quite funny. The evening was a complete success and if there are any more musicians out there who would like to come over for dinner, you are very welcome, but be warned, you will have to play for your supper.

Katie

Selfportraits

I finally have some self portaits that I like. I put the first one on my account in the Internet Movie Database. The last one I already have on my web site in my biography. I don't know why I look so mischevious in that last shot. I don't think I usually look like that....


Katie

Asheville Wedding

I just shot my first wedding in Asheville all by myself. It went really well, I got some great shots. I'm a big girl now!

Katie

HGTV at Biltmore

The day before HGTV gave away the dream home, they had a really nice dinner at the Biltmore Estate for all their executives and sponsors. First they had horse drawn carriages take everyone to the house. Then they all had a private tour followed by cocktails on the terrace with a beautiful sunset. They had a five-course dinner near the stables and for a grand finale they had a huge private fireworks show. It was a fantastic evening.

Katie

HGTV shoot

I just got off a two-day shoot for Scripps Networks, which owns HGTV among other things. The first day we were out at Biltmore documenting an awesome private dinner party they had. I’ll send those photos later.

The next day I went to the live shoot where they gave away the dream home and documented all that. And though I tried to stay out of the way (and you have no idea how difficult that was on such a busy set) I got in the background of one of the shots during the middle of the show. If anyone watched it, I was the photographer in all black in the shot where one of the hosts sat on the interior designer’s lap.

Anyway I have attached a picture of the set with the house in the background, a shot of the view of Lake Lure from the house (oh yea and there's a guy on a crane with a giant sun gun, there were lights everywhere) my favorite room in the house, the winner in an emotional moment during the middle of the show (they managed to make all the contestants cry) and a shot of the host Mark Walberg...the other Mark Walberg.

Katie

Show at the Biltmore Estate

Two of my three submissions for the “Flowers, Farms, and Forests” show at the Biltmore Estate have been accepted. Anyone who happens to be going to Biltmore this June or July, go check out my work. They will be in the gallery at Deer Park. The farm picture is the one that didn’t get in. The waterfall and sunflower made it. Now I have to put a price on these. They are 16 by 20 inch prints that I’m going to mat and put in a nice frame. So how much do you think I should charge?

Katie

Doggie Cuteness

Here are some pictures of our dogs I’ve been taking with my new digital camera. These are in no particular order of doggie cuteness.

Katie

New Gig with HDTV

I have a gig coming up to shoot stills for the HGTV dream house giveaway. This year the house that they are giving out is at Lake Lure, which isn’t too far from Asheville. My photographer friend Ryan got me the gig for next Friday and Saturday. It’ll be nice to be on a real set again. So more on that later.

I also got a new digital camera. It’s a Nikon D200 and it’s really sweet. I’m having fun playing with it. I’m not abandoning film. I’m still keeping all my old gear. I am still a film snob at heart, but now instead of burning film whenever I have a whim, I will save it for special occasions. Plus digital is so much better for work. It’ll pay for itself in the long run.

I attached a picture of a ladybug just because.

Katie

Film Reviews

A friend of mine was surfacing the web and looked up my name to see what would pop up. He came across these reviews for movies that I’ve made that I didn’t even know where there. Here are some excepts:

Katie

Nolan's Pop Culture Review

By: Nolan B. Canova

...excerpt...

Just Due [Katie Damien] played at the 4th Renegade Film Festival (Saints & Sinners), but I missed it there due to hobnobbing in the lobby too long. The setting is the old west and two gun-slinging sisters are talking about how they're going to handle some tough business that day. Suddenly, a shout from an abusive landlord/boss awakens them...and us...to the fact that this just is a daydream. The two sisters are charwomen, scrubbing floors on their hands and knees for a drunken, redneck jerk. They escape this harsh reality by whispering little bits of their wild west fantasy to each other. As the abuse grows and tolerances are tested, the fantasy threatens to become reality. Highly recommended. (RT: about 10 minutes)

Vanity Mirror [Katie Damien] also played at S&SIV, but I only saw a part of it. This was a little bit more of an abstract experience for me, but still intriguing. A woman, seemingly haunted by visions of stalkers and self-mutilation, finally acts out some self-destruction via her broken mirror. Hard to follow in what can be the occasionally noisey atmosphere of the coffeehouse, so I'm afraid that's about all I got out of it, but still worth a study! (RT: about 10-15 minutes)

Coffeehouse Film Review for May

By: Nolan B. Canova

...excerpt...

The Mime Series by Katie Damien: Destiny and Marco won’t quit. No matter what situation they find themselves in, they refuse to speak. Three short chapters, end-to-end, all very funny. Leave it to Katie Damien to make mimes in movies a workable format! I love her work and have yet to find a Katie Damien piece I don't like. I don't recall ever meeting her, but I'd sure like to. Her other movies "Just Due" and "Vanity Mirror" left lasting impressions.

The Beauty of Western North Carolina

In Asheville there is such beautiful countryside all around you don’t have to go far to find these kind of marvelous sights. I took the shot of the waterfall at Chimney Rock State Park. It’s the bottom of the falls that is featured in the last scene of Last of the Mohicans.

The other shot I took at the top of Mt. Mitchell and I was so disappointed at the cloudy weather we encountered at the top. There was never a break so you couldn’t see the marvelous view of the surrounding mountains. Little did I know I would come across such a cool shot as the clouds almost cleared to reveal a lovely orange sun through the silhouette of the trees. Maybe next time I go back I will be disappointed that there are no clouds.

Katie

New Website

I’ve spent weeks working on redoing my website and finally after scraping everything and starting over a couple times, I’ve finished. Check out my new and improved website all pimped up with flash. Let me know if you have any problems with it or have any suggestions for making it any better.

www.katiedamien.com

Katie

Snowing in spring!

It’s snowing in spring! I can’t believe it. Here I thought that I was getting away from the cold and coming back just in time for the lovely warm weather. No, it’s snowing all the time now. It doesn’t stick, but it comes down in icy flurries. I braved the cold to go take some pictures as proof. Our outside dog, Honey, doesn’t mind the snow, in fact I think she likes it. Our two insides dogs stick close to the fire. That’s right we have another new dog. Rebecca got a little pug puppy named Silvia. She’s sweet and cute and full of energy. The only time I can get a decent picture of her is when she’s sleeping. I can’t wait for warm weather.

Katie

Self Portraits

The last self portrait I did was too somber for my tastes. I’m trying to get a new happier picture of me, so one afternoon I went out during magic hour and shot all these pictures on a hill at the end of the road I live on. Tell me which one you like the best.

Katie

The Oscar party

The Oscar party was a smashing success. I wasn’t able to include everyone’s photo, but here are some of my favorites. There was me posing as the official Oscar poster for this year. Dad was a gay cowboy from Brokeback Mountain. Mom was a Geisha from Memoirs of a Geisha. Tricia came as Rita Skeeter, the journalist from Harry Potter. We had a pair for smooching Penguins from March of the Penguins. And last but certainly not least Rebecca made an appearance as Dolly Parton. It was a great night, there was good food, good drinks, good friends, and good times.

Katie

Goodbye to the Zudierdam

My uniform with Holland America was great. It was just black pants and a black shirt. I took a picture of myself on the ship in St. Thomas so you could see. There's also a shot of the very back of the ship at sea. And a shot of the Zuiderdam docked in St. Thomas.

After a short flight, I find myself safely at home again in Asheville. This contract just flew by. Four months was perfect, I wasn’t tired of working on ships, but I’m glad to be home. The only thing I miss is Igor…I might miss the chocolate cake they served too, and having someone clean my room for me, and scuba diving, and midnight margarita parties…well the point is I miss Igor and the rest of my friends on the Zuiderdam most of all. Still it’s nice to be back on dry land and to see all my family and friends again. I still have a few more chronicles from stuff I did on the ship so I’m going to send them all now so that you’ll be caught up for the Oscar Party Chronicle which is happening tonight.

Katie