I stumbled upon Melina Hammer in one of those quintessential small world moments (our brothers work together), and I've been smitten with her photography portfolio since then. She has a special eye for gourmet food photography, as she's been formally trained in the art of food preparation by some great chefs. Not to mention, the girl loves to travel (and while I haven't met her, I have a feeling Melina would be a fun travel partner.) Her photos are gorgeous, definitely check out her work (above is a peek at her portfolio.) And Melina was sweet to share her organizing systems as part of my Lost + Found series — along with pretty photos from her home! Love it. Here's a look at how Melina organizes her:
+ magazines
I organize my magazines in a fairly arbitrary manner at home.
I buy every Donna Hay magazine she puts out and have a penchant for alt fashion magazines, like Pop, 125,
Wig, Italian Vogue, etc., in addition to my travel and yoga magazines,
too. My
ever-growing collection of National Geographic magazines shows up in a
few tidy stacks around the house, as well as a not-so-organized stack
on the back of the toilet! Some backlogged cooking and food magazines
are arranged for easy access in my kitchen along with a host of
cookbooks. Most others mingle with random style or lifestyle mags
in the living room, in my city out-and-about bag, or at easy access in
my photo studio.
+ photos
My digital files are stored on hard drives on my desktop computer, arranged by date and what I shot. They
are backed up on different drives, and sometimes double-backed up. And
if I see space running out on my hard drives (egad!) and they are less
necessary to keep prominent, I'll burn a DVD to archive older shoots. I
use Adobe Lightroom to catalogue, batch process, and export my files.
Prints and negatives are stored in a few wooden wine boxes, folder
sleeves, and file cabinets, always seemingly stuffed to capacity
despite how well they are organized.
(Note from Jen: Not surprising to me at all that Melina would have her digital work organized with such efficiency — her brother is a master of techie organization and once showed me how to make my Gmail inbox work for me with special tagging systems. Apparently the organizing streak runs in their family!)
+ tax paperwork and receipts
I diligently keep receipts in a simple wooden box designated for such,
which I sort through when needed for cross-referencing, taxes, etc. My
tax paperwork is filed in manila envelopes for previous years' filings,
along with my itemized returns, in folder files in a file cabinet. Not
particularly aesthetic, but functional. One day I hope to have form and
function married blissfully, but for now there seems to be a clear
separation with things like that. Maybe it's better that way. :)
+ craft supplies
My craft supplies are arranged on a tall utility shelving unit. From
carving and collage materials, to solvents and adhesives, to painting
supplies and fabrics (and more - I like creating in a variety of
media!), they are stored on this shelf unit. One shelf had actually
begun to collapse about a year ago from the weight of various books and
creative odds and ends that were stacked there. When that shelf was
leaning one day, I discovered that perhaps I'd weighed it down with
just a few too many items, and quickly made for its recovery. All is
well now! I have an additional wheeled shelf unit for my textile props
and linens, and cupboard spaces for numerous dish props and such.
+ I also asked Melina, as an experienced traveler, to share how she organizes for a trip:
I usually plot out any friends
or contacts with whom I can stay at any point along my travel, and I'll
ask what spots they think I absolutely must include in my itinerary. I
have snippets of my own filed in little boxes or in my head about this
place or that that I have wanted to visit. I usually invest in a simple
tour book (like rough guides or lonely planet, etc.) and read up on
that location so that I can make the most of things to do and eat, etc.
while there. Round that work out with some internet research, and my
trip begins to take shape! If only I had an exotic trip planned right
now... ;)
A special thanks to Melina for being a part of Lost + Found!
{all photographs courtesy of melina hammer}
last week's lost + found: alek, from the right bank to the left coast
what's lost + found? find out more here
