Riverside Research

Hello adorable keys.

I was scoping out an engagement shoot in Riverside Park this weekend, and 

just had to share my research.

Just insert adorable couple here :) Stay tuned for the engagement shoot itself in a few weeks!

Ok, ok, I won't ask them to climb trees. If you look closely, you can see who's already in the tree, posing for me. The tree bark below reminds me of the detail in a Chuck Close drawing (see here). 

Departure

It almost looks like a train, right? 

The rush of color sweeping past. The bright lights, layers of color, blur of movement.

Blink and you'll miss it - fall's departing, winter's arriving soon.

Shall we dance?

K & K's wedding last weekend was absolutely lovely.

Nothing like extended exposure to capture the dips and twirls of a couple's first dance! 

I love the joy that the ballroom lights add, framing the black and white of the bride and groom.

These are all 1.3 seconds opened up to f/5.3.

Winter Lake

Water.

Winter.

Dawn.

Blue Skies

I find myself becoming particular about light. Not time-of-day light - that's nothing new, I adore dawn and pre-dawn. No, I'm talking about indoor lighting. For example - I was at a wedding this afternoon, and there were candles and hanging lights throughout the cathedral. Beautiful, yes? But difficult to photograph while seated (since your don't have full range of motion with your arms).

Ah, but softer light, diffused light that perhaps is streaming through a window - that is a shape I can play with. And while we're at it, shall we add some blinds to the window, for texture? By all means. And that is the start of this series.

That which Is and Is Not

Are these photographs white? 

Are these? 

If you've been following my work for some time, you know that I get excited about "that which is and is not". Of course, these photographs are white-blue. And they are not - they are orange fall trees, they are sunset Nebraskan sky, they are blurred 1/2, 3/5 and 1 second exposure prints.

And they are freaking awesome.

Bittersweet

The first moments of sunrise illuminate the world like none other.

It's like the first rays of light after a long darkness, even a long darkness you weren't sure you'd see through to the end. But the end came, and it was glorious - everything sparking and showing its color like you'd never seen.

I'm looking to capture that moment in my work - when you have fresh eyes to see and appreciate, to wonder and imagine. Not midnight, when all is dark. Not noon, when the light seems like nothing special. No - at dawn, when the light is soft and persistent, when everything is new.

Wintry Winds

Same photo, same layering orientation, different layering method. 

Same wintry bliss. 

:)

Into the Woods

I'm paying more attention to the woods this year, especially as the seasons change. 

The leaves turn more slowly there - is it because the wind can't whip through as easily as it sweeps down tree lined streets downtown? Or does the mass of organic material keep the air warmer, prolonging fall? No idea. I don't mind keeping the color well past first-frost, though, 

so I'm not complaining :)

On a technical note, I removed four of the eight colors from these images. Can you tell which ones? Hint: these were taken with the color palette you get a few minutes after sunrise.

Chill

This scene belongs in a vampy teen blockbuster about werewolves and the undead.

Or in the Nebraska woods.

Late Afternoon VI

Series: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5

The Weird Ones

I can read your mind - "How is she going to tie these together?!"

No idea. 

Enjoy!

Orange Abstraction

Perhaps strangely, these are my favorites from my architecture and light series so far. 

I know, I've published a dozen or more in this series already - but these have a quiet but kind of sparkling depth to them. I don't know. 

Love 'em. 

Cheers!

Roadtrip

Passage

Nebraskan Sky

 Once upon a time, a photographer found herself on a Nebraskan parking lot, face with a beautiful sunset and time to kill (waiting for her pizzas). (Nom.) If you've never been, Nebraska is kind of flat and open - not a lot of anything between you and the Big Ol' Sky. 

So the photographer walked to the middle of the basically empty parking lot, and started spinning.

Half second exposures allowed her to spin almost 360 degrees.

(What's that white light, the moon? She thought so too, but no - it's a light in the parking lot. Ha.)

Here's the moon:

Fire in Air

 A continued lighting and architectural study of All Angels Church in New York City.

If there's something better than a bright blue stripe 

zipping through a sea of yellow undertones, 

well, 

I'll believe it when I see it.

See the first series at All Angels' here: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9