Nothing announces summer more than the jingle of Mister Softee trucks, especially in New York City. It's like the inner child is brought out of every one of us when we hear that familiar song or get handed a cone or sundae through the open window.
Harlem
When it's February and below zero in New York City, make chocolate!
I was recently challenged by two supremely talented photographers, Jesse Riesmeyer and Stacey Vukelj, to post a black and white photo a day for five days. I took this photo, the final one for this b/w photo challenge, during our recent trip to the farm last weekend. Again, lines and patterns are what grabs me. This is Day Five.
I was recently challenged by two supremely talented photographers, Jesse Riesmeyer and Stacey Vukelj, to post a black and white photo a day for five days. I took today's photo as I was walking past this little cafe, Sweet Revenge, on Carmine Street in the West Village. I pass this place all the time and it never fails to draw my attention. There is something about the fact that its doors are always open, the globe light fixtures give off this buttery glow and the same bicycle is always locked up out front to the parking sign. And the fact that it's called Sweet Revenge. All of this makes it such a New York picture to me. This is Day Four.
sweet revenge | nyc
I was recently challenged by two supremely talented photographers, Jesse Riesmeyer and Stacey Vukelj, to post a black and white photo a day for five days. Below is Day Three, captured on our walk to school this morning.
I was recently challenged by two supremely talented photographers, Jesse Riesmeyer and Stacey Vukelj, to post a black and white photo a day for five days. Below is Day Two.
Day Two | Open Door
I was recently challenged by two supremely talented photographers, Jesse Riesmeyer and Stacey Vukelj, to post a black and white photo a day for five days. Okay friends, challenge accepted. Below is Day One.
Day One | Shopping carts
Happy Father's Day to my husband, my best friend...the one who makes our two young boys laugh with abandon.
And to all the involved, loving and patient fathers out there - you are helping make this world a better place.
We celebrate you today!
While high key images are created by bright, light tones and whites, low key photographs feature the opposite. Relying on shadows, deep blacks and dark tones, they contain very few mid-tones and whites, and as a result, are mysterious, dramatic, and even ominous in their mood. A small light source such as a lamp, flashlight, or candle along with a dark or black background are the simplest way to create a low key effect. You can also shoot at night with street lamps or car headlights as a main light source, making sure to keep the light off of your dark backdrop and on your subject. The dark tones and strong shadows inevitably direct the viewer's attention to the subject, creatively and with drama.
Below is a photograph of my husband saying goodnight and goodbye to our oldest son. Working a lot more with his new job and often times late into the evenings, my husband treasures these little moments. The expression on my son's face, illuminated by just his little nightlight, not only adds feeling to the image but also tugs on my heartstrings.
Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, to see all of our images in one place.
Goodnight, Goodbye Daddy
I love this image of my Mom and my son. And of course a big floppy hat.
For the rest of March, Photo 52 is shifting its focus to contrast. A broad definition of contrast is the juxtaposition of opposite elements, the most well-known being the degree of difference between darkness and lightness. During a playful game of peek-a-boo with the bathroom door, I captured my older son in split contrast within a split frame composition.
Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.
Peek - a - Boo
This week Photo 52 is beginning a new month on patterns and contrast. Our goal is to recognize patterns in our everyday surroundings and see how we can incorporate them into our imagery. For this challenge, I decided to photograph the quintessential New York City bathroom tile (I think all three of my apartments have had this same tile) - a pattern so familiar and so treasured. It's literally a little piece of home, from a different angle.
Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.
Our journey through the concepts of perspective is drawing to a close. After weeks of considering what are perhaps less traditional concepts of perspective - wide angle and long lenses, aspect ratio - we are spending our final two weeks on physical perspective in the form of camera position. This week, we are shooting from above. From standing atop buildings to standing over children, this is a fun assignment with a lot of room to be creative as we capture what all there is to see when looking down.
When the camera angle is located above the eyeline, often times the figure or object appears vulnerable while the image itself is more dramatic. Below is a photograph of my son during our first trip to the dentist, so I guess you could say he was a bit vulnerable that day. Shooting from above, I captured him resting his head against my leg, looking up, as if to say, "It's going to be okay, right Mom?".
My dear friend and fellow Photo 52 member, Jessie Wixon, pointed out that it was also a excellent photo for Valentine's Day since the both his eyebrows and his hairline make a perfect heart shaped face!
Happy Valentine's Day All!
Click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, to see all of our images in one place.
The traditional square format is one of my favorite aspect ratios. It is mostly used by medium format film cameras such as Hasselblads and toy cameras like the Holga and Diana. A couple of manufacturers created square 35mm cameras with a negative size of 24mm x 24mm in the 1930's and 1940's, but the idea never caught on.
Even though there are no square format digital cameras on the market, it has become quite a popular aspect ratio due in part to Instagram, iphoneography and the ease of post-process cropping. Being an avid Instagrammer has really helped me in my ability to envision an image within a square when shooting with my digital camera.
Below are two of my favorites. I think the contrast of my son's long limbs, balanced by negative space and all within the small square frame, works quite well.
Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, to see all of our images in one place.
This week I captured some interesting decorative iron works on the brownstones of our Harlem block. I particularly liked the textures caused by many many years of spray paint coatings.
Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.
This week Photo 52: Within the Frame sought diagonal lines, either alone or in a pattern, in our compositions. Not only was I able to find some diagonal lines in the train tracks below the bridge I was standing on, but also captured a fellow photographer in my midst. I think he adds a nice balance to the tracks and contrasts splendidly against the bright white snow.
Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.
tracks
For the month of December, Photo 52: Within the Frame will be concentrating on lines. Leading lines, lines that are horizontal, vertical and diagonal, lines that are real and implied - our goal is to use these to effectively lead the viewer's eye to our subjects, or in and out of the frame.
Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.
A great number of photographers including myself often balance their subjects with negative space, allowing the viewer's gaze to trail off into the expanse and then, hopefully, be drawn back in again. This week, however, the space between the left and the right edges of my image is the same and the subject is smack dab in the center. Though not my usual way of composing a shot, I felt that with this particular image, the patterns, size and angelic brightness of my "Little Helper" required central showcasing.
Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.
Continuing with our monthly theme, this week we sought to balance objects with the people in our frame. My image below has a fairly standard template for balance: lone figure balanced with lone object, in this case a lamppost. The fence carries the viewer's eye from the left side of the frame to the right, thus dividing the image in half while the dark contrast of the figure and the object give perpendicular grounding to it. Balance is of course more complicated the more objects you have within the photo, and components such as contrast, the brightness of an object, patterns and size all become important in achieving a good composition.
So let's see how the others choose to work with balance this week.
Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.
Lady in the park
