For this final week of seeing light in black and white I decided to attempt some street photography and thought it would be fun to include a dash of humor, and hopefully a little irony, of life in the Big Apple.
Please follow along the circle to view the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Stacey Vukelj, fellow New Yorker and street photographer extraordinaire.
Lately my husband has been taking over bath time responsibilities as I've become too pregnant to bear the brunt of the task. This week I decided to sneak in and capture a moment I usually opt to process in color, but for this month's theme I envisioned the image in black and white. In order to make it dynamic enough as a tonal image, I patiently waited for a strong composition of contrasting lines. The result is an "X" made of limbs around a central, trusting gaze.
Please continue along to see the rest of Photo 52's work for this week. Next up is Kami Chaudhery, who resides in Seattle with her husband and two adorable girls.
"X's" and O's
Just for fun this past Saturday I took a few photographs of the same winter landscape using my Lensbaby lens for a creative blurred effect.
This past weekend New York City was hit by "Nemo", the first blizzard of 2013, and our neighborhood of Harlem was blanketed by about a foot of snow overnight. In the early morning hours, just after the sun came up, I decided to take a walk around the local streets before the wonderland was disturbed by shovels and trudging feet. My intentions from the beginning were to create a black and white collection exhibiting mother nature's artistry upon the streets of my nabe. I felt there was no greater opportunity for "seeing in black and white".
Please continue along to see the rest of Photo 52's work for this week. Next up is Erica Obenchain Collins, my friend, extraordinary mother to five beautiful children and a photographer with talent beyond measure. Have fun cruising through the entire circle!
This week kicks off a new theme for Photo 52. Over the next four weeks we will be seeing light in black and white, envisioning our images in a range of tonal values before we even press the shutter button.
Now that I am 24 weeks pregnant with my second son I've been desperately meaning to capture my first born kissing my belly which he loves to do, saying, "Mommy, kiss baby brother". But lately I just didn't quite have the motivation to do everything that was required to get that image and frankly wasn't even sure if it was possible. Then while in the midst of one of the most trying days of my pregnancy thus far, I decided to take out my tripod in the hopes that magic might transpire. I set up the tripod, positioned myself where I would stand in order to get the proper settings on my camera and then called my son into the room to see if he'd be a willing participant. Mind you, my vision was to capture a black and white image that I would cherish over the years where the reflection would be a main character in the composition.
Below is the result of our endeavor and I can honestly say that this is my favorite photo I have taken. Ever. Somehow all things aligned between the moment I pressed the self-timer and the moment the flash went off which is not an easy task when working with a two year old! But I will say, that coming away with this image, most certainly turned around what was otherwise a very crappy day.
And I will always treasure this photograph and the memory of how we made it.
baby brother
Please continue along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Linda Hooper, my friend and fellow photographer who, lucky for all of us, just returned to New York after living for some time abroad in Switzerland.
When it's brutally cold outside and mommy is too tired to cook, there's nothing better than a happy meal with your daddy. I presume there will be many moments like these shared amongst the men of the house.
Fry guys
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Stacey Vukelj, a fellow New Yorker, friend and photographer extraordinaire. Seriously her work is simply amazing.
Lately my son won't go too far without his Fischer Price toy camera (the same one I had as a child in the late 70's) taking pictures of whatever is before him. This past week he spent time "snapping photos" of the cars and busses on the street below the living room window. Documenting this moment of his childhood with my own camera, I wanted to convey a sense of him taking a peek into what lies ahead, the great white expanse of his future, so bright and so infinite.
Budding photog
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Erica Obenchain Collins, my friend and beautiful mother of five living in Indiana. Her images are always so touching and rife with emotion.
This past week we went to see Ann Hamilton's "The Event of a Thread" installation at the Park Avenue Armory here in New York City. The exhibit included 42 large swings that moved a gigantic billowing white curtain when used. My favorite sounds were those of gleeful children and my favorite sights were shadows cast on the floor in various pockets of the room. Captured below is a little bit of both - a joyful young boy and his amazing shadow.
Taking flight
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Jessie Wixon, my talented friend and fellow New Yorker whose ethereal and dreamy images are spectacular!
Last weekend was the final chance to catch Ann Hamilton's large-scale installation for the Wade Thompson Drill Hall, commissioned by the Park Avenue Armory in NYC. Fortunately we were there and in line twenty minutes before the 12:00 opening because it wasn't long before the line snaked outside and all the way down 68th street to Lexington Avenue.
Hamilton's "The Event of A Thread" draws together readings, sound, and live events within a field of 42 swings. We were fortunate to get on one of the swings fairly quickly, which control the motion of the billowing white curtain. Onlookers could take in the experience from the rafters above, in motion on a swing and even from below the curtain itself. It was definite worth the trip and worth waiting in line.
Well it's now January of 2013, and because it's a winter month for most of us our photography group decided that Natural Indoor Light would be an appropriate theme to challenge us to find available and interesting light in our hibernation.
For Christmas this year Santa put a Lensbaby in my stocking and I have been spending time striving to master its capabilities. (A Lensbaby is a special effects lens that creates an area of focus in your image surrounded by beautiful blur). For this month's debut image I chose to capture my son at play near the window which was getting some diffuse afternoon light. My vision was to show the detail of some of his hair while the rest of it faded into a blurry mane and the Lensbaby helped me achieve it. Below is my little Lion King.
Lion King
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Jill Cassara, my photographer friend who is insanely talented at capturing the daily life of her family, particularly her two adorable children.
Every Christmas we stay with my sister and her family in Chicago and this year we signed up for the holiday trolley tour around the city. One of our first stops was to see the lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo. As I traveled through the show of lights snapping photos, I found the moon aglow in the sky just as spectacular. It was the perfect accent in my final photo for this month's theme. Happy New Year to all!
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Julie Kiernan, a talented photographer and friend I am grateful to have come to know well in 2012.
This Christmas Eve I wanted my holiday edition image to have a dash of merry, a sprinkle of joy and a pinch of humor. Wishing you all a very happy Christmas full of good tidings and cheer...and may all your obsessions come true!
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Justine Knight, my friend and fellow New Yorker. Her street photography as well as the tender captures of her family are truly inspirational.
I recently read in one of the local papers that Matt Lauer, the host of the Today Show, loves Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree in the early morning when the plaza is empty. "It gets so busy later, but when I get to the studio at 4:45 a.m., and the tree is lit, it’s actually stunning because you have the place to yourself.”
I thought this was a brilliant idea so one (very) early morning this past week I took the downtown train after a rainstorm had passed through. I was the only person in Rockefeller Center besides a handful of security guards and a few men setting up a stage down in the ice skating rink. It turned out to be the most peaceful time to take photographs of what is normally a chaotic tourist destination during the month of December. It was just me, the majestic tree and the angels that morning after everything had been washed clean by the rain.
{In light of the tragic loss of so many innocent children at Sandy Hook Elementary School this past Friday, I wish to dedicate this image to their memory. May their souls rest in peace with the angels above.}
Angels of Rockefeller
Please follow along the blog circle beginning with the talented Cheryl Sawyer, another fellow New Yorker and friend of mine, and continue through to see the rest of Photo 52's holiday captures for this week.
This was the first year that my little one helped decorate our small Christmas tree. Though we always travel to Chicago to spend Christmas with family we still have a small tree in our apartment through the holiday season. The magic of the lights and his joy while hanging the ornaments on the tree was the subject of my installation for this week. I created a diptych to showcase a sort of split screen, highlighting both the small Christmas tree down the hallway and his up close and personal reaction to hanging the family ornament.
Small tree, little boy wonder
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Kelly Roth Patton, my fellow New Yorker and dear friend whose skills for capturing alluring and romantic images are astounding.
This month our group has decided on a broad, yet seemingly appropriate theme. Since the holidays are upon us, we will be capturing a festival of lights over the next four weeks, allowing ourselves to be creative with our concepts and images. We have been looking forward to taking a break from the more technical study of light to using our cameras most freely to capture the season's lights both bold and bright, lovely Christmas bokeh, and perhaps an occasional miracle along the way.
My photograph for this week was taken during the first snowfall after Thanksgiving. I opened up my aperture as wide as possible and used manual focus to create a blurred, painterly effect. My hope was to add to the wintery mood of that late November day.
Harlem lights
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Kennedy Tinsley, a friend and colleague of mine as well as a very talented photographer in her own right.
Waking up to a light snowfall
There was a lesson in my latest photography course that explored the dramatic nature of film noir. Often times subjects are placed in very contrasty, hard light. One particular afternoon, on our walk home from a birthday party, there was fantastic light hitting one of the brownstones on our block. I quickly took a photo of our three shadows and was surprised by the creepy feel of the image. It must be the "claw" hand but I think it's a fitting finale to our hard light study - dramatic and mysterious.
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Kim Dupree, a supremely talented photographer who resides in East Texas with her husband and three children.
Early in the morning, at around 6:45 a.m., the sun comes streaming in through our east facing living room window. The light is very dramatic and directional at that hour. So when the little one went searching for Daddy (who fell asleep on the couch the night before), I followed along with my camera to capture him in a halo of light. Below is my image for this third week studying hard light.
Angel hair
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Linda Hooper, a most gifted photographer who is presently living with her family in Geneva, Switzerland.
For this second week studying hard light I decided to shoot outdoors. My image below was taken as we made our way home on an usually warm and sunny November afternoon. Somehow it was able to alleviate, just a little, the perfect storm and recent nor'easter that befell our great city and surrounding areas. And the balloon, in its luminosity, the simplest symbol of hope.
Please follow along the circle to see the rest of Photo 52's images for this week. Next up is Lisa Rigazio, a talented photographer and friend who resides in the suburbs of D.C. with her husband and two girls.
... it's time I was on my way.