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Photo 52.2: Framed {week 6}

It's week 6 at P52.2 and we continue our pursuit of balance, this time between our subject and an object. Though in this case, my subject and my object are one and the same, and the people simply balance out the frame. This is no masterpiece, but some members of our household regularly give high fives to the doorman of this neighborhood fixture (est. 1933) so it pleases me to have a reason to feature Rudy's Pig.

Please continue over to Who We Become, and see what the rest of P 52.2 found this week! 

Photo 52.2: Framed {week 5}

It's a balancing act over here in week 5 of P52.2: Framed. Our goal this week was to create balance in our images using people. In the first image below, part of the balance is simply the sense of symmetry of the image whereas the second uses the figures in the background as a counterweight to my son and all of his "en route to a birthday party" trappings in the very immediate foreground.  It would work better without the scooter but so it goes. This was a challenging topic and one I intend to practice more thoughtfully in the future. 

To see what balance everyone struck this week, please head over to Who We Become, our collective blog.  

One {October}

For my "One" shot this month, I am pleased to be able to share an image from a recent session I did for the Gold Hope Project. Please click on the link for more images as well as more information about my amazing subject.  

The beautiful Arianna has personality for miles and style to match. It was a true pleasure to meet this sweet girl and her mother while she was in town for treatment and learn about her life back home in St. Louis where her brothers and father awaited their return. Please keep Arianna and her family in your thoughts - she's a tough cookie but still has a ways to go in her second bout with cancer. 

Please take a spin around our wee circle and see what amazing work my dear friends have created this month. Next up is the amazing Kim Lane  in Georgia. 

Photo 52.2: Framed {week 4}

In our final week of geometric study, we at P.52.2 attempted to bring together as many of the techniques we have been practicing this month as possible: geometric framing, repeating elements and balance.   So it was with these goals in mind that I grabbed a few shots during our whirlwind weekend in D.C. Or "Washington, DeeDeeSee" as it was called by our small backseat driver. With a handful of others thrown in, just because. To see everyone's work this week, please click over to our collective blog, Who We Become. 

Photo 52.2: Framed {week 3}

This week's P52.2 theme: geometry and balance. Our goal was to balance the frame of our image using geometric shapes as opposing forces to our main subject. This week was a bit of a bust until today, when my family headed up to the Storm King Art Center - an annual pilgrimage to celebrate my mom's birthday. The warm, high sun was not ideal for photos, especially since I forgot my polarizer - but an abundance of geometric sculptures and a whole day spent with my favorite subjects most certainly made up for the challenging light. Below, my take on balance. To see everyone's work this week, please visit Who We Become!

Photo 52.2: Framed {week 1}

Why, hello. What's all this?  

Photo 52 is back! After a month's hiatus, I am excited to announce that our talented group is kicking off a new 52 week project that I am calling Photo 52.2: Framed. There are a few more participants this time around, so rather than require a pass through a circle in order to see everyone's work, I invite you to visit our new collective website: Who We Become.   

Last year we embarked on a study of light. This year, we are focusing on composition. What do we choose to include in the frame? Where do we put it and why? Geometry, colors, lines, positioning....the list goes on and we can't wait to begin.

 For our first week, we used geometric shapes as a framing element. I can't say I'm leaping with joy at my inaugural efforts but I look forward to wherever this project will take me. Please click here to check out everyone's work in this first week of Photo 52.2! 

 

One {September}

And here we are! Our One Circle met up in Denver mid-month for a wonderful weekend of love and laughter and tears and friendship. Since I have one of the only full group shots on my camera, I think it would be irresponsible of me not to post it this month. 

 

However, since I did not actually take that photo (thank you, Christina!), I am also including an image from a trip up to Ithaca this month. The look on his face cracks me up - despite the true beauty of the space, I'm fairly certain I wore the exact same expression during my hours spent at the Law School library.  Please continue around our little circle, starting with my dear friend Jessica Remus who is back in Chicago after yet another Denver adventure this weekend.

 

Photo 52: A Play on Light {The End}

One full year! We have officially made it to the end of Photo 52 and our exploration of light. I am so excited to say that I have not missed a week in this journey. Congratulations to my wonderful friends who have traveled with me on this journey. I think we have all come a long ways, but the photography is only secondary to the supportive friendships cemented over the course of this year of learning.

I had planned to use this final week to pick a favorite from the prior 51 weeks, but I got derailed by some new and very different favorites that I love and have to share. I had the honor of photographing an incredible dancer, choreographer and dear, dear friend: Catherine Cabeen. We met in elementary school and she is one of the few people I know who has successfully pursued and achieved her childhood dreams. I admire her more than she will likely ever know. And now you get to admire her too, because she is stunning and she makes magic with her graceful limbs. 

I will also note her patience: in honor of our light-inspired journey, I used her shoot to make my first foray into the world of off-camera flash. Always something new to learn.

Stay tuned for P52's next project which will debut in October. But before you go, please take a final spin around the circle, starting with my exceptional photographer and friend, Lisa Rigazio.  You can check out the very beginnings of the project here.

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One {August}

August, a month of summer, a month of travel and a month of uninterrupted time with my small person. On one of my favorite moments on our recent trip west, he and I were up a little early and while we waited to join everyone for breakfast, we went and got hot chocolate (gasp!) and sat on a dock in the early morning sun. This image will always make me smile.     

My dear friend Kim has been off on some travels of her own. I can't wait to see what her One shot is this month.  

Photo 52: A Play on Light {51}

In our final week on creative settings, I am back home and far from the lovely nature that dominated my shots this month.

While perhaps rather less beautiful, there is something I can't resist about shooting the city streets in the dark. And so, here are a few moments taken during a great night out with some of my fellow blog circle participants on the Lower East Side this week. I had to push my settings (a little grain, anyone?) and look for alternative light sources to give life to the image. 

We are in the final weeks of our P52 before we take a bit of a hiatus and prepare to launch a new project we have had in the works for a few months now. Be sure to take a spin, starting with the always incredible work by my friend Lisa Rigazio. 

Photo 52: A Play on Light {48}

We are down to the final month of our 52 week exploration of light. Discussions are already underway as to where we go next, but in the meantime, we are spending this final month engaging in a bit of a creative twist. We are using creative settings, or simply our own creativity, to play up the light in an image. Call it an exploration of our inner light, as it were.

spinning

Please continue around the circle to my incredibly talented friend up in Harlem, Sarah Roemer Davis.   

One {July}

One for July. One for Tom and Sarah. One for hot days when reality feels unreal and accidents are anything but happy; a hope that beauty may grow from a barren place and broken hearts may be healed.  A flawed image for a flawed time.

Please take a moment to consider registering for the bone marrow registry or make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. You may just help save a life someday. 

And as we cast off July, please take a moment to visit my dear One Circle, beginning in Chicago with my kind and inspiring friend Jessica Remus.