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One {March 2016}

It was hard to choose what to use for this month's One circle - we had a 2nd birthday and Easter Eggs and a lot of scooting...but this lovely Good Friday in Central Park resulted in my favorite photos. We brought the "cape and eyes" and wandered around enjoying the warm weather, eating ice cream, running at the speed of light and looking out for bad guys.  

Please head around to Texas to see what Adele has been up to this month - something amazing from her ski trip, perhaps? 

In like a lion...

Spring is (almost) here and with it, a motivation on my part to commit to the camera. In furtherance of that objective, I'm joining a tremendous group of photographers in a new  project entitled Eight Days a Week. Please join us!

These were taken at the beginning of the month, and seeing as it is March, lions large and small seemed appropriate. Here's hoping next week brings the lamb. Please continue on to our next contributor, the exceptional Jill Cassara. 

Photo 52.2: Framed {Week 30} - Split Tone

It is week 30 for P52.2 Framed, and our final week on utilizing tonality as a compositional element. After three weeks of using lighting techniques to create mood, this week we turn to split tone color. Split toning adds a color tint to the highlights and/or shadows of an image, while leaving the mid-tones alone. It can be used in black and white as well as color photographs, as demonstrated below. Split tones can have a significant impact on the overall feeling of an image and is a fun, creative technique to employ once in a while. 

Please head over to Who We Become to see our collective work this week - it's a fun and colorful collage!

As shot

Pink highlights, blue shadows

Standard black & white

Black & white with red highlights, green shadows

p52.2 Framed {Week 29} - Mid Key

Nailing down definitions for our month of tonality has proven tricky - especially this week as we turn to mid-key. While we know it when we see it, it is a bit hard to describe. My take: a pleasing, mid-range palate that lacks the overall brightness of high key and the drama and shadows of low key but that isn't so uniform as to obscure the subject or wash out the image. I think mid-key can be gorgeous, with rich jewel tones and textures, even though I prefer them in color.

My image this week doesn't have an obvious subject, but I played around in the bright sun and liked the feel of this out of focus shot of Madison Square Park.  To me, it captures the urban environment and the impression of warmer weather with colors more than form. However, my mother mentioned that she "not a fan" of blurry images so perhaps it is not for everyone.  :)

Please head over to Who We Become to see everyone's work this week! 

P52.2 Framed {Week 26} - Halfway Point/Photographer's Choice

While I haven't made it back to the streets yet, I have made it to the playground where there are signs of Spring on the horizon. Tentative (and wet) but I have hope. 

Those of us over at Who We Become are now at our halfway point in our second 52 week photography project. Please click on over to see what everyone chose during their "free" week and take a peek around. We've updated the site to include images and information on our first year's Project Light as well as our composition-focused posts from this year. 

Photo 52: A Play on Light {35}

It's a new month and a new topic for Photo 52. Throughout May we will be focusing on  diffuse light. The soft nature of diffuse light can make an image feel very flat, but it can also add texture and mood. This image was taken during a rainy, hazy night and the moisture in the atmosphere turned the harsher glare of the street lights into something resembling watercolors. 

Please continue around the blog circle starting with my dear friend Kami Chaudhery, who is all too familiar with diffuse light after a year under the grey skies of Seattle. ​

Photo 52: A Play on Light {33} - Evening Light

Spring has finally come to New York and for this week's edition of Photo 52, I found the blooms of the cherry blossoms impossible to resist. Central Park is stunning right now, and my opportunity to photograph in evening light presented itself earlier this week as I took a walk through the park with some old friends who picked the perfect time to come through town. I tinkered with the processing in these images in an effort to try and match the visual textures to the feeling of the mild but gritty breeze blowing that evening. 

​Please continue around the blog circle to enjoy the evening hour with my fellow participants, starting with the incredibly talented Sarah Romer Davis up in Harlem.