In this month's P52 we are enjoying the longer hours of sunlight and exploring light at different times of day. This week is afternoon light. My shots were taken on one of the first nice days we've had this Spring and half of New York was out in Central park to enjoy it.
Please continue around the circle to my extremely talented friend Justine Knight. She has been traveling to Australia so her post is sure to be both beautiful and jealousy-inducing.
For the month of April, we at Photo 52 are focusing on light at different times of day. First up - morning light. This was not the image I envisioned this week, but my plans to obtain it were thwarted by cloud-cover and a late night or two. This image was taken Easter morning - some pretty morning backlight and our little man in his suit. He was especially excited to be wearing a tie like daddy.
Please continue through the blog circle, starting with my friend Linda Hooper, who I am happy to have back in NYC after her year in Geneva.
Photographer's choice! Rather than subject our blog circle to a fifth week of artificial light, we decided to make this last weekend in March a bonus week instead. However, I found my fun moment of the week under the glare of some truly hideous artificial light and would love to share it anyway.
Down at Grand Central this past week, Nick Cave (of soundsuit fame) partnered with dancers from Alvin Ailey to bring "Heard," a very fun piece of performance art to the public. Beautiful costumes, dancing horses, harps and drums - all for free!
Also, do not miss the end of P52's March madness, starting with the wonderful Julie Kiernan in Minnesota. She's been traveling as of late, so her image may be from somewhere a little warmer than usual this week.
In P52's final week of artificial light, I find myself making a plea.
Dear Mother Nature,
I would like to call your attention to the date on the calendar and request that you give me the opportunity to bid adieu to this never-ending winter. Here, a small peace offering lest you doubt my sincerity:
Please continue around the blog circle to see how everyone has closed out this rather challenging month on artificial light, starting with our newest blog circle member, my lovely local friend and talented photographer, Julie Mak.
Photo 52 - my fellow blog circle participants and I have just wrapped up week 3 of exploring artificial light sources. Here, a rarely-featured member of our family, hanging out under the glow of a 60W bulb. For anyone new to the blog, my debut post for the project can be found here.
Please continue around the circle to see what my extremely talented friend Jill Cassara has found up in Michigan this week. Jill, quite frankly, can do no wrong behind the lens. Please leave her some love while you're there!
Week two of P52's month on artificial light. Here, a look directly at the source.
Please continue around the circle to see what the fabulously talented Kelly Patton of K Rox Photography found out in Brooklyn this week.
It is week 26 of Photo 52: A Play on Light and we are officially half way done! It is hard to believe that six months have passed since we embarked on this project. If you are new to the blog, my debut post explaining Photo 52 can be found here.
This is our first of four weeks exploring artificial light sources. And what could possibly be more artificial than the neon glow of Times Square? Processed for a little extra sense of commercialism and nary a natural light source to be found.
Please head on over to the East Side to see what my talented friend and fellow New Yorker Cheryl Sawyer found under the glow of something other than the sun.
Last weekend we spent some time having lots of fun and being very cold in Newport, Rhode Island. I spent a few minutes on an icy beach playing with shutter speeds and attempting to "pan" the birds. I'm not sure any of these work all that well but I do kind of like them as a small series.
Please continue around the Photo 52 circle and enjoy everyone's efforts in our final week of visualizing in black and white. Start with Lisa Rigazio, my friend in Maryland whose background in architecture shines through in her dynamic photography.
Week three of black and white. I got a fun new gadget this week and took it out to play. It's called a Lensbaby and it is a manual focus lens that gives a tilt-shift look to an image. Manual focus is not my forte so it was fun to practice.
Please continue around the circle and see what else my talented friends are seeing in monochrome this week, starting with the lovely and talented Kennedy Tinsley up north of the border.
Week two of visualizing in black and white! Emphasis on white - I have a suspicion that I will not be the only east coaster featuring the snow we got over the weekend . When you don't have a backyard, sometimes you have to go to new heights to get a snowman built. And pay him a visit before bedtime to make sure he's still there.
Please head uptown to see what my amazing friend Jessie Wixon found this week. Her shot this week is absolutely incredible.
For the next four weeks, Photo 52 will be focused on visualizing in black and white. I am a big fan of black and white imagery in general, but it takes some practice and focus to shoot specifically with the intent of converting to black and white. Not enough contrast and dimensional light and you end up with a very flat image. As I went out to shoot with this objective in mind, I was reminded that it is no small feat, especially under the grey skies of winter. Some of my favorites actually ended up being from indoor lighting.
Please check out the rest of this week's amazing circle, starting with the lovely and talented Kim Dupree! Kim lives in Texas and specializes in seniors, but often has beautiful and unusual surprises up her sleeve when it comes to her weekly posts.
A Room with a View
ss 6.0, f2.8, IS0 6400 (he sat REALLY still)
Photo 52: natural indoor light, week four. For those unfamiliar with our project, please start here.
Last fall, fellow Photo 52 participant Justine Knight and I took a course at the International Center of Photography. Our teacher, Irina Rozovsky, introduced us to the work of a photographer named Abelardo Morell. He has a beautiful collection of images in his Camera Obscura project and ever since seeing how he turns rooms into giant pin hole cameras, I have been determined to try it. Project 52's last week of natural indoor light seemed like the perfect time. While my images do not compare to his, the experiment was still so much fun that even the wiggliest among us sat still long enough to be included in the photos.
To create these images, I covered the window in black garbage bags, shutting out all light. Then I cut a hole about the size of a quarter into the middle of the bag. The view from outside came streaming into the room, inverted due to the way the light bounces through the pin hole. The scene was not quite as clear as this to the naked eye but with a long exposure, the vibrant colors of the buildings and the sunny sky came out beautifully. We could even see traffic moving on the ceiling from light glinting off cars on the street below. To quote my father, "Physics is Fun."
ss 5.0, f2.8, IS0 6400
Please continue around the circle to see how everyone else is closing out our month on indoor natural light. Next up, Cheryl Sawyer!
Week 20 of Photo 52, and week three of natural light indoors.
More fun with windows. As to who was having more fun, that is up for debate.
Please continue around the circle to see what else Photo 52 participants have been up to this week, starting with my talented friend and fellow New Yorker, Cheryl Sawyer.
A walk with Kermit.
It's week 2 of natural indoor light, this time found in what amounts to an urban tunnel.
Please continue along the circle to see what the other Photo 52 participants have found this week, starting with Jill Cassara. Jill lives in Ann Arbor and has an amazing ability to capture her beautiful children at the most perfect moments.
The holidays are over and it's back to the grind. Photo 52 has abandoned the freewheeling twinkling lights and is getting back to the technical side of things. We will be spending the month of January focusing on the use of natural light indoors. This means the subjects of our images will be a) inside and b) illuminated by sunlight without the addition of flash, lamplight or other artificial light source. The topic seemed appropriate since many of us are currently experiencing some significant drops in temperature.
Plunging mercury notwithstanding, I had a very dear friend visiting this week and we weren't about to spend her entire trip holed up at home. These were taken as we ducked inside to warm ourselves up at various points throughout the day.
If you are unfamiliar with Photo 52, my initial post can be found here. Please continue around the blog circle to see what my fellow participants are finding as we kick off the new year. Next up is the lovely and talented Julie Kiernan, who is no doubt scoffing at my complaints of cold weather from her home in Minnesota.
window shopping
long wait for a small table
Photo 52, week 17: Photographer's Choice
The clock is ticking down on another year. I have grand plans to go back and do a year in review for personal albums and so forth but, unsurprisingly, that hasn't happened yet.
So for this week, I'm simply living in the moment. We stopped by Grand Central Terminal the other day, one of my favorite landmarks in the city. When contemplating the coming year with my two guys, the train station seems symbolically appropriate. We will journey together on adventures unknown as our home quietly awaits our safe return.
May 2013 bring you health, happiness and love.
Please continue around the blog circle as my fellow Photo 52 participants bid farewell to 2012, starting with my talented and wonderful friend Cheryl Sawyer.
Holiday lights week four: Merry Christmas!
Wishing you joy, peace and a little big city magic this holiday season.
Please continue around the blog circle to a dear friend I am very much missing this holiday season, the wonderful Kami Chaudhery out in Seattle.
Oh, and the little guy says Merry Christmas too.
And now for something completely different...
We have arrived at week three of Photo 52's holiday light theme. This weekend I took some pictures of my brother's amazing band, Louis L'Amour, at the Trash Bar in Brooklyn. The bar was decked out with some twinkly red lights which, for purposes of this post, I will assume were holiday-related. Please take a moment to go "like" their Facebook page and be sure to check out their next live show!
Please don't forget to take a spin around our blog circle. As always, my friends are finding beautiful ways to express themselves in the midst of a complex and emotional holiday season. Begin with my friend, and tremendously talented Brooklyn photographer, Kelly Patton of KRox Photography.
Week two of our holiday installment! As you may guess by the relative lack of activity outside the weekly Photo 52 project, I am a little back-logged with vacation photos and trying to get organized for the upcoming holidays. This is my very favorite time of year and we just brought home a beautiful tree this weekend, so it is starting to feel very seasonal in our home.
However, before I turn to lights on the home front, here is a final share from our trip. This time, some fun with focus and twinkling lights on a bridge in Dusseldorf: left bank, then right.
And a few extra sparkles from Rome thrown in for good measure.
Please continue around the blog circle for some additional seasonal fun, starting with my fellow photographer, lovely friend and mom to four boys, Kennedy Tinsley.
This month's Photo 52 theme is a little less structured and a little more festive: Holiday Light. My take this week is especially literal, as these are not only holiday lights, but also lights seen while on holiday. Both images were taken last week while in Rome.
Please continue around the blog circle to see what festiveness my fellow participants have discovered, starting with the lovely and talented Kim DuPree who found some beautiful holiday spirit down in Texas.
