I am SO behind in posting my 365 so trying to get caught up!
Girls and their AG dolls
Proud gymnastics trophy winner
Chess club open house
Sagamore Beach jetty
Walk with a view
Week 46 of our play on light photography blog circle and this week we are looking at yellow light. I chose my favorite time of day- golden hour. We are spending two weeks on Cape Cod and last week I looked up at the sky, grabbed my camera (forgot the bug spray!) and ran down to the beach. The colors were exploding in the sky and lucky for me, it was low tide. Thanks to the hurricanes this past year, we now have the most beautiful low tide full of tide pools, hermit crabs, rippled sand and endless places to run. At sunset, the sky lit up the sandbar.
Up next in the blog circle is my uber talented friend Erica Collins. I can't wait to see what gorgeous photo she chose for this week HERE
This is week 45 of our play on light and this month we are focusing on color of light. This week we are looking at green light- via artificial or natural light or when used in post processing. This was an extremely difficult week as I tried many different shots and chose this one to focus on because it utilized artificial green light and I liked the leading lines. I was on a moving walkway at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.
I can't wait to see what all my other photog friends chose for their green tint photo this week. Up next in the circle is my friend Lisa Rigazio who I had the pleasure of meeting a few weeks ago, HERE
"The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit and fire." -Sharon Ralls Lemon
Dear Drew and Harper,
Like most girls, you have always adored horses. You both had a fascination at an early age and we make sure to go on as many pony and carousel rides as we can find. While Drew's interest has waned a bit and Harper's is a bit more focused on unicorns these days, the idea of taking a real horse lesson more than piqued your interest. During our week in Wisconsin, your Grandma got you and your cousin Sydney a whole hour horseback riding lesson at a small farm outside of Madison. You were so excited on the drive out and when you walked up to the big barn, the three of you just gaped at the size of the arena and all the beautiful ponies. The young girls that trained you had a blast with you three and let you brush your horses (Ruby, Harley and Dennis) in the beginning and lead them around the arena so they could get used to you. You all looked so little compared to this grande horses. But, by the end of the lesson all three of you were sitting up straight leading your own horses comfortably around the indoor arena all by yourself! It was so fun to see your proud faces.
It struck me at the stable and again when looking through these photos and thinking about writing this letter to you both that you are really growing up- and way too fast. How is it possible that I have two daughters that can ride horses by themselves? Drew, you want to grow up so quickly and that is so natural. I am sure I felt the same way at your age. While there is so much to do and see and learn when you are older, with that comes big girl responsibilities and I know for a fact you aren't ready for those ;) So, please stop asking me if you can wear a training bra and trust me when I tell you that you'll wish you never asked for one when you are my age! And sweet Harper.... just tonight you told me you asked if it was ok if you never became a Mommy so you could stay little so I could always pick you up and get cozy. Oh, how I wish that were the case! And I do hope you become a Mommy one day... thankfully you are a little peanut so there are many more years ahead of snuggling and getting cozy! I am happy to keep you little as long as humanly possible.
While they say horses display the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit and fire, it's you two who I'd say display these elements each and every day. I love seeing your grace, beauty, spirit and everlasting fire displayed more each and everyday.
Love, Mama
Please continue along the circle and see what Misty Davis had to say to her sweet daughters HERE
This is week 44 of our play on light and this month we are focusing on something a little different- photographing colors of light. Many factors play into the color that we see in photos (the sun, trees, light bulbs, how we process the photo, etc.) and we will be exploring these all month. This week we are looking at blue light and I chose to focus on the blue hour- the period of twilight about an hour before sunrise and about an hour after sunset. By now you likely know that golden hour (when the light is really yummy and warm) is a half hour before and after sunrise/sunset. Blue hour is the time when there is neither full daylight nor complete darkness and the color of light your camera sees is this brilliant blue. Oddly when you look to the sky during this time, you wouldn't know it was that color as our eyes see a kind of greyish. The best area of the sky to see the richest blues is directly opposite of the sun's location. Near the sun, the sky will appear brighter and the blues not as vibrant. We spent the last week in Madison, Wisconsin visiting grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles and we had a great time; we were also lucky to escape the oppressive heat NYC is experiencing now. These photos were taken during blue hour and now I plan to take more of these. I honestly didn't know much about blue hour until this last week.
Please check out what my friend Justine chose as her blue light shot for the week HERE. They are really fun.
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
Wisconsin State Capitol
Our final week of directional light. This week school officially ended and summer has begone! We had the pleasure of heading out to visit our dear friends in Larchmont and spent the day on the beach. This was taken in the mid-day sun.
Please follow along the circle and see what my fellow New Yorker and mom of two adorable boys, Julie Mak, chose for her shot HERE
Week 42! Only ten more weeks until we've hit an entire year of this awesome blog circle. This is our fourth week on directional light. This week I focused on the beautiful pink rose bushes in the back of my parents house on Cape Cod. It was fun to play with different variations of directional light here.
Please continue along the blog circle and see what my friend Kennedy Tinsley, wonderful mother of four beautiful boys chose for her photo this week HERE
Beautiful morning
Sunset walk home
165/365
Cinderella sisters
Water fun
Happy Father's Day!
Harper's Drama class performance
Hopskotch!
Highline adventure
Coloring in their undies
162/365
Spooky
Sprinkler fun
Happy 4th Birthday, Harper!
Waiting for big sis
Rapunzels
Central Park Fair
143 /365
Manhattan
A room with a view
Last day of ballet class
Grand Central
Co-birthday besties
It's week 41 and our third week on directional light. This week I chose a photo I took at our friends' home in CT who is lucky enough to have a swingset in her own backyard (very foreign to us city-folk!). It was full sun, about 12:30 pm and I tried a diferrent perspective of a swing shot- this time laying on the ground so I could get some haze and backlight. Harper was amused.
Please continue along our circle and see what my great friend, Justine Knight chose for her directional light choice this week HERE
Dear girls,
As I write this, you are fast asleep but it hasn't been for very long. Tonight we had a picnic for your old preschool group in Riverside Park and it was one of those perfect early summer evenings. The temperature couldn't have been more ideal: sunny in the mid 70's with a light breeze. We visited with old friends and new friends and lucky for us, there were many other current friends we knew in the park as well. While you didn't eat the healthiest of all meals (think cookies and brownies and a tiny bit of pasta!), the pure joy and elation and screaming and laughing that came out of you two tonight was so much fun to watch and be a part of. I was so proud of both of you for including friends you didn't know very well in with your pals from school. It truly warmed my heart and everyone had so much fun.
It was the ultimate golden hour and my absolute favorite time of the day to be outside. You two are typically asleep before this time hits during the summer hours and I always regret it (selfishly so I can photograph you at the peak, but also so you can enjoy the light and warmth and glow). Tonight I made an exception and am so happy I did. You two picked flowers, you played ring around the rosey and spun so fast that everyone fell to the ground in a heap of laughter. You played red light/green light 1-2-3 and you put on a play with your friends and included all siblings no matter how old and young they were. You climbed trees, you snuck snacks and lemonade and made new friends. As sad as I was to go home, we couldn't put off the inevitable any longer. We stayed out way past bedtime and walked home holding hands and remarking on how huuuuge our shadows were on the street and as I explained why they were so tall, you both tried to stomp on each other's shadow faces! I put you both to bed smelling like grass and mud and sweat (bath will have to wait until the morning!) and I have to say that I can't wait until the next warm evening to do it all over again. It was a top ten night with my two favorite girls in the world in my most favorite city in the world. Mom will go to bed very happy (albeit late!) tonight.
Love you both, dearly!
xoxo,
Mama
Please follow along the circle and see what my friend Kami wrote to her daughters HERE
Week 40 of our play on light. Wow, it's hard to believe we have been at this for so long. It has really been such a great experience for all of us. This is our second week of directional light and this week I tried something a little different than usual. We were at a birthday party with sprinklers and sun and green leaves and when I looked up, I thought it was a really pretty sight with the directional light. My take for this week is below.
Please visit my friend Cheryl Sawyer HERE to see what she chose for her directional light this week.
This is week 39 of our play on light blog circle and this month we are focusing on directional light. Unlike last month when we studied diffused light - when light comes from all different directions creating "flat" light with no shadows - directional light is light that is more dramatic. It creates shadows and highlights as it rolls over details. It adds a lot of contrast and richness to photos. The direction of the light determines where the shadows will fall on your image. In my image below, Drew is laying at about 90 degrees to my bedroom window to camera left. You can see the right side of her face is highlighted and the shadows fall on her left side, add some depth to her face.
To continue in our circle, please see what my dear friend, Stacey Vukelj chose as her directional light photograph of the week HERE
Playing with fire
New kicks
Lensbaby happiness
Rapunzel invites are complete
Nice posture
138/365
Swinging
139/365
Twinsies
Icey treat after school
Picking flowers
NYC at night
Reading under the cherry blossoms
Old friends
Cousins!
Best Friends
ER visit (all is well)
Puddle jumper
Shower Ringlets
Cheering on Big Sis
Mother's Day!
This is week 38 of our play on light and the fourth week focusing on diffused light. This was taken this past weekend in my parents' garage on the Cape. It's one of my favorite places to shoot as the light is so soft and beautiful, especially in the morning as we face the East. The girls cooperated for about a nanosecond but was happy to capture this.
Please follow along the circle and see what my friend Justine Knight posted for her soft light photograph this week HERE.