I am happy to announce that I have recently joined Share Six as their newest Blog Contributor! I came on board just after the blog circle’s 6th of the month release, but they were kind enough to pull me in, anyway. September’s theme is {Black and White}, a theme that’s very close to my heart. Thank you so much, Katherine Cobert of Cobert Photography, for choosing it!
Black and white film photography was my first love. With digital, I have strayed a bit – and I do so adore color, as well. Still, black and white feels like home. I love the focus it brings to patterns, contrast, light, emotion, and structures, as unnecessary elements and distractions are stripped away. I found culling my black and white images to just sixto be incredibly difficult, so I recruited some help. I still want to include more, but here is what I came up with, as a rule-follower this time. With the exception of the first image, taken in early 2015, the balance of these images were taken in Spring and Summer 2016.
Prairie dog in snow, Niwot, Colorado
Lupine Structure, Black and White
Garden Beauties
Wild Horses as Storm Brews, Pilot Butte, Wyoming
“It’s a Smiley Face Lollipop”
Self Portrait
Thanks so much for taking the time to visit and see my take on Black and White! Now, please visit none other than Cobert Photography, who chose the theme, to see her take on it, and continue the circle blog to view and comment on everyone’s work.
Please join us for this month’s theme by posting your Black and White images on the Facebook page at Share Six and to the Instagram gallery by tagging #sharesix and #sharesix_blackandwhite.
A wonderfully talented and diverse group of online photographer friends and peers has come together to begin a new blog circle. I am terrible about blogging regularly, so I pounced on the opportunity to embrace the structure and community this new project offers. Our first theme is BLUE. As my family heads out on vacation for the first time in nearly 5 years, summer’s end looms in the not-so-distant future, and back to school shopping commences, I find myself with limited time to create a gallery of new images. Once we get into the swing of the new school year, you can look forward to fresh images each month, probably often alongside some old favorites. For now, I hope you enjoy these, some of my favorite BLUE images to date.
Blue Ridge Mountains, NC
I have always been a mountain girl at heart, and these particular mountains, well I think of them as “home.” They were never truly my home, but I did grow up just beyond their shadows. They are even more beautiful in person, and I feel pretty fortunate to have spent many a long weekend – and even a solid five week spell – right there among them, breathing in their clean air, admiring wildflowers and wildlife, and making memories. In nearby Asheville, I ate at the best restaurants on the planet as far as I know, danced to the music offered by amazing buskers, and felt one with the area. I remember far too well the sadness that washed over me as I looked at these mountains in my rear-view mirror the last time I visited, knowing it would be a long while before I returned, as my family planned our cross-country move.
Santorini Ironwork
Santorini, Greece is a series of living postcards. I took this photograph on film in September 2003. I have included it as a simple nod to my passions of international travel, photography, and architectural elements.
National Mall Independence Day Fireworks
From the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I moved to Washington, DC for well over a decade. It was an incredible place to live for a while, first as a single person, and later, with my husband. Although we never wanted to raise kids there, we loved our neighborhood, the diverse food options, public transit, and museums while we were there. And, of course, Independence Day Fireworks on The National Mall were an annual tradition and highlight. I took this image by the base of The Washington Monument while we awaited them in 2014.
Rockabilly
My husband and I chose Fort Collins, Colorado as the town we wanted to raise our kids in way back in 2001, before we were even married. Life happened and the move was substantially delayed. In any event, we spent some time in Colorado in July 2013, in part to simply enjoy it, but also a bit in part to make sure we still wanted to make the move. I took this photograph during that blissful trip.
Night Sky, Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman! Bozeman gave Fort Collins a run for its money in becoming our forever hometown, when it came time to actually pack our bags. We all loved Bozeman and look forward to visiting as often as possible. One night while we were there in November 2014, the sun was setting and the sky was dark, except a band of light near the horizon. It was sleeting and we didn’t know our way around well, but we found this nice clear view of the sky and water right by a dumpster behind the mall. Who would have guessed?!
Since moving to Colorado, I have really been taken by the beauty of the prairies, often with a mountain backdrop. That was the setting when I photographed this. However, for this capture, I wanted to focus on that warm, late afternoon light and deep blue sky, each punctuating the beauty of spent blossoms.
A few times along the way, I picked up a number of antique, blue, Ball Mason jars, and a few other brands, as well. I love the unique, apparently-hand-lettered nature of the jars. No two appear identical, and if you look at the jars in the image, you can see what I am referring to. When we moved into our new house, I put this handful of my jars on the (very high) window sill mostly just to get them off of the floor. One early morning, as I walked into the kitchen for coffee, this beautiful blue scene caught my eye, so I snapped it, of course. They make me feel nostalgic for simpler times, and they are simply lovely, too.
So I said above I am a mountain girl, but I am also very drawn to water, which is a bit harder to find here in Colorado, compared to my East Coast roots. I love this tranquil sunset scene and that still reflection on the water.
This photograph of my daughter, on the first – and actually last – day of using our kiddie pool this summer was taken as sort of a mindful documentary shot. I had ideas about finished images in my head before I ever picked up my camera, but it is authentic to her actions. I didn’t plan for her sunglasses to match the pool side, so that part was a welcome gift of chance!
I hope you have enjoyed this random collection of some favorite BLUE images, and learned a few interesting things, as well. I look forward to blogging future months featuring my new work, as well!
The Artists Inspired Blog Circle is made up of an exceptionally talented group of photographers from all walks of life, from all over the world. They are wives, mothers, friends, daughters and visual storytellers who draw from their own experiences to create art that is inspiring, unique, beautiful and thought-provoking.
I really never gave any thought to the notion of having my own muse until the past couple of months. In fact, I also never considered myself an artist until a similar time frame. I have a very strong technical training and background, so becoming an artist has been a bit unexpected, despite the fact that I have always been a designer. In any event, it has become abundantly clear that my daughter is my muse during the past few months. There’s internal tension within me related to this. It’s important to me to raise her with compassion and character. I don’t want appearances to rank highly on her list of important things in life, and that’s a very fine line I walk, as her mother and a photographer. Thankfully, she’s predominantly silly and fun, and rough and tumble, too. Also, like her mother, she adores gardens – both flowering and edibles – so we spend regular time in ours, picking things and looking for ladybugs, butterflies, and more. I try to be as invisible with my camera as possible, but of course she knows it’s there. In any event, I truly enjoy capturing her joy and curiosities, as well as childhood details. Here are just a few of my recent favorite images of my muse, all taken at home, and mostly in our gardens.
As always, please click on images to view them larger and thank you for dropping by!
We are just a couple of weeks into summer break here and, although our work and home schedules are crazy, we’ve been finding some great fun around the house. These two even let me follow them around and photograph them for half an hour one recent afternoon. I hope you all have a wonderful summer, however you spend it!
I have been terrible about blogging lately, as we make the final push with our move, and also work on a couple of other big, behind-the-scenes, ongoing projects. That said, here are a few of my favorite documentary and lifestyle captures from May. Some June shots will be posted soon, so keep your eyes peeled!
I was honored to be invited to participate in this blog circle for Share Six, with the kick-off theme of GREEN! At the bottom of my post, please follow the link for another amazing photographer’s blog post and work.
Green is my favorite color from an 8-color crayon box, but my husband and I always joke that I have more crayons in my box than he does. In a 64-color box, I’d be torn between turquoise and chartreuse. In any event, I was asked to blog 6 images, in addition to my green image, so naturally I created my own personal theme for this post, incorporating GREEN and that is: RAINBOW! Without further adieu, here is my Ode to Mr. ROY G BIV!
Red
RED.
I bought my daughter that red jacket at a thrift shop a few years back and she had never worn it. Then one day recently, she put it on and walked out into the snowy landscape. I adore the dramatic contrast between it and the snow. Her little pink bear completes this childhood dream for me.
Sunset Wheelin’
ORANGE.
My family recently went for a quick evening hike-bike-scooter and tree-climbing outing on the trails right by our neighborhood. We scored a rainbow of colors all around us, with pink and purple skies to the Southeast and this blazing Western sky over the Rockies. I shot this just as we exited the trail and headed back to the neighborhood street.
Yellowstone
YELLOW. While at Yellowstone and parked beside this banana yellow Camaro, the stars aligned when that vintage Yellowstone bus and raven positioned themselves just so. I shot this through the driver side window, from the passenger side, way back in 2010, but I always enjoy coming across it.
Tulip in Snow
GREEN – The moment you’ve all been waiting for! This was my first full Colorado Winter and it lasted just a bit too long for my taste, even though we had beautiful days in the mix to help my sanity. The Spring bulbs in our new gardens could not have been more welcome, especially as they peaked out from a blanket of mid-April snow. I particularly enjoyed photographing the tulips, for their gorgeous and varying structures and their sturdy, lovely leaves. (Disclaimer: even though Winter seemed long, many friends from around the country complained of the same, and I wouldn’t trade our Colorado Summers for anything!)
Rockabilly
BLUE. Rockabilly Bass, Pearl Street. This guy had high energy and belted out the likes of Johnny Cash, while traversing his bass like a small playground. I love the details of his shoes, his cuffs, the tape on the bass, and the bits of orange and green complementing his blues.
After the rain
INDIGO. It was December and had been raining and dreary for days. My kids were very young and I was always right there with them. However, when the rain broke for a few minutes, I took a chance and snuck outside to escape cabin fever and look for beauty to cheer me up. The background color I found for this decorative grass gave the image a boost, and me some joy, despite the weather. This photograph is a personal reminder that beauty can often be found in the most unexpected place and times.
Cabbage
VIOLET.
Cabbage! Y’all already know how much I adore macro photography. I love putting a spotlight on ordinary, beautiful subjects at this scale. And how about that gorgeous color, the lacy edges, and the textures of the leaves? I display a print of this in a beautiful, shabby chic, lemon yellow frame in my home and it is delicious!
Back in February, I published a blog post including some of my recently published images, and here is the next installment! For more information about these and other published images, please visit Industry Honors, here on my website, or my related Facebook Album. Thank you so much for your interest in my work!
Tori of Roots and Twigs Photography was our March choice for the image of the month, and she is featured here as our webpage banner and also on the Facebook page banner. So who is Tori? This…
And now… Part 3, the last installment of a recent lovely evening out with my family, documentary style! Please give me a shout if you’d like to capture memories here in Fort Collins, or the surrounding areas of Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming!
As always, please click on an image to view larger!
As a follow-up to Part 1, here’s Part 2 of a recent lovely evening out with my family, with yet more to come! Please give me a shout if you’d like to capture memories here in Fort Collins, or the surrounding areas of Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming!
The outing lasted only 45 minutes, but there are now 3 blog posts for it, since there were so many images that I loved!
Earlier this week, my daughter and I took off on a trail by our house midday, mostly to climb willow trees and kick a ball. After my son and husband got home that evening, we took off to the same trail for a scooter-biking-hiking outing – and also for the willow trees again! You may notice my daughter’s ill-fitting pants. Sorry-not-sorry! I mean, I did suggest some that don’t fall down, but *this* is childhood, and it’s a beautiful thing. In any event, the sky was amazing as we headed back home. To the West, over the Rocky Mountains, we got a lovely gold-orange-blue mix, and to the South/Southeast, the sky sported brilliant pinks and purples. It was so beautiful all around. Please give me a shout if you’d like to capture memories here in Fort Collins, or the surrounding areas of Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming!
The outing lasted only 45 minutes, but there are now 3 blog posts for it, since there were so many images that I loved!
Lately, as you may have noticed, I have been making more of a point to take real life shots of my home life. These moments will be behind us all too soon. No matter the ages and stages, I encourage you to do the same. One of the biggest reasons I do what I do is because everything can change in an instant, and one day, memories and photos are among the only things we’ll have left. Personally, I have virtually no photos of my childhood, and the same is true of photos of my relatives from my youth and before. I was over 30 years old when I first saw a photo of my grandfather as an adult, and had only seen one at all, prior to that. He passed away before I was born, so those photos are absolutely priceless to me. My other grandfather and my own father passed away before my children were born, and I am so glad I am able to share stories and photos of them with my kids. So without further adieu, here are some of my family favorites from the first half of March, that aren’t already blogged separately. I hope you enjoy them and that they get you thinking about the everyday moments you might like to document of – and for – your own loved ones.
Roots and Twigs Photography 