Estes Park (Mountain Views)

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Time for the second installment of our latest Colorado trip!

Normally our trips to Colorado revolve around the mountains and adventure. This time, however, we were in Denver for the entire week, and only saw the mountains from a distance a few times (they were covered in clouds nearly the entire time as well). That Friday, the day before we had to head back to Kansas, Scott was finally done with all of his obligations (and relieved after having a successful interview), and we had no plans until that evening. Since we hadn't really seen the mountains yet, we spontaneously decided to at least drive to Estes Park to get some mountain air for one afternoon.

It had been rainy all week, and was forecasted to be cloudy and rainy on that day as well. The mountains on the drive to Estes were so incredibly green and magical with the clouds low and dense, swirling around with the breeze; it was like a dream. Despite the incredible beauty with the rain and fog, we were pretty excited when the clouds broke to show off some of the mountains surrounding Estes after we arrived. The sun warmed things up pleasantly as well, making for a perfect afternoon. 

We grabbed lunch at one of our favorite Estes spots, and then wandered around some of the shops, trying to decide what to do with the rest of our day. Scott has a minor obsession with Longs Peak, so we decided to drive up to a lookout area to check it out before heading to Boulder for dinner. 

Unfortunately there was a patch of clouds that was hovering around the peak, never breaking up enough to allow us to catch a glimpse. We stood and watched for a while as they moved past, but the clouds were dense over the mountain and the Diamond and summit area never were visible. I took a few pictures, but then mostly photographed Scott as he looked on. (I think he looks like he belongs in a Barbour add in these images.) 

We then headed back to Boulder, via a bit of a random, backroads way. It brought us down some narrow, windy roads past some tiny little towns, all through dense fog and rain. It was beautiful and dreamy, though admittedly I wasn't the one driving, which was probably fairly stressful. 

This fall I will be moving to the Denver area, and am so very excited to be only a short drive from sites like these. Now to find a job and place to live (does anyone out there need a photographer or live-in nanny??).

Happy Monday all!

Flashback Friday: Red River Gorge

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It has been a few (okay, more than a few) weeks since the last Flashback Friday post. But, I am hoping to get back on track with them starting this week!

Every so often I find myself feeling extremely homesick for Kentucky. I lived in Lexington for four and a half years while I went to school at the University of Kentucky for my bachelor's degrees. Lexington and the surrounding areas took a piece of my heart during that time. The feeling of missing that area comes in waves, but for the past week or so I have found myself deep underneath one of them; this post is a result of that. 

One of the (many) great things about Lexington is that it was only around an hour and a half drive to the Red River Gorge. The Red was one of my favorite escapes when I was feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or just needed a break from people and the city. It is such a large area that when I went on my hikes, depending on the trail I chose, I would rarely see more than one or two people, if any. That fact, combined with the tall cliffs, vast forest, and towering trees made me feel small, and often helped put things in perspective as I hiked. 

I was obsessed with the trails there, and ended up with enough photographs of them to do an entire (and lengthy) series on that alone. They were often narrow, and would twist and turn allowing me to only see so far ahead before it disappeared into the woods. Perhaps as would be expected, they were quite symbolic for me. 

It was almost always incredibly humid in the summer, which I normally cannot stand. However, the past few days I have found myself even missing that heavy, moist air that I was bound to encounter on my summer hikes. It was also always incredibly green in The Red during the spring and summer months. The light that filtered down through the dense leaves had a sort of green tint to it, and everything was lush and filled with life. Ferns and moss are some of my favorite plants, and there would be expansive areas filled with both of them, much to my delight. 

I have many more images of the area (both The Red and Lexington) that I will likely be posting in the coming Flashback Friday posts, so be sure to check back next Friday to see another piece of what I have been dreaming about lately.

And with that, happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend! 

Colorado Art (and beer)

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The middle of May was a big, exciting time for me, as well as Scott. Within three days I had my birthday, MFA commencement ceremony, and a trip to Denver, Colorado.

In Denver, Scott attended a conference and had an interview for a postdoctoral fellowship (which he has been hired for!). While he was busy with his stuff I managed to get to a few art museums where I saw work by some of my favorite artists in person for the first time. I didn't bring my real camera on most of our adventures, though I did take lots (as you will see in this post) on my phone. 

One of my first stops while in Denver was the Clyfford Still Museum. I have loved Still's paintings for a while, and finally had a chance to get to the museum on this trip! They had lots of his early works up as well, which were vastly different but so very beautiful.

It is difficult to get a sense of scale in these photographs, but they are extremely massive paintings. It is truly an experience to stand in front of them. It makes you feel as though you are engulfed in the painting, and creates a definite sense of awe as a result. 

After taking plenty of time at the Clyfford Still Museum, I headed over to the Denver Art Museum (The DAM), which is conveniently right next door. The DAM has a really nice variety of work, and I could have probably spent the entire day there. One of my favorite rooms there was the John De Andrea exhibition. They had three sculptures by De Andrea, all within a dark room with black walls. You have to enter the space by walking around a large wall, and then are confronted by the three extremely lifelike sculptures. 

It was quite a surreal experience. They were so very lifelike that the more I stared at them, the more I was certain I could see their bodies moving as they breathed. They were absolutely stunning, and the presentation of them in the dark, quiet room significantly added to their impact.

My absolute favorite part of The DAM was the Sandy Skoglund installation. I have adored her work for years, but never had the pleasure of seeing it in person. My thesis work, though I didn't realize it until after all was said and done, was heavily influenced by her. My monotone still life scenes directly relate to her installation work, as you can see below. 

Besides seeing some incredible art, we were also able to try out lots of amazing local beers in some very cool taprooms. One of my favorites was the Station 26 Taproom, which is an old fire station turned brewery in Denver. I tried the Cherrywood Smoked Red, which was the most unique beer I've ever had. (And now I am most definitely craving it.)

Towards the end of our trip we also visited the Upslope Taproom, located in Boulder, Colorado. It was a really neat place, filled with families, kids playing board games, live music, and a few dogs as well. And of course delicious beer. 

On our last day in Colorado we finally made it out to the mountains, thanks to a spontaneous drive to Estes Park. I actually brought out the real camera there, so Monday's blog post will have some better quality images. 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Milford Lake

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One of my favorite aspects about the outdoor pursuits I participate in, things like fishing and climbing, is simply where those activities bring me. It isn't necessarily about the actual activity (even though I do enjoy those), but through each sport I am brought to absolutely beautiful locations.

This time was no different. At the beginning of May, Scott and I decided to try out a new fishing location, venturing out to Milford Lake. It was a beautiful day with wonderful, almost summer like temperatures. We spent the afternoon wading around in the water trying to catch some fish. As per the usual we didn't catch a thing. For me though, getting my feet wet in the cool water with the warm, spring sun coming down on me was enough to make it a perfect afternoon. 

Also as usual, I mostly just wandered around near Scott, snapping away. The water was extremely clear, and shallow for quite a ways out so I was able to just hover and follow as he moved around the shore. The water temperature was surprisingly warm, and wading around in the water reminded me of being home in Minnesota during the summer. 

I had a smile plastered on my face the entire afternoon. Even though neither of us had even a bite on our hooks, the weather, the water, and the company made things perfect, despite the lack of fish. 

I have reached the end of the fishing posts (for now at least). Scott is busy preparing for his PhD dissertation, and I am busy working, so fishing has taken a back seat for the time being. I haven't had a chance to get out and photograph much lately, but I'm hoping that changes soon. 

Have a happy start to your week everyone!

Rushing Waters

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Just over a month ago, (yikes I am behind on sharing images) Scott and I went fishing at Rocky Ford State Fishing Area, just outside of Manhattan. It was an absolutely perfect evening. Perfect temperatures, stunning light, and a nice flow of water over some mini rapids. It could not have been any better. 

It was so perfect, I didn't even cast out a line once. I was in heaven just wandering around taking photographs. The light hitting the water was like a dream, and I couldn't get enough of it.

Scott, of course, was very focused on fishing. Luckily he doesn't seem to mind when I follow him around snapping photographs; which I do a lot. 

With the heat and humidity setting in here in Kansas, I find myself longing for this day. Between the light breeze, warm, golden sun, and cool water I couldn't ask for anything more. This is my type of perfect. 

This week has been a bit busy, so I'm unfortunately a day off on my normal posting schedule. Friday I am handling a garage sale, though I will try to get the next Flashback Friday up despite that. I hope everyone enjoyed the golden light and beautiful water as much as I did! Have a wonderful end to your week!

Projected Light

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*Diving right into work immediately following a longer trip prevented me from getting back on top of getting these blogs posted. But, I have (hopefully) settled into some sort of routine at this point, so things should get back to normal for me now. I think it is safe to expect regularly scheduled blog posts once again!*

It has been a cool, rainy spring here in Kansas (and it seems the Midwest in general). Most days have been cloudy, which means that I haven't been able to photograph nearly as many moments of light as usual. However, about a month ago, there was some beautiful light in Scott's basement. He has a projector screen down there, and the light danced across the screen like some sort of abstract movie scene. 

I love the evening light in his house (or any where for that matter) during early spring. The new leaves create such beautiful patterns and movement in the light, and I have found myself just sitting and watching as the light flutters around with the wind moving the leaves. One of these days I need to document it in video. 

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your week is off to a great start!

Next up: Some gorgeous scenes while fishing on a perfect spring evening. 

Dreary Fishing

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*I have been a bit MIA here the past week or so. Last week I celebrated my birthday, the commencement ceremony for my MFA, and left for a trip to Denver; all within three days! Between finishing up things for the semester, preparing for my parents' visit for graduation, and packing for my trip, blogging and editing photographs took a back seat. I'm still out in Denver, but had some downtime this afternoon and thought I would start to get caught up, at least slightly. Hopefully things will get back to normal next week!

A few weeks ago (I guess it's been nearly a month at this point), Scott and I celebrated two years together! We had decided to go fishing and have a picnic, but unfortunately the weather wasn't exactly ideal. It was a chilly, windy, and drizzly day. The picnic ended up taking place in Scott's car, while we shivered from being out in the wind, and we didn't get so much as a bite while fishing. A less than ideal afternoon, but I love spending time with this man no matter what it involves. 

I realized while we were out there that I hadn't created an in-camera multiple exposures since shooting for my thesis work back in January, and so I decided to try one just for fun. It ended up turning out better than expected, and I kind of adore this image now.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Farm Pond Fishing

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I mentioned it in one of the last posts, but prepare yourselves for lots of fishing images. This is the second post of the unofficial fishing series, with many more on the way.

This particular time we went to one of my favorite fishing spots in the Manhattan area. We haven't caught much here, other than some really tiny bass, so in terms of fishing it isn't the greatest (at least it hasn't been for us). But, it is beautiful. The pond is located outside of Manhattan on ranch land, and is stocked and made available to the public by the land owner. It is nestled into some rolling hills, away from the traffic noise, which is tough to escape in Manhattan it seems. We have yet to see another person fishing there as well, so it is sort of like our own private fishing hole.

This time of year is my favorite time of year in Kansas, since it is one of the brief windows where the landscape is extremely green here. We've had a wonderfully rainy, cool spring, so things are extra green, and it seems to be greener later than I remember it being the past few years. This area was filled with dandelions gone to seed and other wildflowers when we were there, so I gave up fishing and just wandered taking photographs. 

One of the great things about our fishing adventures is that we are generally out right when the light is at its best. That low, richly golden sunshine makes everything look spectacular. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! Check back on Wednesday for another round of images! 

Flashback Friday: Windy Pasture

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Welcome to the third installment of my Flashback Friday series! Today's post comes from September of last year. Scott and I went to his parents' farm to do some dove hunting on the first weekend of the season. It ended up being an absurdly (though typical for Kansas) windy evening, with the grass of the pasture whipping around us. There weren't many dove near us, so I ended up photographing more than looking for birds. 

This week essentially marks the end of the semester for me, which is also the end of my graduate school career, and my time in school as a student in general. It is hard to process that this fall won't involve me getting ready for classes, for the first time in 23 years essentially. It does mean that I may have slightly more time for photographs (hopefully), so I can finally get to some projects and images that I haven't had time to get to yet.

Also, I will be cutting the prices of prints this weekend, so if you are interested in purchasing any, this weekend would be a great time to do so! All money from prints currently goes to help fund my trip the the United Kingdom this summer; any and all help I receive would be greatly appreciated. You can also donate and receive a 4x6" print via the link below. 

Happy weekend to you all!

Travel Fund

learning to fly fish.

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Scott has been teaching himself how to fly fish lately. Basically any free time that he has, when the weather is decent, is spent at some body of water trying to improve his cast, and catch fish of course. I usually tag along as an excuse to be outside and spend time with him.

This particular night we were a bit limited on time, so we went to a park in Manhattan that has a little fishing pond. The light that evening was beautiful, so I sat down next to Scott as he re-tied a fly onto his line, and photographed the lovely golden light illuminating him. 

Watching a fly cast is really a beautiful thing. It is very rhythmic, and sort of mesmerizing as the line whips back and forth. Fly fishing is also a really aesthetic type of fishing in my opinion, and lately I have pretty much stopped fishing when I join him, and instead follow him around taking pictures. 

As mentioned above, we have been fishing a lot lately. So, expect to see many, many more images from our fishing adventures soon!

Also, don't forget, prints are now for sale! All money from prints will currently go to helping pay for a short trip to the United Kingdom this summer. You can also donate (and receive a small print) by clicking the link below. Thank you for the support everyone!

Travel Fund

Flashback Friday: Plant Collection

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This week's Flashback Friday is a brief one, comes from September of last year. 

I have a problem. I am a bit of a hoarder when it come to plants. I have an end table that is just for plants; it doesn't actually function as an end table should. Basically every surface in my apartment that gets light is occupied by plants. This little table is my favorite though. It sits right next to the window, and so when the sunlight comes in, light is bounced around all my little planters, making beautiful patterns and designs on the table. 

I also have a garage sale coffee table that I spray painted silver in my undergrad days (I know, a questionable decision). It houses a few plants as well, of course, and on the same evening as the images above there was a perfect little spotlight on some of the plants there.

In case you haven't noticed, I have opened up a store here on my website! I finally got the store set up in order to get together some money for a brief trip to the United Kingdom this summer. It is my first real chance to travel abroad, and I cannot wait! I don't have set plans as of yet, but I will likely be in Dublin for a few days, and Exeter for a few days as well. So, if you would like to see some (hopefully) stunning pictures of those areas, consider purchasing a print to help me get there (and eat while I am there). Just click on the "Purchase" link on the left to see what I have listed. There aren't many images up as of yet, but essentially any image you see on my website is for sale. If there is an image you are interested in purchasing but don't see listed in the store please let me know. Also, the sizes listed in the store are just some of the options available. If you have another size in mind, please email me. Below there is also a link to donate, which will get you a randomly chosen 4x6" print. Thank you everyone for any and all support. It is so appreciated!

Travel Fund

Baking Binge {with recipes}

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When I bake, I have the tendency to go on a baking binge; I can't just bake one thing generally. I use baking as a form of stress relief, which may be why I tend to bake in waves. This particular time I whipped up some granola, as well as some banana blueberry muffins. Both are easy and relatively quick, and perfect for some added breakfast variety. 

The granola was made with plenty of maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla. If you haven't made your own granola before, I highly recommend it. It is so much cheaper than store-bought granola, and so very easy to make. Plus, it makes your house smell amazing for most of the day, making it a free air freshener too! 

Vanilla Granola

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 300°F

In a large bowl, toss together the oats, almonds, cinnamon, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter and maple syrup until combine, and then whisk in the vanilla.

Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, stirring the granola every 15 minutes. 

Allow the granola to cool completely, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned, rolled oats

3/4 cups slivered almonds

1/2 teaspon cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla

The muffins were made to satisfy a craving. Filled with blueberries and bananas, and topped with cinnamon sugar, they were near perfection. 

As a side note, I'm sort of obsessed with oven light. It creates excellent shadows, which do a great job of highlighting textures, and it is a wonderfully warm light, making everything look even more appealing. The bokeh that results from an oven light is stunning as well. 

Window light is another one of my favorite light sources. It can produce an excellent backlight situation, as well a the perfect soft, filtered, sidelight. It is a simple (and free) way to get incredible lighting on your subjects.

Anyways, back to the important stuff, the muffins. These guys were fresh out of the oven, and my apartment was filled with the smell of their freshly baked goodness. It smelled so good in fact, that I couldn't resist taking a bite before I was technically done photographing...

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Grease muffin pan, or use muffin liners.

Using a mixer, cream the butter and 3/4 cups of sugar in a large bowl. 

In a blender, combine the bananas, eggs, milk, baking soda, vanilla, and salt, until smooth.

Pour half of the banana mixture into the butter mixture, along with 1 cup of flour. Mix with the mixer until incorporated. Add the remaining banana mixture and cup of flour, and mix until incorporated. Fold in the blueberries. 

Pour into prepared muffin pan.

Mix together 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over each muffin. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out nearly clean.

Cool completely, and store in an airtight container.  

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 overripe bananas

2 large eggs

7 tablespoons sour milk (1 tsp vinegar + 6 1/2 tbs milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups blueberries

1 teaspoon cinnamon

 

 Have a wonderful Wednesday!

lilacs mean spring.

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I know, more flowers on the blog. It's spring though, so everything is bursting with life and I can't get enough. I photographed these lilacs that are in Scott's yard with my phone a few weeks ago, and then posted it on Instagram with a story behind it. I decided I needed to also document them with my good camera, and am now getting around to sharing them here, along with the words that went with them. 

Lilacs are some of my absolute favorite flowers. Besides being beautiful and smelling amazing, they bring me right back to childhood. 
My parents have always had HUGE lilac bushes in our yard for as long as I can remember. So every spring, no matter where you were in our yard, it would smell amazing. With the windows open the scent would even waft into the house, and my mom would cut some stems to fill the house with beautiful purple and that amazing scent as well. Spring for me smells like lilacs. 

My elementary school also had a massive grouping of lilac bushes next to the playground. They had been hollowed out in the middle so it acted as a cave of sorts. It was by far my favorite spot to play during those years, and though I don't remember specific stories, I do remember spending nearly all of recess each day inside the lilac cave. It was an absolute highlight from elementary school. 

No matter where I am, when I smell lilacs in the spring it instantly makes me a bit nostalgic and more than a bit homesick. It is amazing how something so simple can bring back such strong memories and feelings.

Does anyone else out there have strong memories associated with flowers? Or even with a particular season? I would love to hear your stories as well! 

Happy Monday!

Flashback Friday: Tiny Jubilations

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This post marks the start of a new series! Since I switched over to this website I have been trying to figure out a way to organize my blog, specifically thinking about themes for regular posts. If you are an Instagram user (or really any other form of social media), you likely have seen the hashtag for flashback Fridays, which is the theme for these posts. As the title implies, I will be pulling images from the archives that I haven't posted anywhere before, and occasionally some that have been posted quite a while ago (usually from past 365 projects). These will likely involve stories or thoughts on how my view of them has changed since taking the photograph, which is the case for today's post.

The past few days I have been digging through my hard drive to clean things up, and find things that I never got around to sharing. I took the images below back in July of last year. These tiny bottles have been the subjects of photographs before as part of past 365 projects. For the most part the bottles had some conceptual purpose in those photographs, but I shot them this time with no real purpose other than to take advantage of the last light coming through my bedroom window. However, when I came upon them this week, they took on new meaning for me. 

That new meaning comes from two different places, though I am only going to go into much detail on one of those in this particular post. While I was doing research for the written component of my thesis, I was recommended an essay called Tiny Jubilations by Johanna Burton. Her essay is a review of photographer Peter Fraser's work, but some of the phrases she uses, along with the general ideas conveyed in the essay, are beautiful and inspiring (as the title alone should hint at). Essentially, through talking about Fraser's photographs, Burton highlights the importance of noticing the small things and taking joy from those things.

That essay wasn't directly on my mind while working on these images, and yet, as I thought of what to title them, the phrase Tiny Jubilations kept popping back into my head.

The second influence on the change of meaning is as a result of photographing a fellow graduate student's thesis show. I will be posting images of her show on here soon (hopefully), so I won't give too much away, but her show was partially focused on the importance of noticing the small things. She filled the gallery with tons of objects, creating an installation that invited exploration and discovery. Photographing her show reinvigorated my desire to capture these types of moments, and reaffirmed my love of them as well. 

Seeing the light come through the string in these little bottles, and the shadows it produced on the windowsill, was (and is) beautiful to me. It seems like a perfect definition of the phrase Tiny Jubilations. Being able to notice these small, and seemingly insignificant moments, is such an incredible thing; being able to get joy from them is even better. It is one of the reasons I love being a photographer.

These Friday posts won't always have such a message attached to them (in fact they probably rarely will), but today I want to advise everyone to take a moment to slow down. It's pretty easy these days to rush through your routine, stay distracted by your phone, and not really pay attention to your surroundings. But this weekend, make it a goal to take some time and just look. I have to remind myself that from time to time, but it is so important to do. It will make your day so much more enjoyable. 

That said, happy Friday everyone! I hope you have a beautiful weekend filled with Tiny Jubilations! 

Farm Life

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A few weekends ago Scott and I went to visit his parents on their farm in central Kansas. Their farm has become a bit of a muse of mine, and I posted lots of images from our many stays there on my old blog before I switched over (some of which you can see in various galleries here). Between the chickens, horses, barn cats, beautiful house, large pasture, and vast wheat fields, it is sort of a photographic heaven. They tend to get rather wonderful evening light there as well, though this time the sun ducked into the clouds almost as soon as I got outside to take photographs.

One of my favorite photographic subjects (as you've probably noticed if you have flipped through my portraits gallery), though perhaps a bit cheesy, is my man, Scott. It is partly because he's around me more than anyone else; partly because he puts up with me constantly taking pictures of him; and partly because, well, look at him. 

I am also pretty obsessed with wheat fields, and this time of year they are an absurdly bright shade of green. It makes the landscape become like something from a dream, and I can never resist snapping away on my phone as we drive to his parents' house. Luckily his dad grows wheat as well, so right before we had to head back to Manhattan I ran out and grabbed a few images, despite the light being a bit lackluster. 

I have plans for a new series of posts starting on Friday (to go beyond my current Monday and Wednesday schedule, in case you haven't caught on to that). So check back on Friday for something different!

Daffodils + Light

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Just a simple and quick post today. I know I just recently posted photographs of flowers and light, but I have some more to share. When the light is this good, and I have daffodils on hand, how do you expect me to resist? 

And finally, a single portrait from the evening as well; because my man is handsome and again the light was too perfect to resist. He was working on his fly fishing setup while I was running around chasing the light, and right when I thought I was done I turned around to notice the near perfect spotlight on his hat and face. 

There will likely be more flowers in the coming posts, so hopefully you all don't get sick of them. I've also been trying to decide on some themes to my posts for certain days, so if anyone has any suggestions or requests for particular content types please leave a comment below to let me know!

Fabric Landscape

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A few weeks ago I went out to a new (to me) location to take some self-portraits. You may have already seen one image from that shoot, since it is currently featured on my homepage. Beyond just a basic headshot, I had the goal of also shooting a more conceptual self-portrait, as it had been so long since the last time I did so. 

I went into the shoot with only a very vague idea of what I wanted, which has occasionally worked in the past. Unfortunately, that was not the case this time. The location and materials I had didn't quite work for what I was aiming to do, and in this situation, the lacking of a very specific visual idea left things a little flat and uninteresting. So, the self-portrait failed, but the setup that I had for that ended up being fairly interesting on its own, which is what I have to share with you all today.

I have always really enjoyed images of moving fabric in general, but especially ones that involve some sort of interaction with a landscape. The photographs and paintings by Laura E. Pritchett have served as sources of inspiration for some of my own photographs, largely because of her use of fabric in motion. Thomas Albdorf has also influenced my work, because of his manner of interacting with the landscape. Though I wasn't consciously thinking of these artists at the time, the photographs in this post have likely been shaped by both of them.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and feel free to share this post, as well as comment below to say hello! Happy Wednesday!

Tulips + Light

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For those who have been to my website before, or who follow me on Instagram, you likely already know that I am rather obsessed with light (and I suppose shadows as well). When I see nice light and shadows, no matter what I am doing for the most part, I stop to take photographs. I perhaps shouldn't admit this, but I have been taking pictures of light (some might call it getting distracted) while cooking and burned meals before. Slightly embarrassing, yes, but I just had to get the shot (other photographers understand, right?).

Tulips are another favorite of mine, and when there are great shadows combined with beautiful white tulips, I absolutely cannot resist taking photos; too many photos in fact. The green walls of Scott's living room behind the crisp, white flowers, combined with the shadows from the blinds, created the perfect combination. It also never fails to surprise me how quickly the light can change in the evening. The images below were taken just about minutes minutes apart, and yet the light is drastically different. In just five minutes it went from bright and fairly harsh, to warm and soft. I couldn't decide which I preferred, and I would be interested to know some of your thoughts. Let me know in the comments below!

After obsessing over the tulips, I noticed the incredible light streaming in the front door. I have taken pictures of that light on a different day with my phone before, and was excited that I had my camera with me to get some better images. This may comment on just how far my obsession has gone, but even though I see the light streaming through Scott's door on nearly a daily basis I am continuously in awe of it. I almost always stop to just look and enjoy, often drawing laughs from Scott as I do so.  

Just when I thought I was done taking pictures, I went down to the basement to grab something, and noticed a quieter moment of light happening down there. It felt like a little painting to me, and I really loved how the simplicity of it contrasted the light happening upstairs.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to stop by. Feel free to share, and it would be lovely to hear from you! Happy Monday everyone! 

Spring Break (Day 4)

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Our final day in Colorado was spent on rock. We climbed most of the day, soaking up the sunshine and our last of the mountain air for a bit. 

The morning started out a bit brisk, as the cliffs around us blocked the sun for quite a while. Despite the lack of sun in the morning, the area we were in all day (The Pool Wall, Alcove Area) offered some really nice, mostly easy climbing. It was a great place to just hunker down and set up camp for the day as we worked our way through some routes. 

Eventually the sun did creep down into our little area, and quickly warmed us up. For the rest of the day we were climbing in t-shirts, which was a bit unexpected for March. It was a welcome treat though, especially on our last day. However, it did make leaving that much more difficult.

Scott was able to go into teacher mode that afternoon (something he is extremely good at), and taught both the other guys some new tricks/techniques. As usual with climbing, I think everyone came away with something new learned, either a skill or just something about themselves (as in my case). That is one of the things about climbing that I absolutely love; every time I climb I learn something. It may not be something monumental or significantly life changing, but I almost always walk away at the end of the day with a fresh perspective on something. 

This post officially wraps up the spring break series for now, unfortunately (at least unfortunately for me). I still have film I need to send off and develop/scan, so more images may be coming down the road. But, for the time being, there will be no more beautiful mountains featured here on my blog. I do have some projects in the works (or at least planned), so be sure to check back soon to see what I'm up to!

Spring Break (Day 3)

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Day three of our trip was, at least in some ways, a bit of a bust. We had originally planned on hiking up to Bridalveil Falls in Telluride; Scott had climbed it the last time we were in Colorado and he wanted to check it out again and show the rest of us just how incredible it is. Unfortunately, due to the warm weather, the avalanche danger was pretty high (a guy we talked to said he had already seen one that morning), so we opted to make it a very short hike. I was still able to get some pictures of the area that I'm happy with, and also grabbed some portraits that I'm really happy with.

(On a side note, make sure to click on the panoramic images to view them in their (almost) full glory via the Lightbox.)

Taking portraits in situations like these, in some sort of adventure setting, are some of my favorite images to get. Landscapes are wonderful and all (and, as you noticed, I shoot bunches of them), but a big part of what makes these trips so awesome is the people that I go with. It doesn't hurt that the people I tend to go on trips with are extremely laid back about me taking photographs of them, and are rather goofy and quite entertaining. Photographing people in a genuine and spontaneous way, as they go about their business, almost always gives me images that I'm proud of. The story telling aspect of photography is something essential for me, and is something that I'm hoping to push in the future. 

Images of our final day of this trip are up next. Be on the lookout for those to see some more climbing based photographs!