Glass Still Life

I shot more for my graduate work the other day, and once again after finishing the “serious” work I played around a bit with the light and my glass collection. I am always so fascinated by how light shines and refracts through glass objects. The glass can look perfect, and then once you see the shadows cast all the imperfections become visible, and the light seems to bounce every which way. Each object, despite looking the same or at least very similar, casts a unique shadow. I don’t think it is something I will ever get bored with.

Happy Tuesday!

 

Vibrant Spring

This post will be a bit old news now, but the end of the semester as both a student AND an instructor is madness. So, as is the trend it seems, I have a bit of a backlog of images to share. First up though a few images of spring.

Spring is probably my favorite time of the year. I am a bit obsessed with bright green landscapes, and the fresh, new green of spring never ceases to amaze me. Plus the flowers every where is an added bonus. Since I was so busy this spring I didn’t have a chance to shoot much, but here are the few I did manage to grab before the new green faded and the spring blossoms fell.

Have a happy weekend everyone (and be on the lookout for more posts)!

Spaces

The more I photograph, the more I realize that I am drawn to very intimate spaces. Grand spaces generally don’t intrigue me nearly as much, at least in terms of my photography. I also have the tendency to be drawn back to the same space over and over, witnessing how it changes depending on the light or the passage of time. These images are random ones from the past month or so, of various spaces that you may have seen before, but perhaps under different conditions. Some are just brief moments that I photographed in an attempt to hold on to them in my mind; I found them significant in some way at the time, and wanted that moment to stick.

 

And, meet Gwynn, who lives in my studio. The plant’s growth is explosive; these image were shot just a few weeks apart. I plan to keep documenting the growth, but it is slowly (or not so slowly) taking over my studio I think.

 

As a bit of a teaser for you all, I just returned from a trip to New York City, so images from that trip will be up in the (hopefully) near future. Also, more moments of light are on their way. Happy Monday everyone!

Disruption

It had been almost a full year since I last shot a self-portrait, despite the fact that I have had the itch to create one for months. Last Friday evening I finally had some time to kill, and someone to assist, so we went out into the woods and took advantage of the perfect light.

I’ve been going back and forth on the editing of this one, so I may potentially post the original in the near future, as well as some others from the shoot that turned out, and maybe even some behind the scenes images.

 

Time in the pasture.

About a month ago Scott and I went to his parents’ farm for dove hunting season. We went out in the evening and sat in their pasture watching for birds. I, however, was very distracted by how beautiful it was out there.

We sat on buckets, low to the ground and surrounded by tall grass fronds catching the rich evening light as they swayed in the breeze. Not far away was a group of wild sunflowers in full bloom. A small pond was in front of us, and it was mesmerizing to watch the giant dragonflies swoop down to catch bugs in the low, golden sun. The only noises we heard were bugs buzzing, birds chirping, and the sound of the wind in the grass. It was almost dream like.

Burned

I had such big plans for this image. I had gone out to shoot fully expecting flames (I even brought a cup of water to put them out), but instead the roses just smoked for the most part (even though they had been dry for over a year). I had debated even editing them, let alone posting. But, as part of my growth as an artist I am trying to learn to roll with the “failed” shoots and turn them into something even when they don’t go according to plan. I have been in a huge artistic rut for most of the summer, and this is, in a small way at least, my attempt at getting out of it.

Rise and Untitled (and behind the scenes)

Here are two others that I liked from the shoot a month ago. I have found a new obsession with fabric in my self-portraits, and have a couple more images in mind with it. Hopefully I can get those shot in the next few weeks.

Rise

Untitled

And a few behind the scenes shots for you all. And a chance for me to introduce you all to the greatest photo assistant of all time, Scott. He was willing to sit there wrapped in tulle while I figured out my composition and such, and still managed to look manly 🙂

The Thought Process

It had been ages since I shot a self-portrait before this one. I had some vague ideas that I was wanting to shoot but never seemed to have the time, energy, or motivation. This summer has been a bit of a slump for me artistically, but I’m hoping I can turn that around once the craziness of this month settles down.

Anyways, about a month ago I went home with Scott (the boyfriend) to his parents’ farm. They have some big wheat fields, which, as previously posted, are one of my favorite things. I had the itch for a self-portrait, though I didn’t really know what it should be. Before we left for their house (which is close to a two-hour drive) I had thrown in a bunch of tulle and other fabric thinking I could do something with movement and wind (since Kansas is ALWAYS windy). That evening, around sunset I decided to just go out and see what would happen. It was all very spontaneous and unplanned, which is often the best for me. When we were walking to the spot that I wanted to shoot at there were some hazy clouds covering the sun and light wasn’t very exciting. I was sort of bummed out and even debated not shooting that night. But, I decided to go for it anyways, and it paid off. The haze ended up lifting while I was shooting, making for some wonderful golden light in most of the images.

I have sat on these images for a while, unsure of how I wanted to edit them, and share them. Finally, as I am sitting in a hotel in Lexington, KY about to shoot a wedding I decided I was sick of having them sit on my hard drive. I will make another post with a few more, but this one was my favorite, and when the title popped into my head this morning I thought it deserved its own post.

Happy weekend everyone!

Farm Life

A couple of weeks ago I went home with Scott (the boyfriend) to meet his parents for the first time. His parents have a big, beautiful farm in central Kansas, and even though we have been there a few times now I still haven’t even scratched the surface of what I would like to photograph there. Here is a small sampling of images that I shot over the past few visits.

They are surrounded by seemingly endless, gorgeous wheat fields. I have a small obsession with them I have realized. In the spring they are a stunning green, and then come summer they turn an amazingly rich gold. The texture is awesome for photographs, and watching as well as listening to a wheat field in the wind has to be one of the best things ever.

They have lots of animals on their farm, though I haven’t photographed most of them. This cat is absolutely precious, though extremely sick. She has taken a liking to me, and the last time I was there did her best to follow me around as I was shooting.

Last weekend while we were there for a short visit I was able to shoot a self-portrait that I am quite excited about. I am currently in the process of editing that, and when I get it done I will post it here, so be sure to check back!

Catching Up…

I have a huge backlog of photographs sitting on my hard drive that I need to post. Since I have today off I figured it would be good to start catching up some. Brace yourself for completely random, unrelated images that span all the way back to April…

And expect a few more blog posts (with a little more cohesiveness to them) later today!