I haven’t shared images from my phone in quite some time, or from my camera even for that matter. Life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately. But I have been shooting, and have a plethora of images to share, including lots of my favorite subject. In fact, I have so many of light, that I am going to break it up into multiple posts. So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy these moments of light on this fine Wednesday night.
I thought it might be good to post something other than graduate work (something a bit more simple), so I went digging into my folders for things I had meant to share but never got around to. A few weeks ago (I guess it was back in August, so a bit more than a few weeks ago; yikes time has flown by) we had some scattered storms roll through Manhattan. I sat and watched this one move for a while, enamored by the dramatic clouds and the clear distinction of where the rain was.
Happy Monday everyone; I hope your week is off to a great start!
I could have sworn I already shared some of these images (since they are from this spring), but apparently they got lost in the shuffle.
Scott and I both really enjoy fishing, and this spring we went quite often. Unfortunately because of the heat, both of us fighting some long-lasting illnesses at the beginning of the summer, and our generally busy schedules we haven’t gone much lately. I also was pretty bad about actually shooting images with my camera (I got lazy and just used my phone most of the time) while we were out, despite bringing it along. But, here are the images that I did capture.
Happy Sunday everyone!
A few weeks ago the boy and I headed to his parents’ farm for a quick little visit. I have blogged about the farm before (here, here, and here, to name a few), but this place has started to take hold of a little piece of my heart. It can be rather desolate and empty at times; the only noises you hear are cows, birds, and the occasional farm equipment running, and the dirt roads around the farm seem to go on forever. Evenings and mornings there can be absolutely stunning, and even though I have photographed a decent amount there I feel like I have barely scratched the surface. On top of that, it changes so much depending on the season that there is always something fresh the photograph. Late spring and early summer are probably my favorite times to be there (which also tends to be true of most locations for me), and since this has been a mostly cool and fairly wet spring/summer so far, things were extra beautiful (aka very green and lush). Earlier this spring however, the weather was not so ideal. The higher temps and lack of rain left the wheat (my favorite part of the farm) very short and not as great as normal for photographs.
The day that we got there was cool and rather perfect early in the evening, so we sat out on the deck for a while before the sun dipped low and things got too chilly. Scott practiced guitar, and I wandered the farm taking pictures in the beautiful light. It was lovely.
A few weeks ago I went out to the Konza Prairie with Scott for a hike. They happened to be in the process of burning that day, so on some portions of the hike we had to walk through fairly thick smoke. It didn’t make breathing all that fun, but it was pretty surreal and beautiful seeing the familiar landscape engulfed in smoke.
Happy Monday, and Cinco de Mayo everyone!
I had almost completely forgotten about these images, but while doing some cleanup on my computer stumbled on them. Not long before spring break I went on a mini adventure to Pillsbury Crossing with my studio-mate. Pillsbury Crossing is a small wildlife area just outside of Manhattan. There are a few trails there, so we hiked around a little and scoped out some places for potential self-portraits in the future.
Happy Monday everyone!
I hadn’t been out to the Konza Prairie for ages, and when it warmed up last weekend I jumped at the chance to head out there for a hike with fellow photography graduate student, Myra. I also hadn’t been out there with my new lens, so I was excited to be able to get a new perspective on something I have shot multiple times before. Unfortunately when we got out there it got super windy and a cold front started moving in, but luckily we still had sunshine and decent light for most of the hike.
Tomorrow evening I am off to Arizona for a week of climbing, camping, hiking, art museum visits, and of course photographing! I am so excited to get a break from Manhattan and share lots of images and stories here when I get back. If you want to keep up with our adventures during the week be sure to follow me on instagram. I will be posting lots there throughout the week, but posts here on the blog will have to wait since I don’t have room to pack my computer. Have a wonderful week you lovely people!
A few weeks ago I was sent a jacket from Mountain Hardwear with the mission of exploring/adventuring in it (findingwinter.com). Unfortunately I got the jacket right when school started, so I wasn’t able to take a very epic trip. And, the weekend Scott and I were able to go on a trip happened to be around 60 degrees during the day, so it wasn’t exactly your typical idea of winter.
We went out to Kanopolis State Park, which is about an hour and a half west of Manhattan, KS. Scott has been there before, and thought there could be some potential climbing that we wanted to scope out. I was also excited for the weekend in part because I had rented a lens to take with, to give me some variety in images for the trip, and also to test it before purchasing. We got to the park Saturday afternoon, set up camp, and went out hiking. It was a beautiful hike, and I was pretty surprised to find such a landscape in Kansas. The sun was getting fairly low on our hike, and down in the canyon without the sun on us it got a bit cool. I was impressed by the Mountain Hardwear jacket; it was warm, but breathed well and didn’t get too warm when we were in the sun. After hiking for a while we went back to our campsite, started a fire, and made a delicious (and warm) dinner. It was a pretty windy, chilly night, but once again I was impressed at how well the jacket blocked the wind; that was one of my favorite features. It is also a great layering jacket; flattering to the figure yet lots of room for warmer layers underneath, so with a synthetic down on as well I was nice and warm. In the morning the wind had calmed down some and the sun was out, so after a quick breakfast we went for another hike before packing up to head back to Manhattan.
I also played around with some time lapse stuff on our trip, but that will have to be posted to youtube/vimeo once I get it edited and pieced together. I will be sure to post a link once it is done, I’m pretty excited about it!
Shortly after Thanksgiving Scott and I went to visit his parents’ beautiful farm. We were only there for a night, but the light that evening was stunning; richly golden with a low haze in the distance.
Also, to any Arabian horse fans out there, these beauties are for sale. Feel free to contact me for details.
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.
Abigail Thompson Photography 