Spring is in the Air..

Spring is my favorite season, mostly because of all the new life in the natural world......but also because of the flowers, a soft breeze carrying the smell of the rain and the sounds of children and laughter sneaking through my screen windows....I shot off a few pictures at Kittatinny Valley State Park in Andover, NJ the other day.

There is so much life in the forest......

And in the trees.....

From Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses"

Come up here, O dusty feet!

Here is fairy bread to eat.

Here in my retiring room,

Children, you may dine

On the golden smell of broom

And the shade of pine;

And when you have eaten well,

Fairy stories hear and tell.

 

Sunshine: A Sneak Peek

Ever have one of those days?? Well this morning did not start out as one of those days. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I spent time with a happy one-year-old and her parents on this morning's photo session at Kittatinny Valley State Park, here in NJ. The cloud and sun combination was perfect (for late morning photography) and this little one was full of sunshine. Here is her sneak peek!

Have a Happy Little Easter!

This is the first oil painting that I did when I was twelve. I'd like to tell you a little story behind this painting, which hung proudly in my grandparents' house for many years.

Remember Bob Ross? You know, the happy little trees guy? His mentor was William Alexander and he was also a happy little trees kinda guy. Many years ago he had a TV show and came out with a full product line of canvases, paints, brushes & easels.  These are some of my old William Alexander oil brushes.....I have since switched to synthetic brushes for humane reasons. I even use a toothbrush in my watercolors!

My grandmother was a big William Alexander and Bob Ross fan and she bought the whole William Alexander enchilada for herself - only to give it all me. She was not the normal grandmother by any account. My mom says growing up, grandma was like a kid, only she had money and a driver's license. This is also my recollection of her. When she (and my grandpa) would watch us for the weekend, the first thing we did was go to the IGA foodstore and fill the cart with anything we wanted! I'd eat a creamsicle bar for dinner with no repercussions!

We'd watch rated R movies (strictly forbidden in our house) on HBO (which nobody had at the time) and then we'd stay up until midnight playing Monopoly (and she always let us win). At bedtime she would sing and tell fantastical stories (sometimes they were scary) and remind us that she'd make anything we wanted for breakfast in the morning. When I was a teenager, she would watch MTV with us and I swear it was like watching with a girlfriend. Despite living in a little town 8 miles west of Manhattan for 40 years, she held on to her Western Virginian drawl and we would howl with laughter when she pronounced "hot dog", "hot dowwwwwwg". 

She was also a compulsive shopper (and also happened to be my biggest fan). I was the "artistic" one in the family.  We would watch William Alexander and Bob Ross together on TV all the time. One day, I remember her elaborately setting up all the oils, the turpentine (to clean the brushes), smocks, rags, the easel .... the whole thing in the guest bedroom in their little suburban house. The above painting is what I created that day - and that was also the day she decided to give me all of her William Alexander art materials (although I have since switched to acrylic and watercolor as my preferred mediums) She always encouraged my imagination, which is such an amazing gift to a child.

Did I mention her piano ... that she gave me?? Years of piano lessons followed that "gift", but that's another story. Happy Easter everyone - love your family while you have 'em!

April Showers.......

 I am so thankful to be a part of Fast Track NJ. If you're not familiar with Fast Track, check out the website,  here.  According to the site, They are communities of like-minded photographers who embrace the Fast Track Philosophy that we grow best as photographers (and as people) by helping and supporting each other. Because of this, we sometimes call these groups “FEO”s, which stands for: “For Each Other”. Groups are not led, they are facilitated. Our Groups are participatory  - so we are more like potlucks – everyone walks through the door with something to share with others.

The very talented Feuza Reis and Katie McKnight facilitated this amazing shootout which brought photographers, talented make-up artists and hair stylists, and models from Manhattan to PA over to Laurie House in Princeton. The Laurie House graciously gave over 30 photographers run of their beautiful Bed and Breakfast this past Tuesday.

In retrospect, I wish I had taken more behind-the-scenes images, but here are some of the talented folks who were there.

We were broken up into several groups, and each group had a faciliator. Each group took a turn shooting the models. The passing rain had us switching from the grounds outside to the guestrooms inside. At times we were running in the rain with our gear under our coats! The dark sky did not lend bright light into the inn, so we improvised with flash, windows and in some cases....recessed lights. Everyone took turns posing the models and encouraging one another, as we crammed into guest rooms and took aim with our cameras at the different models.

We are each required to provide 30 of our best images to the group. There are some extremely talented people in this group. I don't shoot weddings, but I was happy for the portrait experience, meeting new people, and having fun! My edits are finally finished and I hope my fellow photographers like my work {fingers crossed}. These will be my submissions to the group gallery.

I am very excited for the next shootout! There is talk of one on the beach and maybe one in NYC. Thanks again to everyone for making my first shootout such a cool experience!

Sweet Springtime

Finally, an appearance from Spring! We had an abnormally warm 80 degree day here in Northern New Jersey the other day. It was the perfect temperature for a scheduled session. This little girl was so well behaved and really just wanted to get into everything (especially the snacks that her parents brought with them!) It was fun following her around with my 50mm at Kittatinny Valley State Park in Andover, NJ.