Snow Day!

The excitement of a new snow storm shifted as quickly as the weather blew in. Right as the day was winding down at Copper Mountain, the snowflakes kept falling, getting larger and heavier by the minute. Before we knew it, I70 was closed. And I70 is the ONLY way back east, the ONLY road leading to Frisco, Dillon and my home in Silverthorne. (Yikes!)

Needless to say, I spent the night at work. (Good thing I work at a resort!) I can't express how thankful I was to be surrounded by such great people - friends and coworkers alike. As it turned out, our apartment was shelter to our friend, Nicole, who couldn't make it back to Breckenridge. Nobody was going anywhere Tuesday night.

I did make it home the next day, after spending half an hour cleaning and shoveling the car out. There's nothing better than a complete stranger lending you his shovel in a time of need!! 

Once I got home, I could finally enjoy the fluffy white outside our apartment:

Latent Image Group: Chicago Views, coming October 29

For those able to make it, Webster University's May Gallery will be featuring a group show of a photo club Chicago trip on the smaller wall. Latent Image (the university's photo club) sponsored a trip to the big city in the Spring of 2010. The opening night is October 29, between 5pm and 7pm. Wish I could be there, but here's a sneak peak anyway:

Not so black and white

I finally made it out to capture some Aspen trees, on what may likely be the last weekend their leaves are intact:

As I followed the trail back to the car, something more intriguing caught my eye. Sections of the trial were closed off due to clear-cutting. Stumps stuck up all over what once was a lush expanse of trees. On the other side of the trail, piles of lodgepole lay across the now barren land. A sad sight, to say the least, no doubt attributed to the pine beetle. No solution to their infestation is better than another, but one manner of attack has been eliminating the dry, dead trees altogether. On one of the most beautiful Fall mountain days, the Aspens were definitely a strange contrast against the stumps of dead Pines.

I watched the sun rise...

...on my day off.

Instead of sleeping in on a recent day off (which, believe me, I wanted to), I decided to wake up before the sun, get dressed in the dark and make my way once again towards Frisco Marina. It's the first time this season that I put on boots and a winter hat. Too bad I forgot a photographer's best friend in the cold - a pair of gloves. Oops.

The lake has dropped considerably in the last month - at least four feet - which means I can get closer to the sailboats anchored in the bay. Between the low sun and the cold weather, I finally got the conditions that I wanted as well. The fog even rolled in as the sun peaked over the first mountain top.

After the sun had completely risen, I started to make my way back to the car. I found a pleasant distraction, and despite my dry, red, cold hands, I stayed a few more minutes to capture the morning dew that had formed on yellow fall leaves:

Where am I going, and what will I find?

Three weekends ago, I woke up on a beautiful Saturday morning and decided I wanted to go for a drive. Didn't know where or how far. So I started driving farther north on Highway 9, the only other direction in Summit County I hadn't yet explored. Perfect day for a short road trip: warm sun, cool air, and pretty empty roads. The land became more and more flat - and brown - and about 1/2 an hour in to the drive I started looking for somewhere to turn around. And then, as the road curved west, a beautiful blue caught my eye. I had found Lake Heeney, a refreshing sight among the otherwise monotone drive.

On my way back I shot some photos. The road trip was, in the end, worthwhile: I drove somewhere new and found something I liked. A lot.

Fall has arrived

As I sat at work on Wednesday and watched the afternoon rain fall, I thought to myself, "Fall has definitely arrived." Then, as the sun came out and dried the wet ground, I started counting the minutes until I could jump in my car and rush home to grab a camera. I was anxious, to say the least. Finally, as I pulled out of the post office close to home, I caught a glimpse of color in the corner of my eye: it was a rainbow! And not just a small, half arch of color. A huge, full rainbow right above me. Needless to say, I might have blown through the last stop sign on the way home (it's not a terribly busy street, anyway) in the race to capture the beautiful arch...

And I made it! To the other side of our apartment was the other sign of Fall:

Early to rise...

As it gets colder in the mornings here, frost forms on the car and I can see my breath outside. And every time I drive to work, undoubtedly in a hurry, I watch as steam rises off the corner of the lake. When the clouds are low and the morning sun shines on the water, it's unbelievable. Hard to put into words. So last Saturday I decided to suck it up, wake up extra early to make my normal commute to work and finally catch this beautiful sight.

...but it wasn't very cold on Friday, nor was it very chilly that morning. In turn, there was no steam rising off the lake. *sigh* So I made the most of it and went to one of my favorite spots, Sapphire Point off Swan Mountain Road. I was already up and out, I couldn't very well go home without any photos.

The first and last shots were my two favorites:

The simplicity of each image drew me to them. They're both dependent on light. Without having been there at the right moment, they'd be just another snapshot. All in all, the morning was not wasted, though I'm pretty sure I went to be earlier than normal that night!

Choo Choo!!

At the end of July, I had the great pleasure of showing my dad around my new Colorado home. One of the best things we did was take a day trip to Leadville, where we then hopped on a train and rode through the mountains. Rock surrounded us on one side, Aspens on the other. We could touch the trees as we passed.

The blanket that we brought "just in case" proved to be very helpful in the middle of our journey, when we stopped at the highest point and ran into some rain on the way back. In the end, it ended up being a fun new adventure!

Landscapes

Although we haven't been able to explore too many places, we did go on a hike that overlooked the beautiful Dillon lake. We live below the dam at one end of the lake.

That being said, sometimes I don't need to go further than our backyard - or back porch - to see a beautiful landscape. Here is our view at sunset looking out at the Dillon dam, with Keystone peeking out in the distance.

On a wall

After some quick printing and framing, I have finally made it up on a wall in a gallery in nearby Frisco, CO. The gallery shows artists from Colorado, mostly local. The variety of work - from paintings to digital photos to jewelry - attracted me at first. I took the chance to put something up right away, and couldn't be happier.

BBQ

Fun music, scrumptious food and racing piggies made up this weekend's barbeque fest in Frisco...

Row, row, row your boat...

The Marina in Frisco is full of photo ops, from dogs playing fetch in the grass to bikers riding by to boaters sailing on the water. The colorful boats caught my attention as always, and the sailboats mirrored the white-topped mountains in the background.

The Fun Bunch

Thursday nights are fun with the Fun Bunch, one of the teams that participates in a softball tournament in Summit County. Last night I remembered to bring my camera so I could play around. The sun was setting right in front of the batters, so instead of trying to work around the sun, I tried shooting straight in to it. I ended up liking the photos with lens flare and sun rays the most, and I even captured an odd couple watching the game - man's best friend turned softball's biggest fan!

Little Monsters

After 13 awesome - and strenuous - months, it came time to say goodbye to two furry kitties. Really, they just moved down the street from me. My roommate moved, and so too, did her cats. We got them just a week after having moved in to a new apartment:

Izzy

Bella

There's nothing like watching a little kitten (or puppy, for that matter) grow during its first year. As sisters, they couldn't be more different. Bella is a lady. She's very, very quiet, even when she speaks. She takes her time getting to know somebody new, and will rarely tolerate being held for long. Izzy is everything Bella isn't: loud - very loud, needy, a monkey of sorts (climbing up and onto the staircase railing), playful (really, she plays fetch!), and will fall asleep in anyone's arms after ten minutes.

My roommate had let me choose one of their names. She was going to name one Isabella and call her Izzy as a nick name. But I told her I might call that cat Bella, which would get confusing if one cat had two names. And so were created their names, Izzy and Bella. (And no, I did not name Bella after Twilight! She got the name of my favorite cat, my aunt's cat, Bella.)

They've grown from barely tackling a size six flip-flop to overtaking a size six shoe box. In their worst of moments, they truly were little monsters. In their best of moments (like when they were sleeping), they melted a long-time dog-lover's heart.

"Make me a Latham"

I had the joy of spending an evening with two of the greatest people I know: Tim Latham and Leah Bend. Their big day is finally here - Leah and Tim are tying the knot in downtown St. Louis at the Thaxton!

Since freshman year of college, Leah has been one of the sweetest, kindest, truest friends. I was excited to shoot her engagement photos and finally meet The Boy - Tim. After just half an hour with them, it was easy to see how perfectly they complimented one another.

Finally, all of the planning and waiting and stressing boils down to one day - today. And I only have one piece of advice (that I found last night on the way to the rehearsal):

Exposed

The end of the year in The May Gallery at Webster University is always reserved for the Senior Show. This year, "Exposed" features a group of 16 senior photography majors, which makes for a variety of work to display.

The show opened last Friday, May 7, the night before graduation. A big thanks to everyone who was able to make it, and for those who couldn't or haven't yet, the show hangs until the end of July.

My series on dashboards seemed like an appropriate - and fun - final show to work on. It started with two photos that I took on two separate road trips. We spend so much time driving, that whatever sits in front of us on the dashboard inevitably has a story behind it. My red bull has been in my car since the day I turned 16, and I started to always notice what people had on their dashboards or hanging on their mirrors. I hope to continue this series for a long time to come.

Sunday Silhouette

After a late start, I met Joselyn for some photos in Webster University's dance studio. I've always wanted to photograph in that room - the wall of glass is amazing and beautiful, and the dancers that come through there are just as amazing and beautiful.

After making sure I had captured the shots I came there for, we played around with her silhouette against the glass as she danced.

Success!

The Juried Show opening last Friday had a great turnout. The two jurors (Robin Hirsch from Art St. Louis and Ken Konchel of Ken Konchel Photography) showed up to give out the awards.

Congratulations to Scott, Kelly and Ryan for placing 3rd, 2nd and best in show.

I am very excited to add myself to the above list as well, for placing 1st in the show!!

A great way to start the weekend, and a great way to begin the ending month of Webster.

Gallery Opening

Stop by the May Gallery for the Annual Juried Exhibition opening. There is a reception (wine and snacks included) tonight, April 9, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Awards will also be handed out during the reception.

The show will be up through April 30, 2010. The May Gallery is on Webster University's home campus, in the Sverdrup Buildng on the second floor. 

If you can't make it, check out photographs of the gallery installation at The May Gallery Online.

puppy love

March 29 was one of the first real St. Louis spring days, meaning by midday I was sweating and my hair had expanded to twice its normal size! I got to take advantage of the cooler hours of the morning taking some fun photos of my sister's two dogs, Bailey and Seamus. Both are beautiful puppies and posed like models the whole time.

Head shots and more

I was fortunate enough to get together with some of my favorite CHS girls in the studio on Sunday. Nis is an amazing singer and performer, not to mention absolutely beautiful in front of the camera! I hadn't been in the studio for a while, but it's hard to mess up a head shot of such a pretty face.

And we even convinced Jo to stand in for a few minutes, which led to some pretty awesome images of the two together. So adorable!

Beautiful women, great friends, amazing afternoon!

Highlight of last week:

platinum prints!

I arrived to a relatively slow day at my internship on Friday thinking it was going to be a long day. Boy was I wrong.

Another intern and I were introduced to the studio's darkroom, and before we knew it we had started a full lesson on platinum printing. The best part: the owner of the studio took us under his wing for the morning and went through the whole process with us. We saw everything from mixing the chemicals for an emulsion, brushing it onto the paper, working the light machine and developing the print.

What really intrigues me is that he starts with a digital file, makes adjustments for contrast in the computer, prints out a large negative and ends up with a darkroom contact print. Kind of goes to show that just because we have so much digital technology doesn't mean darkrooms are unnecessary.

It doesn't take long to remember why I fell in love with photography in high school. There's just something magical and irresistible about a darkroom.

Smile.

I'm excited to say that I got to hang a small show today in the Emerson Library on Webster University's campus! It shows through March. 

I've been working on a small series of faces and decided to share just the ones with happy expressions. I create all of the faces in their "natural" environment.

Greyhound Pride

Despite some cold and misty weather, I ended up having a lot of fun scouting out some places for a shoot with Tierney near Clayton High School. We ended the afternoon at the football field, where I got my favorite shots. Thanks for being such a sport!

The way he sees it...

... is the way I see it.


Elliott Erwitt, photographer and member of Magnum photos, once said, “To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”


As a rising photographer living in a visually-packed (excuse me - overloaded) society, I often find that the ordinary really can and does excite me. My hope is that this blog will be a place for me to share the way I see and how I interpret everyday happenings.


The little things, the details and the unexpected all keep me intrigued and motivated to shoot more. Some may say I'm easily distracted; I might be shooting a person and quickly find myself focusing on his vintage bike in the background, which is leaning against the characteristic brick wall at the front door.

Well, I say I am thoroughly aware of my surroundings, and as long as I'm there, why not capture the surrounding environment as well?


 We are surrounded by images in the media: television, magazines, newspapers, billboards, point-of-sale, packaging... the list goes on. With hundreds of images bombarding us from left and right, it's nice to be able to step back and enjoy the details.