Week two of visualizing in black and white! Emphasis on white - I have a suspicion that I will not be the only east coaster featuring the snow we got over the weekend . When you don't have a backyard, sometimes you have to go to new heights to get a snowman built. And pay him a visit before bedtime to make sure he's still there.
Please head uptown to see what my amazing friend Jessie Wixon found this week. Her shot this week is absolutely incredible.
We headed out to look at the trains today, mainly as an excuse to get out of the house while still avoiding the cold. We happened upon a wonderful exhibit for the 100th anniversary of Grand Central. The history of the building, as well as current expansion projects, are incredibly interesting. If you have a moment, I recommend stopping by.
I stood still for a while and waited to see who would walk into the frame.
The holidays are over and it's back to the grind. Photo 52 has abandoned the freewheeling twinkling lights and is getting back to the technical side of things. We will be spending the month of January focusing on the use of natural light indoors. This means the subjects of our images will be a) inside and b) illuminated by sunlight without the addition of flash, lamplight or other artificial light source. The topic seemed appropriate since many of us are currently experiencing some significant drops in temperature.
Plunging mercury notwithstanding, I had a very dear friend visiting this week and we weren't about to spend her entire trip holed up at home. These were taken as we ducked inside to warm ourselves up at various points throughout the day.
If you are unfamiliar with Photo 52, my initial post can be found here. Please continue around the blog circle to see what my fellow participants are finding as we kick off the new year. Next up is the lovely and talented Julie Kiernan, who is no doubt scoffing at my complaints of cold weather from her home in Minnesota.
window shopping
long wait for a small table
If you have a chance to make it over there before January 6th, Ann Hamilton's "event of the thread" installation at the Park Avenue Armory is truly a thrill. Riding the big swings to pull the even bigger curtain eclipsed the more nuanced aspects of the exhibit for this particular audience of three, but we loved it just the same.
Photo 52, week eleven!
In our third week of investigating hard light, I decided to tackle some full sun high noon shooting. Not my favorite lighting conditions for photographing people because of the harsh overhead shadows it casts on faces. However, we had a Zamboni to check out and time waits for no man. Or boy. Or mom.
Patiently waiting.
It's here!
Please continue around the blog circle to the amazing Lisa Rigazio. Her use of dramatic light is simply stunning. If you are unfamiliar with Photo 52, click here for the initial post.
Hard light: our subject for the month of November.
To my mind, hard light is dramatic. It casts shadows. It can be aggressive and harsh or bright and crisp, depending on your frame of mind. On a chilly morning this week, with wind blowing briskly as countless people began to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the rising sun was all of these things.
If you are looking for ways to help those impacted by the storm, donations to the Red Cross seem to be a reliable place to start. Additionally, closer to my heart, a dear friend of ours is from the devastated town of Breezy Point. NY. Her father is the chief of the Breezy Point volunteer fire department and her parents, aunts, uncles and cousins all live there. She has been on the ground helping this week and has just passed along information for two well organized funds that can benefit the community directly, noting that the Red Cross is focused on Staten Island and other communities in the NYC area at this time.
Breezy Point Cooperative Disaster Relief Fund
C/o Lee & Kane Attorneys
2175 Flatbush Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11234
http://www.breezypointdisasterrelief.org/
Alternatively, the volunteer fire department is accepting donations directly as they will need to repair all of their badly damaged trucks and equipment:
BPVFD
1 Firemans Plaza
Breezy Point, NY 11697
Thank you for reading this far, and do please continue around the blog circle, starting with my neighbor to the north, Kennedy Tinsley of Tinsleyhouse Photography, to see what my fellow Photo 52 participants are sharing this week. I implore you to take a close look at Kelly Roth Patton's blog post as well, which contains relief fund information aimed at the Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn. If you are unfamiliar with Project 52, the introductory post can be found here.
