All in the Perspective: Stark Winter Skies & Bright Rosy Faces

Winter’s bare branches and sharp chill may not seem like the ideal companions to a portrait session… and while they do a good job most of the time keeping many of us huddled inside, they also mask the magnificent potential of a bundled-up frolic and photo shoot.

That same daunting, fierce cold stealthily pulls out her gossamer palette, tinting faces with rosy cheeks and bright eyes. Those same persistently cloudy skies, so harsh and stark in their colorless state, soften the rays of the hideaway sun and create a gently ideal outdoor light—the perfect “studio” (or absence thereof).

And there, in my verbose and rambly string of run-on sentences, is my treatise on the redeeming qualities of winter. ...Oh, but how could I have forgotten? There’s one more! A cup of cocoa when it’s all said and done.

Moral: If you’ve got a hankering for a photo or two, don’t let the cold stop you.

Signing off for now…
Happy Christmas!

Autumn Splendor

A fresh rain of both leaves and droplets left a carpet of pungent once-green-foliage, fairly begging to be strolled through, tossed up in the air, or otherwise delighted in for this recent photo shoot. The crisp days of November are still gracing our days with glimpses of splendor. In the words of poet Tony Johnston...











Wind has shaken autumn down,
left it sprawling on the ground,
shawling all in gold below,

waiting -
for the hush
of snow.

Wordless Wednesday

....well, almost wordless. Moments like these I christen Job's Peak "Storm King..." It's a direct steal from Anne's cloud-engulfed mountain in L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Windy Poplars," but it's so fitting. Forgive the near-plagiarism?

Learning Curve

"Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it. If I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking successive Autumns." ~George Elliot

It's a season of learning. "Learning what?" you ask.... Well, listing may be my best bet here:

1) Blogging. How can something with a name that sounds like the creature from the Black Lagoon's favorite pastime, be so - well, un-lagoon-like? It's downright whimisical!

2) Taking an interest and transitioning into a business (i.e. portraiture). Can it be called a business if it's something you can't get enough of?

3) Using the click-of-a-shutter to capture stories along with the faces in the pictures. It's a challenge, but an amazing one.

Hmmmm.... seems that list of 3 things felt longer in my head.

Anyhow, Autumn's golden light and color-splashed leaves are beckoning the shutterbug in me. I'd love some more portrait practice while this transient gem of a season lasts, and I'm looking for some willing "guinea pigs" to give a portrait-package break to in exchange for signing a friendly photo release to let me use your images in my portfolios, on my website, and perhaps for advertising. What do you say? There are still some available weekday evenings and weekend spots available; if you'd like to book a session... shoot me an email!
simply.you.photography@gmail.com

Happy October!