When I saw the edit below that Heather McCullah of One Shot Beyond Photography did below of 2 photos from my “Jo Ann series” (featured in the post below) one of the first words that came to my mind was “compelling.”
Compelling: having a powerful effect; requiring acute admiration, attention, or respect
This edit deserves admiration, attention & respect! I love it and I know Jo Ann will too!
I was about to go to bed for the night but when I saw this I had to blog it!
Thank you Heather!
*If you haven’t visited Heather’s blog – stop by and leave a comment by clicking HERE!
I couldn’t come up with a catchy name…so the title is just what it was: “Jo Ann…in a Field…in the Dark.”
So, strangely I’d been imagining this shoot for a very long time. I imagined a woman…in a fancy dress…in a setting such as an open field…or a flower patch. I wanted the evening gown to be a complete contradiction to the field..something that just doesn’t make sense…a beautiful girl all dressed up in the weeds (if that makes any sense to you!)
I told Jo Ann, my good friend and trusty photographer’s assistant (and model many times over), my idea and she was game for the idea and even had a dress that she thought would be perfect – and it was! I was so thrilled that it was all coming together! Last Friday I finally had a chance to do the shoot after work once the sun was setting.
I knew of a grassland preserve close to my home that had an open area for waking the trails flanked on each side by waist high natural growth of all different kids of wild flowers and wild “weeds.” I figured this would be the perfect place to try out my imagined idea.
(Click on the landscape orientated photos to view them larger)
The only thing I didn’t figure on…was the fact that once it got dark I would no longer be able to focus my camera! I put the camera in manual focus and tried to focus on a street light and then shot like that for a while in the dark!
And then the idea spring up to use the light of the cell phone! LOL. Yes, we used my cell phone to light Jo Ann’s face! It cracked me up for some reason. She held it next to her cheek and I focused on that spot, she shut it and then I snapped. If only I had a flashlight with me. HA! Next time!
Behind the scenes:
I have a few more to process but there are some of my favorites! I hope you like them. It’s so fun to have a vision and try to play it out. And it helps to have a beautiful willing friend!!
Two weekends ago I met with Susan & Jeff for their Engagement photo session at Spring Lake Beach here in New Jersey. I work with Susan’s wonderful mother and I’m so excited that she was intertested in me doing their engagement portraits for them.
It was my first egagement session so I was thrilled at the opportunity – especially on the beach! What a beautiful beach they chose! Jo Ann and I went about an hour early and found the perfect spot with a beautiful Jetty. We decided what photos I would take and we prepared my list of “must have” shots.
We met up with Susan and Jeff and got right into it.
When we got there I spotted this cute little beach hut where they sell the beach badges and I knew I had to have some shots there. I love the teal color…
At this point in the day Susan & Jeff had an audience of Susan’s sister and Susan’s brother in law sitting on the bench right across from the hut as well as every single passer-by being super curious about what we were doing.
We heard lots of funny jokes and congratulations for the couple from those that made their way through our photoshoot.
If can imagine the little gal with the big camera either laying on the board walk in a contored pose, laying in the sand or standing up on a railing or a bench… and then you had Jo Ann holding a huge silver reflector… we’re quite the duo!
Susan’s ring was gorgeous. Little pink diamonds surrounding the large diamond. Nice job Jeff!!
I love moments like this…. Big Sigh
We decided to live dangerously! There’s a big fat fine if you go on the dunes… so run, pose, snap, get off!
Yes, I certainly did lay down on the boardwalk to take this. I’ll do almost anything to get a cool shot.
It took a little convicing to get Susan to do this shot. Her brother in law did the jump shot with Jeff first and then Susan agreed to do it. I think it’s so cute!
Another big sigh moment:
I stood up on the bench and loomed over them for this moment…
We were all packed up and ready to go when Susan’s brother in law pointed out the full moon over the ocean. Of course I had to take the camera out and make them take one more shot with the moon in the distance.
I had a good time getting a workout running around in the sand with Susan & Jeff and Susan’s sister Heidi and brother in law Jim.
Susan & Jeff were great to work with and patient with me and all of my poses and ideas. Thanks to Jo Ann for being a great assistant…your arms get really tired when you have to hold that reflector up forever as I snap, snap, snap! And thanks to Beth for asking me to do this session for your lovely daughter and future son in law!!
I’ve been so busy lately that I really needed a leisure-filled weekend more than you could imagine! My friend Jo Ann and I decided to have a “Jen & Jo Fun Filled Weekend.”
Friday we did a photo shoot of Jo Ann that I have been dying to do (more to come on that soon!!!) and then Saturday was the Beach….
Below is my lovely view of the Ocean at Spring Lake Beach in NJ. We had THE MOST BEAUTIFUL beach day ever. We had great spot on the beach with a gorgeous view, perfect temperature, a wonderful breeze, and good company!
I even made a friend on the beach:
Today we just hung out, had a delicious lunch, and Jo Ann came food shopping with me – WOO HOO FUN! (Yes, I forgot to put sunscreen on my face until it was too late and my face is red like a lobster.)
Yesterday mom and I went to lunch again on our day’s off so I took my camera along (of course) in case there were any interesting sights along the way.
Throughout this burning hot day I took some fun, silly shots of my mom and I (and she took some of me while I was “in action” using my point and shoot camera) during our visit to New Hope and Peddler’s Village in Pennsylvania. We also took some on the camera phone which takes a decent 2megapixel photo believe it or now! Rather than bore you with them in a long string of photos I put them into a slideshow.
You watch them scroll below or click “view all images” to page through them yourself:
Besides the silly photos from the day I found myself in hysterics over the fact that my mom and I were dancing to my music in the car so I turned on the video on my cell phone to capture us in action (well more of mom in action then me…I was too busy laughing louder and more hysterical than I have in a long time! Thanks Mom! LOL!) Normally I would post this but I just had to because it makes me laugh every single time I watch it.
You Tube doesn’t show it at the best quality since the resolution is a lot smaller then the way they stretch it but you get the idea!
New Hope’s primary industry is tourism. On weekends the streets are crowded with tourists visiting the many restaurants, antique shops and art galleries, or taking the popular walk along the river and the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal. Compared to surrounding communities, New Hope has a vibrant night life, although most businesses are required to close for the night by 2:00 AM.
We passed the famous thrift store and looked at the window displays…
…and this made me laugh…no photos in the store or they charge you $4.50 LOL
This one cracked me up…
Don’t ask…I have no idea why these are in the alley way next to the thrift store:
I loved the look of this open air restaurant. If it wasn’t so hot we would have eaten there. I took this picture looking through the window because I just loved that you could see the details of the bar.
Located in an attractive historic mill, The Bucks County Playhouse features a constant stream of plays and musical productions. New Hope was once a popular spot for Broadway shows to be tested and fine tuned, and many notable stage actors bought weekend homes in the area. It was also home to an art colony, founded by Edward Redfield and William L. Lathrop, that produced important regional work.
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This is the bridge that connects New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ.
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New Hope is also a terminal point on the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad. On weekends, tourists can ride the historic and scenic line through Bucks County. Their website says:
Climb aboard the New Hope & Ivyland passenger train and travel into a scene from the past. Relax and leave your cares behind as you journey into history, learning what rail travel was like for your parents, grand parents and great-grand parents. Behold the continuously changing view as the train traverses through the rolling hills and valleys of historic Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Enjoy our restored 1920s vintage passenger coaches, antique bar car, the authentic steam locomotive or one of our historic diesel locomotives. The train will take you along the same historic route that was filmed in the 1914 movie series Perils of Pauline. You can purchase your tickets in the original witch’s hat New Hope train station, which was once the location of the railroad telegraph operator who sent and received all messages for the town of New Hope, PA. This building has been in operation since 1891.
After New Hope we went over to Peddler’s Village and had a great crab cake sandwich lunch and then walked around for a few minutes and visited a couple shops.
Peddler’s Village is in the heart of beautiful Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Since Earl Jamison founded Peddler’s Village 46 years ago in the Lahaska countryside, visitors have followed the winding brick pathways to a unique shopping and dining experience.
Peddler’s Village has something for everyone from 70 specialty shops and six restaurants to the luxurious 70-room Golden Plough Inn and the Giggleberry Fair family entertainment center.
On the way home we stopped along the side of the road a few times so I could take the next few shots:
I loved this little farm stand named the “The Country Gentleman”
I never finished working with the photos from my Princeton University visit so I completed a couple more HDR shots from that day last week. I thought I’d share them even though they were from December 28th.
This day provided me some of my best architectural HDR shots to date! It’s one of the best places locally to get some amazing photos!
You’ve seen these statues in a previous post but here is another version that I just processed:
The rest of the photos below were processed right after the the initial shoot but I don’t think these particular photos were shared on the blog back then. Enjoy!
I know, I know…it’s not like me at all to not post a blog almost everyday! I have been so busy at work and at home. I’ve been working on the engagement shoot you see below and getting ready for going on vacation in a week to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
I haven’t finished the engagement shoot yet although I have been working on it each night. I decided that I didn’t want to post a little at a time but finish the whole shoot and then show you my top favorites. With all that is going on that might take a little bit to get posted.
In the mean time I figured I would show you some creative textured edits I did on my friend’s beach family shoot:
I’ve been trying to go through folders and folders of photos I never had a chance to finish editing (some go back to early 2007 believe it or not). As I look through them I saw my taste and skill level significantly changed and some photos that appealed to me back then..no longer do.
I opened up a folder from October 21, 2007 that I had mostly edited a majority of the photos, within, and decided that I would go through it one more time. I wanted to see if anything else was worthy of being worked on and then consider that folder “case closed.”
As I was quickly flipping through the photos in the folder I came across the photo below (and almost passed it right by) and something made me go back to it. If you saw the original you’d probably have passed it right by too because it really looked kind of bad.
Something told me that I might be able to make something out of the photo that I would really love. I think it was the way the trees lined up in the composition that caught my eye and the fence line in the distance to the right.
I spent about 30 minutes editing the photo, experimenting the whole time and in the end this is what I came up with. I’m happy I didn’t pass this photo by as junk because I’m so pleased with how I was able to transform it from the *original.
*I was going to show the original but it’s VERY VERY bad…so I squashed that idea quickly. Instead I leave you with just the finished project:
On April 4th I did a Communion Shoot for my co-worker and the first thing I did was edit everything Communion related. After I finished the Communion photos I never had a chance to edit the extra photos I took of her younger daughter (who I dubbed “Little Miss Blue Eyes”).
Tonight, I finally had a chance to edit some of them and wow they are adorable!
Toni and I go way back…when I say “way back” I really mean it!
Snowhill PreSchool in Spotswood, NJ to be exact!
This far back….
That's me (front row FARTHEST right) on the end and Toni is next to me at Preschool graduation.
That's me in the middle of the photo with the red bandana and the knee high socks walking towards Toni on the back wall with the red bandana at PreSchool graduation.
I told you it was waaaaay back!
Toni and I are still great friends 30 years later. The only difference is that she is that, now, she is a wife and mother with a wonderful family!
When she asked me to take portraits at the beach of her family I agreed immediately. We met Saturday at Avon By The Sea, NJ for the photo shoot around 6pm so we could take advantage of the beach at sunset.
I thought it would be pretty empty at that time…but I was WRONG! It was packed and people continued to stay filled with people until we left at 8pm.
This was little E’s 2nd time to the beach and she LOVED every second of the experience. She was enthralled by everything going on around her so it was wonderful to be able to capture those natural curious expressions and reactions from her.
One of my favorites from the shoot!
She had her purple pail and yellow shovel to keep her busy and she was enjoying herself digging:
Whether it was a seagull, a kite, a boat, a child playing in the water…everything was like a new experience to “E.” She seemed to really enjoy herself! Look at the wonderment on her face!
Dad got in some great photos with “E” as well.
We all tried to coax “E’ to stand in the water but she was a bit scared so we settled for her being held.
Even though you can’t see “E’s” face I adore this one!
Look at that little adorable face!!!
I made sure I got a couple of Mom & Dad too! Love it!
And we ended the day with this one…last photo on the card too!
Toni & Jay,
I hope you love your photos of your beautiful family. I’m so thankful to be able to capture moments of your lives in such a very special way through photography!
I truly LOVE giving the gift of “Capturing Life’s Fleeting Moments!” to the people in my life!
Well, it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. I’ve teased you enough…
Meleah’s video is now completed which means that I can share the photos that we took for portions of the video here with you here on my photography blog!! YAY!
FIRST – If you need a refresher on my teaser blog post for the video post click HERE.
*Not all photos in the video were taken by me.
*Not all photos below were featured in the movie.
THIRD – Take a look at the photos below from the shoot we did at my house for the video and enjoy! (I know we certainly enjoyed creating the photos! I was laughing the entire night)
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The following were taken at Tiffany’s parents house in their pool…
And in their foyer…
OF MY TOP FAVORITES OF THE SHOOT!
Count em! 13 Meleahs!
And a fun comic version!
So now that you’ve seen the video, viewed the photos and basically took a tour of my house and Tiffany’s parent’s foyer & pool…let us me know what you think of the photos and feel free to let Meleah know what you think of the video!
There will be a part II and a part III which I will certainly be sharing with you all when the time comes!
While the Continental Congress met in Princeton, Rockingham Historic Site served as General George Washington’s final Revolutionary War headquarters for almost three months in 1783. In November 1783 Washington received the long awaited news – the Treaty of Paris had been signed, and the thirteen colonies were indeed independent of Great Britain.
For eight years Washington had served his country in the American Revolution, and as one of his last official acts, at Rockingham wrote the Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States, delivered to Newburgh, New York.
Also known as the Berrien Mansion, the original two rooms of the farmhouse were built between 1702 and1710. Enlarged into a grander home in the 1760’s by Judge John Berrien, the house and grounds are preserved and interpreted as the temporary residence of George and Martha Washington. Physically relocated three times since 1896, Rockingham Historic Site maintains a fine collection of 18th century furnishings, Children’s Museum and Colonial kitchen garden.
Click to view larger
Below is my Mom patiently waiting for me, holding my filters, while I snapped some photos of the Berrian Mansion fence line which you’ll see below.
This fence surrounds the whole property of Rockingham and I loved all the lines so I found the perfect spot to take this along the road side.
As we were driving home from Kingston I spotted the top of red barn out of the corner of my eye. I think I have an eagle eye when it comes to old barns! As soon as I spotted it I needed to stop and check it out…so I found somewhere to turn and got out of the car to shoot it while mom waiting in the car.
As I was photographing the red barn I caught Mom taking this photo of me with her cell phone camera through my dirty car window…(not my best angle. LOL!)
Then I spotted her in the car sending the photo (above) to my Aunt. Guess she thinks driving by shootings are funny too!
I love barns and even though I couldn’t see much of it I liked that I could see the red peeking out with AMAZING clouds overhead.
I took the 2 photos below with the 18-200VR. I wish I popped on the 12-24 but I was on the side of the road and hurrying!!
They came out even better than I imagined it would. I love them!
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I also decided to try processing the photo above with a texture to give it a whole different feel. What do you think?
The Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve is in the Stonybrook-Millstone watershed. The trail system in the Griggstown area covers 376 acres, but these trails connect to other trails that transverse the entire length of the 685 acre Ten Mile Run Greenway. The northern border of much of the property is bounded by Simonson Brook, with Coppermine Road as the southern boundary. The site contains both 102 acres of open fields and 583 acres of woodland. Historically the fields were row crops but more recently the property was used as a horse farm.
My mom snapped this of me setting up my tripod through the open car window with my point & shoot camera:
The photos below are what I was shooting when my mom snapped the photo above. I shot them with the 12-24 Tokina. Can you BELIEVE the sky? I could not and I still can’t!
I love the little bench on the left…empty benches appeal to me for some reason. I also love the pathway. If I see a path I must photograph it!
Click to view larger
A minute or two after taking this photo the skies opened up and rain poured down like crazy.
I didn’t care if I got wet but I did care if “the gun” (my camera) did!
We ran to the car, I got the camera put away, and mom closed all the windows and the sunroof in the car and we headed home. What a mini adventure!
My mom and I had off from work yesterday so we decided to spend a couple hours in the afternoon in Princeton, NJ. Princeton is such a great college town with so many restaurants, stores, places to sit and relax, statues & monuments, and if you have a few hours to kill you can walk around the historic campus of Princeton University. I spend a lot of time photographing the architecture at Princeton (some photos can be seen HERE)…so many great subjects for HDRs!!
Mom and I decided to have lunch at Theresa’s Cafe Italiano. We got a window seat and shared Margherita Pizza and mixed green salads. YUM!
After lunch we decided to take a walk around town until our meter money ran out.
Mom posed for this photo…
…and then she took my photo. Good job mom!!
Then we walked around Palmer Square which is a stylish collection of shops, restaurants, offices, and residences surrounding the Town Green and the historic Nassau Inn.
“Rest Traveller, Rest, and Banish Thoughts of Care; Drink to Thy Friends and Recommend Them Here.”- This quote was drawn from an old English inn near Oxford, and dates back to 1937, when Nassau Inn was rebuilt on Palmer Square.
The Yankee Doodle Tap Room is a historic NJ restaurant connected to the Nassau Inn and has a unique pub atmosphere. The restaurant was named for Yankee Doodle after Norman Rockwell painted a thirteen-foot mural about the historic figure for Nassau Inn in 1937. Today, this piece of American art history continues to hang behind the bar in the Tap Room. To view the painting click HERE.
Nassau Square which was bustling with people for a Friday afternoon. I got a kick out of this woman trying to manage 4 dogs.
It looks like this girl needed a break from her high heels for a few minutes! Her chocolate lab was so well behaved! I wish my lab would be so calm out in a public place with so many people around!
I was surprised to see how many flowers there were in the town square. I snapped a few here and there as we walked around.
Sometimes I think flower photos can lack pizazz (ha! did I really say “pizazz?” where do I get these words?!?!) so I decided to add my own bit of magic to these hydrangeas. I added a texture just to give it a different feel and I’m enjoying the final result.
Window shopping at all of the stores is fun. They all have such nice displays.
I love all of the store fronts around Princeton and the architecture in the town is great too!
This might be a new favorite textured flower photo! Oooooooh! I love the antique look the texture gave it.
This was my favorite restaurant back in college – Winberie’s. Our school was so close to Princeton that we spent a lot of time there.
If you look really close (bottom left of the window) you’ll see that Albert Einstein was dining there yesterday.
‘Al’‘ (we’re old pals so I an call him that) held his drink up when I waved to him. LOL
Part II of our adventure (where I dragged mom along with my on a “drive by shooting”) can be seen on Monday night/Tues morning. I’ll know you’re all be waiting with anticipation!
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Normally I would post this but I just had to because it makes me laugh every single time I watch it.
