The Great Outdoors

I'm in Portland, Oregon, again this year for Thanksgiving with my sister and brother-in-law.  This is my second Thanksgiving out here and I'm stoked for the company and for the Northwest.  Only problem is, I'm still up to my ears in work (once again, as evidenced by my lack of postings).  But if I work really hard, I might still be able to find time to enjoy the great outdoors like I did last year.  The hiking trails around here are simply breathtaking, especially to a girl who spends most of her time in the concrete jungle of New York City.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

(Portland, Oregon, photographed November 2009)

Falling for New York

Today was a beautiful day in New York.  Although it is (gasp) already mid-November, it was unseasonably warm, with temperatures reaching the mid-sixties.  My friend from high school was visiting for the weekend (hi Meghan!), so we took full advantage of the great weather and strolled through the streets of Brooklyn.

And I, of course, took my camera with me.  But I didn't want to be a pain and make my dear friend wait while I switched lens and played around with my camera.  Nor did I feel like lugging my big camera bag around during our stroll.  So instead I took just my camera, upon which I mounted my new 85mm prime lens.  I have been so busy lately (maybe you could tell by the lack of recent posts) that I haven't really had a chance to break it in.  Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with it.

(NYC, photographed November 2010)

Vogue (B&W)

Some girls look at fashion magazines and want to be the model. They imagine what it would be like to dress up in the designer clothes, have makeup applied and hair styled by a team of attentive professionals and pose for the camera.  

Me?  Although I certainly don't shy from being the center of attention, I want to be behind the camera, staging the shot and trying to capture a model's best angles.  I study the fashion magazines to better understand what makes a good fashion photoshoot:  light, camera lens, perspective, staging...  Luckily, I have some beautiful friends to be my models so I can put my knowledge into practice.

These are some of the photos from my joint fashion shoot with Katy of Sugarlaws and Jordan of Ramshackle Glam.  As I mentioned in my last post, these ladies were fabulous to shoot.  You can check out the photos in color on their blogs, but I decided to post in black & white in honor of Black & White Wednesdays at The Long Road to China.  I haven't done a black & white Wednesday for awhile -- work has gotten in the way -- but I'm happy to be able to share this week.

(Katy and Jordan, photographed in NYC, October 2010)