Notes from the Underground

Last night I posted on facebook and tweeted (follow me @cameragirlk on twitter) a photo of my ride home. As a typical new yorker, I spend about 1/24th of my day underground, riding the subway. Most of the time I'm reading a book or listening to music, but lately I've been taking some photos. Just with my iphone, secretively.

I've never thought the subway could be so beautiful.

 

(nyc subway, photographed April 2011)

Snapshots of New York

I confess that, except for my brief photo field trip in d.c., I haven't been using my camera.  As I mentioned before, it's just too cold and bleak to want to be out there snapping away.  Spring is *finally* around the corner, but not quite.  As soon as the weather turns nice, I have a photo date with Katy of Sugarlaws.  I also have a photo field trip planned with my friend Laura to wander around and take photos of whatever we stumble upon.  But until then, I've been staying creative with my iphone, surreptitiously taking photos on the subway and on the streets.  

But I'm constantly amazed at the great shots I can capture with my little iphone camera, like these.

(New York City, photographed Winter 2011)

Things I Like

I wouldn't ever say that winter is my favorite season.  It's not.  It's cold and dreary and, while I enjoy snow when it frst falls, it just gets grey and gross way too quickly in New York.  However, there are some things about the season that I adore.  Here are some of the things that have made me smile so far.

1. Hikes in the snow with friends.

2. First kisses at winter weddings.

3. Cups of hot cocoa with whip cream (and bourbon!)

4. Wisconsin barns as seen from the side of the road.

5. And snowmobiling in the snowmobile capital of the world, Eagle River, Wisconsin.

(Various locations, photographed December 2010 and January 2011)

Aging Gracefully

Today I turn 29.  Happy birthday to me! And while it was pointed out to me that I look remarkably similar to a photo of me from ten years ago that my friend had posted to facebook, I truly hope that I age with grace.  Like my grandmother Joan, photographed here.

Recently I posted some photos of my paternal grandmother, Ethel, and I thought I should now give my maternal grandmother Joan her share of the limelight.  Honestly, both hated when I whipped out my camera and took their photos over the holidays and, if they had internet access, would not be too pleased with me posting their portraits on my blog.  But I think they are lovely and should not be so camera shy.  I'm sure you agree.

Joan has a fraternal twin sister, Jane, and they both married men named Robert but who go by Bob.  Not Robert or Rob or Robbie or Bobbie.  Nope, they both found a man named Bob to love when they were young and carefree.  And they both were able to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversaries with their respective Bobs.  Sadly, after that remarkable milestone -- and after a full, well-lived and well-loved life-- my Grandpa Bob passed away.  Despite mourning Bob's loss as well as the  loss of other loved ones, my Grandma Joan has remained sassy and quite spunky.  And truly quite beautiful. 

And, although I'm posting this technically on a Tuesday, the black and white photos are for my friends at Black and White Wednesday, hosted by the Long Road to China (and back).  I figure you can forgive the timing because it is my birthday after all. 

(Grandma Joan, photographed December 2010)

Over the River and Through the Woods...

As I mentioned here, my dad and I ventured to Eagle River, Wisconsin, to see some of my relatives for Christmas.  In particular, my dad wanted to surprise his mother -- my grandmother Ethel -- with this holiday visit.  Because of various reasons, we hadn't seen her for Christmas in a really, really long time.  Too long of a time, in fact.  But rather than let her know that we would be there for Christmas, we instead simply showed up unannounced at her front door, presents in hand, on Christmas Eve.  (We had checked with my aunt that Grandma would be around, of course.  Didn't want the trip to be a complete waste).  I was just a tinsy-bit concerned that we would surprise Grandma a little too much, but no one keeled over from a shock-induced coronary during our visit, thankfully.  Grandma was tickled pink to see us, and we were happy to see her as well.  We talked and laughed, opened presents and posed for pictures.  Although Grandma as shy before my big camera, I still managed to take some nice portraits during our weekend holiday visit. 

(Grandmother Ethel, photographed December 2010)



Family Portraits (in Wine Country, of Course)

During my recent visit to Portland, Oregon, my sister and I went on a wine-tasting tour, with her husband Nick graciously chauffeuring us from vineyard to vineyard.  

Me, being me, I toted my camera around looking for photo ops while still savoring every glass of pinot noir.  And I found my perfect op while enjoying the view from a terrace of one of the vineyards.  The light was just perfect, I had my new portrait lens on my camera, and I was feeling very shutter-happy so I made Monica and Nick pose for some portraits.

Now, I'm a little nervous to post these photos without letting Monica and Nick see them first.  (So, Monica & Nick, if you don't like these, sorry, but also too late now).  But because Nick was so wonderful as our designated driver, I'm not posting any bad shots of him.  Favor returned, I think.

 (Monica & Nick, 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)

New Look and Double Fun

You probably have noticed a few changes around here.

Once again, I'm playing around with the format of this blog.  Besides changing the heading to be more colorful, I've added some links to my posts on travel photography and portraits to help you navigate around my blog.  I plan on adding more tabs like these in the near future.  I'm also trying out some new formats for showing my photos.

Like this one.

It's fun, right?

As you know, I sometimes take photos for my friend Katy and her blog Sugarlaws.  She had the great idea of doing a joint photoshoot with Jordan of Ramshackle Glam.  I was a little nervous, but Katy and Jordan were so much fun and fabulous to shoot.  Be on the lookout for some more great photos from this photoshoot.

(Katy & Jordan, photographed October 2010)

Street Photography

I had the wonderful opportunity today to do a fashion shoot with Katy of Sugarlaws and Jordan of Ramshackle Glam.  Although I often take Katy's photos (some of my favorites you can see here), this was the first time I did a joint fashion shoot.  The ladies were fabulous - super cute and fun - and the weather couldn't have been any better (perfectly overcast for portraits).  All in all, it was a great day and a great shoot.  

So what does that have to do with the photos on this post, you may ask.  These certainly are not the vogue-esque shots from today.  So what's the connection?  Because it is one thing to do a photo shoot with friends who are eager to be photographed, and a whole different thing to take photos of strangers on the street, who, um, really don't want me taking their picture.  And while I love the staged photo shoots, there's something about taking a photo of an unsuspecting stranger that I just love.  You remember that from this Portugal post (and one of my favorite posts).

These photos were taken while I was in Shanghai a couple years ago.  Most of them are from one afternoon that I wandered around Old Shanghai by myself, camera in hand.  I tried to sneak portraits of the interesting strangers on the street and only occasionally got caught red-handed and shot disapproving looks.  

(Shanghai, photographed February 2008)

Game Day

As I mentioned in my last post, I went to Green Bay to go to my very first Packers game.   And it was incredible.  Everything I had hoped for.  And more.  Much more.

Mind you, the Packers barely held on their lead to win.  It got awfully close near the end of the game as the Lions tried to take the lead away.  But a win is a win.  And it was a beautiful day with a fun-loving crowd, including my friend Katie from high school (Hi Katie!).  And nobody can lead a tailgate like my Aunt Karen and cousins.

Which leads me to my next point...

I've also learned that it is really hard to take photos in the bright sun after drinking.  I have a couple hundred photos (apparently I get really shutter happy when I drink) but I forgot to change the ISO to handle the glaring fall sun.  Yes, that tailgate was a little too good...

But I'm all smiles (see below).

(Green Bay, photographed October 2010)