Sunday in Summer

Sometimes things just go well together. The late afternoon light came through the kitchen curtain and there it was - petals of white in the background and foreground. Sweet. This is not yet a "perfect" print, but it's a lot of fun to play with.

I recently heard Alex Nyerges, the director of The Virginia Museum of Fine Art, talk about the difference between looking and seeing. He said a photographer gets into a more interesting arena when she moves into the seeing. Simple but true.

Happy Anniversary

It's Friday, a little cooler outside, and blueberries are now ripe for the picking. Why not feel a little happy?

Organizing for a massive web update, I found this cheerful moment with my husband. It was our anniversary. We celebrated by renting bikes and riding a trail that ran along the Potomac River in DC.

To ride no- handed at any age is a gas. Remembering to do it is as a "grown up" is one reason why I not only love my husband, but also enjoy him so much.

August Summer

When the calendar moves into August, I become a little melancholic, thinking that summer is ending. This image of fading zinnias, with mold forming on the leaves, seems to match this time of year perfectly. Decay has its beauty, though, especially when surrounded my nature's perfection.

Summer

A calm came over me today. Relief. My nephew is through his brain surgery and doing extremely well. The warm composure in this image reflects something deeply felt.

It's Blurry and Warm Outside

I'm getting excited for the next Kiki shoot tonight. Taking her out into the industrial sites. Not as glam, but should make for contrasts of some kind and another.

The soft focus is wonderful here. Looking at this makes me remember how long it took me to unlearn the photographer's credo that says always aim for sharp focus and crisp clarity.

Ideas Without End

Invitation is a word I've always liked. It sounds good, and often it can feel good too.

This summer I was invited to join a group photography show at 5ive and 40rty, a gallery on Trade Street in Winston-Salem. Well, the show - Surreal Expression - is up now and will remain so until August 8th (give or take). Kim Varnadoe, Cameron Dennis, and Marlya Voynova are also featured in the show - a quartet as tight as the Supremes.

I'm a little carried away. It's true. Why hide it?

In 2010 America, no one hides anything, so why not just let it rip a little.

This image, Ideas Without End, was made with milkweed, a dark velvet curtain, and a willing and beautiful model, my daughter Marissa. This is a special photograph to me - an example of when I began orchestrating portraits more than simply making them. I used props and sets, a model and an assistant to spill milkweeds from above the frame. It felt like a lot of stuff, a lot of moving parts.

As a writer who began photographing after two decades of working with words on a page, composition meant story. Composition meant narrative. It contained something a little deeper than three dimensional space. Writing contains an element that allows composition to enter the fourth dimension, the dimension called time.

I am trying to conjure a whiff of that element in my photographic compositions.

If you can, check out the show at 5ive & 40rty. 541 Trade Street in sunny Winston-Salem.

Another Kiki Moment