Friday

Yay tomorrow is Friday! But this is about Friday the horse. If Amanda isn't the subject of my photos, one of her (oh, and Kyle's) animals is...and it's often Friday. I have a confession to make, I'm actually kind of scared of horses. I think it goes back to when I was little and a babysitter had horses and she got thrown off a horse or something and I was there...I think that's a legit memory...but you never know...mom? Anyway, this is from another of my photo assignments and it was for back lighting. I really like this photo even though technically I shouldn't have cropped it so close to his head....technicalities, technicalities!



I like this one too! Someday Tanner will learn to cooperate for photos as well!

Montana

This is one of the photos from my first photo assignment using great depth of field. This place is on the back roads from Helena to Missoula, if I remember correctly it's somewhere between Avon and Ovando. Places and photos like these are what make me love Montana!

These Boots are Made for Walking

I'm taking the Professional Photography course through the New York Institute of Photography. I'm halfway through it but have kind of stalled out recently because of, well, life. I needed to get motivated to get back to my current assignment, so I was flipping through my photos from previous ones. My sister in law, Amanda, has been my model for most of my shoots. She's a pretty damn good model as well. I tell her my vision/idea and she is able to carry it out so well that the photos are more than I had even envisioned.



Ok, now I'm super motivated to finish my current assignment because the next one, Amanda and I will be able to do the shoot we've been talking about for at least a year! Sorry, can't tell you what it is, I promise I'll get to it soon and share the pictures with you when I do!

I don't have babies anymore!

Lily will turn 7 on April 12th. I can't believe that she will be 7 and Bella is 4; I don't have babies anymore :(. This picture is from Lily's 2nd birthday. We were at Sunset Beach, NC with my mom and I was pregnant with Bella. I had a photo shoot on the beach one morning and this is my favorite from that day and one of my all time favorites of Lily period!

This picture was taken when Bella was about 16 months old. It was at Parker Homestead outside of Three Forks. It was one of my favorite places to do photo shoots and then the state decided to not lease it again and now it's private :(. But I still love this picture because it compliments the one of Lily at around the same age.

I just have to throw this one in there because it makes me laugh. I'll save current photos of them for a future post!

Teton

I love the Tetons. This picture is from last June, I just realized was almost a year ago and I can't believe it's been a year! Anyway, this is the view from behind the Jackson Lake Lodge.
I'd like to be there right now...well in June :)

Green Grass & Ghost Towns

What I am most looking forward to for this spring; Green Grass and Ghost towns. I love ghost town hunting and Montana is awesome for it.
First I want to see the green grass. This picture was taken Southeast of Three Forks off the bench.


This picture was taken at the ghost town in Comet which is a little west of Helena.

Sunsets

It wasn't the beach but it was sunny and warm and by the water and it was awesome!

Flyin' High

First of all I know I'm behind on the times. Usually I delve into a book and read peacefully for the duration of any flight I'm on alone. I don't get reading at time at home so I look forward to falling into story time on solo flights. Well this flight I forgot to bring a book and the Bozeman airport really lacks in their book selection (shocking, right?). So I dove into photo editing and then heard that you could get online by paying a small fee. Well for a 4 hour flight when I'm stuck in the middle seat, so now I get to update my blog! So worth $9.95, right? :)
Today's photo is at some random abandoned homestead in Alzada, Montana. Alzada is located in Southeastern Montana along highway 212, near the Wyoming border. I took this picture a few years ago while taking the back roads home from somewhere in Wyoming. Since I love old buildings I stopped here, but ended up with this photo focusing more on owner of the property. I always like to think about the story behind these old homes and buildings. I always wonder what it was like for the original owners and wonder what their story was. Maybe I should Google Lester Tate. If I find something good, I'll give ya an update.

Winter Blues

It's days like this that are getting me through this winter! Taken at the Headwaters Park in Three Forks!

Perspective

Perspective. There are so many ways to look at the same subject and that's one of the things I love about photography and looking at the subject through the viewfinder. You will often find me in odd places or positions trying to get an interesting perspective of a subject. I don't like to take the expected shot, I like to find a new way to capture the subject. It's a challenge for me. Below is a picture from the annual horse drive in Three Forks each April. Hundreds of horses are driven from their winter pasture to their summer pasture, and their route brings them right through downtown Three Forks. I've been to every one the past 6 years and I've taken photos every year. Last year I captured this one and it's my favorite because it's different. Instead of getting the normal shots I have in the past, I put on my telephoto lens and went for it!

If you like this photo it will be part of a silent auction on Friday night w/ a cowhide frame. The silent auction is part of a Benefit event for Michele Reiser at the Lewis and Clark hotel in Three Forks. www.facebook.com/supportmichele

Bridges

Florida, Old Buildings, Trees

A week from today I'll be in Florida (for work, but Florida nonetheless). So today's photo comes the last time I was in Florida, again for work. I stayed at the Belleview Biltmore in Clearwater, its a huge old hotel. It was slated to be closed down and remodeled just a month after I was there. I tried to find it online tonight and the website only goes to the golf course, which makes me wonder if the remodel has ever happened. But that aside I spent a lot of time exploring the grounds and even the supposedly closed off haunted 4th floor. I didn't get any pictures of ghosts. The picture below is from the hotel, it includes a tree and architecture on an old building...two of my favorite things to photograph!


Wonder what kind of photos I'll get next week...

Inspiration

What inspires me? I've been asking myself that a lot lately. Because I've been so tired of the gray skies, wind, and winter in general, I've been trying to view the world as though I'm looking through the viewfinder of my camera. It helps make even the most gray days somewhat inspiring! It's as though the landscape becomes a black and white photo from several vantages.
The same tree, mountain, building or bridge changes immensely based on the weather or lighting of the day. Which makes me think of one of my favorite all time shots. I've posted it before, the barn on Mormon Row Road in Grand Teton. It's one of the most photographed barns in the US. I took this photo in June of 2008, I was one of several photographers that arrived at sunrise and it couldn't have been a more beautiful day. I often go back here in my mind and wish I'd stayed there the entire day.

I was back at Teton this past June (2010) and it was a nasty weather day. I golfed at Jackson Hole and after the third thunderstorm came through, my team finally decided to call it a day. Watching the clouds and weather over the mountains all day had my curiosity up as to what may favorite barn looked like. So at about 8PM I took the company car down an extremely muddy road that I'm lucky I didn't get stuck in. The result is an intense contrast which I love!

So I'm not sure I've answered the original question and start to this blog; what inspires me? But thinking about that lately, I've been revisiting a lot of photo collections that I have from my various travels. And looking through those I'm finding gems that I didn't know I had or had forgotten about. Since I haven't kept my blog updated, what I'm going to do is to post those gems I've found and tell you about them and what inspired me to take them. I'm sure that going through these will inspire me to look at this crazy long winter through the viewfinder of my camera more often!