Changing seasons can seem subtle like the freezing and flooding of the harvested cornfields. Harvest time is also about the hunt giving families meat for the winter.
When doing a family portrait, I find that allowing children to play and be themselves gives the opportunities to capture a relaxed fun time. Here are some recent portraits of a wonderful family.
Sometimes beautiful portraits of a child alone and interacting with his parents can result.
Weddings have ceremonies and traditions. To me some of the best moments are the expression of warmth, joy and curiosity. These are from one recent wedding.
At weddings I always see how families come together. This spirit shone at a recent wedding as I photographed a bride getting ready. Her mom passed the garter she wore at her wedding down to her daughter and slipped it on her leg. The bride’s brother took down her dress for her to put on. While her sister held up the skirt, her bridesmaids pulled down the crinolines so the skirt could form properly. The toasting was joyous when this bride was officially ready!
One of my children portraits has been given an Honorable Mention by the Prix de la Photographie Paris. I have continued to photograph his growing family: a new brother and new goats on the way. Here are some photos.
Recently I photographed a bride in her wedding dress designed by Jenny Packham. I wanted these photographs to be about feeling, to be as evocative and sensual as the dress. Like one of the first women photographers, Julia Margaret Cameron, I intentionally softened the focus to evoke dreaminess. The silk tulle of this dress wafts in the breeze and when the bride turned, her dress spread as if to float her in the air.
The style of this dress is called “Keira” and there was a beautiful play of light on the beads sewn in beautiful patterns on the dress.
Sometimes the spare can be just the beauty we need. Dana Barrow, the florist, who recently did the flowers for a wedding at Castle Hilll demonstrated her superb skill with her arrangements. Such arrangements can only be done by someone with knowledge and appreciation of plants and nature.
Dana has written that these photos of the vases with the candles are her favorites of her work. She goes on to say that she is “a huge fan of black and white too, and it really brought out the elegant architecture of the Castle. I love the way you captured the relaxed atmosphere of the day, the angles you used, and the narrative you created. There is another one of Lisa with her flower girl that is super charming.”
At Kate and Tom’s wedding the downpour of rain couldn’t dampen their spirits and that of their friends and families. Such joy was expressed throughout the day and night of fun and dance. Their colorful flowers were done by Berthe Cowles. Here are a very few photographs.
There is for me in the process and event of a wedding a profound awakening. Every bride and groom I have encountered feels that they are entering a new life. With this advent comes a sensitivity to the world around them and a welcoming. New experiences beckon. These photos are few but I hope capture the poetry inherent in the steps to marriage.
These are some of this bride’s thoughts when she saw these images: “Wow! That really shook me. I really love the idea of letting go of your freedom ‘metaphorically’ by the realease of the bird. I also like the transmutation of the bride into some sort of bird character in herself.”
In Prospect Park live a pair of swans that I have been observing and photographing for a few years. They have raised their young in the park and I have been fortunate to see these cygnets mature. This year they had three cygnets, but all seem to have disappeared and/or died. I write this because I am concerned about the fortune of wild animals living so close to humans. Most people are fascinated by the beauty of these birds and many photograph them with their digital cameras and cell phones. Along with the ducks people feed them, especially in winter. Very few people act abusively toward them. But I realize their vulnerability.
These few photographs are recent, from this summer, showing first the swan with her cygnets. I watched her in a rain storm carry them on her back protecting them under her wings as she swan in the lake. The next are when only one cygnet was left and the last are when there were none. Only the parents remained. I understand that swans mate for life.
