Remembering summer

Now that things are lacking in color around here, I figured it would be nice to take a look back at an image from last summer.

This is a rose at the Lake Harriet Rose Garden.

I tend to hang out at the rose garden a lot during the summer. I've been bitten by the horticultrual bug in the last couple years and my wife and I have been adding gardens to our house the last couple years. We have a major new one in the works. That'll be a subject for next spring.

This rose illustrates the style I really strive to achieve in most of my work. The subject is isolated from the background. In this case it is both by selective focus and color. The composition is as bare bones as you can get. There is a definite focal point and then some places for the eye to wander to and linger about.

I also shoot about 85 percent of my photographs in portrait orientation (longer vertically than horizontally). Yes, I am a portrait photographer at heart, even when it comes to subjects other than people.

I have thousands of rose images. Hopefully I'll be able to share some more of them soon.

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-Todd

Window Light

Ahh, window light.

There is definitely something magical about it. I'm very lucky. The building where my studio is located has a hallway with 30 windows in it. When the weather is right, the light streaming into that hallway is amazing. I try to take advantage of it whenever I can.

Patricia K. stopped by recently for some photos. She was looking for something a little different so I decided we would get out into the hallway since the sky was overcast. The windows in the hall face south, not the ideallic north, so the light can be a bit harsh some days.

Her dark skin and her hat especially, made a nice contrast to the white walls. I placed her in front of a window and metered the light the exposure I wanted on her face. I let the rest be what it was. The light gives a nice peaceful, almost melancholy, mood to the image. Her expression and pose definitely help bring that feeling along.

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