Bridget

Low Sun

As the days get shorter, the sun sits lower, and the air even looks colder.

Happy Halloween!

Time for Change...

I Love Farmers' Markets

Brunch at iCi

Yesterday I had brunch with two fantastic girlfriends, always a favorite Sunday plan. We ate at one of my favorite neighborhood brunch spots, iCi. I ordered poached eggs served over Anson Mills organic heirloom grits laced with Vermont cheddar cheese, yum! Still, I had no trouble eating Bread Pudding French toast off of Bridget's plate and sharing grilled bacon and a croissant, Pain au Chocolat, which we devoured before I got a good photo.

Sidewalk Piano

Polaroid of Roses

Just a Polaroid I took of the beautiful roses my dear friend Chelsea brought when she came to stay with me last week. This Polaroid is not to be confused with an iPhone image of any kind. It is an actual photograph taken with Polaroid 600 instant film.

Daydreaming of Costa Rica

High Line Flowers

I seem to be drawn to shooting flowers everywhere I go lately. I am often interested in the relationship of flora in an urban environment as well and the High Line is the epitome of integrating nature into an urban landscape. These are from a walk on the High Line. If you live in the NYC area and haven't been to the High Line, I recommend making a trip, it's very impressive!

Dragonfly

As I was perusing bouquets at the farmer's market on Saturday I noticed this dragonfly. He looked lovely on the blue and purple bouquet, which I bought after taking these photos.

Onesies

These were taken at my sister's baby shower over the weekend in Chicago. I think onesies are so cute, perfect decorations for the shower.

Tomatoes and Cucumbers

I am really looking forward to the tomatoes that will be available at the farmer's market in August and September. There are many varieties and are all flavorful. Until then, I have been buying mini heirloom tomatoes which have been delicious. It is so hot here that it often dulls the appetite, or at least the appetite to deal with food preparation. One of my favorite summer salads is a simple mix of tomatoes and cucumbers with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. This particular salad, seen above, is with the mini heirloom tomatoes and Persian cucumbers which are small with practically unnoticeable seeds and a thin, sweet skin.

Spring Onions

I bought these beauties at the farmer's market on Saturday. What I like about spring onions is that the greens are edible, like on a scallion, so you have more ways to add savor to a dish. Since it is already so hot here in NYC, I'm not wanting to do much cooking and all I want to eat are light, fresh dishes. This often means a variety of salads, which these spring onions would be wonderful in. After a long workout yesterday I needed a good recovery meal so I cooked some whole wheat spaghetti (it was almost too hot to boil water) and sauteed some onion bulb with kale, garlic, and just a little bit of smoked chicken sausage. I tossed it together with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, sea salt, a little bit of grated parmesan and then chopped some of the onion greens and threw them in raw to add a little coolness and crunch. It was delicious and simple. Of course, before I started dinner I had to photograph the beautiful bunch. I have incredible light through my west window for a few hours late in the day, perfect for photographing food.

Costa Rica

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Costa Rica. I've never classified myself as any type of wildlife or nature photographer, but I found Costa Rica to be very naturally inspiring. There are so many different butterflies and flowers and the colors are so beautiful I couldn't get the camera away from my eye sometimes because I was in such awe of my surroundings. Here is a small sample of some of the beauty of Costa Rican nature.

Brooklyn General with Josie

Recently, I have been doing a bit of sewing, something I've always done on a very low key level. I forget how fun it is... when I'm not tangled in threads, that is. I admit that I'm not the best sewer but I'm not terrible either. I stick to simple things like pillows, bags, hemming pants and other minor repairs. For anyone who sews, knits, crochets, or engages in anything involving fabric, yarn, or ribbon, Brooklyn General Store is a goldmine! The store itself is beautiful, stocked with vibrant colors, patterns, and textures. I took a trip there on Saturday with my friend Shannon and her daughter who happens to be my favorite little redhead whom you've seen in my blog before. This is a mini-doc of our trip. I left with a yard of gorgeous fabric which I will be using to make a couple of pillows to brighten up the bedroom.

Stack of Books

After a few months with no time for books, I am very much looking forward to a summer of reading, hopefully in the shade of a lovely tree in Prospect Park. This photo is a small sampling of what's in my queue. Next on my list is "Juliet, Naked" By Nick Hornby.

Lemon Fresh

It is a gray and dreary day here in NYC and while I thank Mother Nature for watering the urban garden I've planted on my fire escape, I am in a bit of an Eeyore mood. To cheer myself up I brewed some peppermint tea with agave syrup and lemon, then poured it over ice. It has the refreshing taste of summer and it inspired me to take this photo. It looks like it was taken on a bright day, doesn't it? Not so, but the bright colors are a reminder that brighter days are on the way!

Spring Skies

Spring Beauty

While I tend to shoot portraits a bit on the moody side, I always love a fresh, bright beauty shot like this one that I took of actress/model Anabel Franklin.

Courtney

I am very excited about the images I made last week with my friend Courtney Kaiser, of the band Kaiser Cartel.There are many winning images from the day, but I've been gravitating to this one. It is what I envisioned when preparing for our shoot in terms of light, mood, and color palette. I love to see a creative vision become tangible.

Polaroid Land Camera

It has been so beautiful here over the past few days and the blossoms are everywhere so I couldn't resist taking a walk with one of my Polaroid cameras around the neighborhood. I will go back out tomorrow with some color film. I love the black and white, but the pink blossoms against the sky are so vibrant yet soft in a way that is quintessentially Spring.

Sanity, Sick Days, and Working from Home

Those of you who work from home know that while there are great benefits to the freedom of being your own boss and working from home, it also takes a lot of discipline and motivation. There have been numerous articles written on the art of being productive and maintaining sanity while working from home. I would say that I adhere to most of it: I attempt to rise at the same time each day, actually get dressed instead of working in sweatpants, create a schedule of tasks, allow for an adjustment period in the morning in lieu of a commute by having coffee and catching up on news and weather before starting work, and I do my best to avoid being distracted by household tasks. It is also imperative to take breaks and occasionally get out of the house, or apartment, as in my case. Overall I've gotten used to the career style of working as a freelance artist, but days like today bring a new conundrum: How do sick days work in this situation? I was beginning to feel under the weather over the weekend and by the time I went to bed last night my head felt like a ball full of carbonated water. This morning it was only worse, my voice almost totally gone. On one hand, I sounded worse than I actually felt, but on the other I did not feel well at all. I probably would have benefitted most from rest, but that's the other tricky thing about working from home, sometimes it's difficult not to work! I've been known to get pulled into an editing or retouching vortex and not realize that it is 2 a.m. despite my efforts to maintain realistic, regular business hours. Since I did not have a shoot scheduled my tactic was to ease into the day with a cup of Throat Coat, which is the photo today, and watch the rain from my window seat. I can't say that today was terribly productive, but I didn't have to miss out completely on productivity. I got more accomplished than I had anticipated and I really think it helped knowing that if I felt I needed to stop and nap, I could have. Now I'm looking forward to feeling better, I have a very busy April shaping up!