roots

I can't stop taking pictures of farms.

I grew up in the suburbs, in a small town nestled in farmland. I love the way the gold and green dance together behind a blue sky. We have been driving out into the country a lot this summer and when I see hay bales at dusk, my heart beats a little faster. But pictures without people have never done much for me. So I have been using my little guinea pigs (husband and kids) to give a context for the ambiance and nostalgia that I feel when driving by the fields.

The first photo below was so hard for me to edit. I wanted it to look like a painting...and I wanted it to have this euphoric, timeless feel, where anyone looking at it might think it is in HIS locale (city, country, etc.). I tried several actions, but just couldn't get it right. Finally, I found one that worked and adjusted the lighting and then did some burning and dodging and alas, I got what I was envisioning.

And might I add that it's Ezra in the photo. He was screaming and running away from me. Like I have said before, most good things (start or) end in tears. :)

"La Fattoria Del Gelato" (the ice cream farm)

I've been hearing about the "Gelato Farm" outside of Torino for over a year now and thought it was finally time to check it out. My oldest son has an obsession with animals and so he had quite the time, as did the other two, playing with the baby goats that kept escaping from the pen. And of course we had to try the gelato, since it is, after all, farmed (??) there.

In case you were wondering, my daughter isn't the favorite, as it would seem in my many photos of her as opposed to her brothers. It's just that she loves to pose for pictures and the boys, well, let's just say there is always a bribe involved.

And a thanks to my husband who shot the photos of me EXACTLY as I envisioned them. I had an obsession with that yellow bench. The texture...the way it looked with the hay bales and the green grass and Ezra's blue shirt. I could have sat in that barn all day.

These were taken with my Nikon D90 with my 50 mm. lens at almost always 1.8 or 2.2.

L'estate in Italia

White legs slowly getting tanned at the pool, naps with alligators, dinners on our balcony, trips to the plant store, concerts downtown, and a mind full of images yet to be taken...

Summer in Italy.

Golden

The oldest son of some dear friends came to visit us this past week. Nick Goldschmidt is one of the coolest 15 year-olds around. He is funny and quirky and has a phenomenal taste in music. Most of all, he has a sincere heart and a passion for life and people. I took him to the old train station by our apartment just a few hours before he hopped a train to southern Italy. In just fifteen minutes, I got to capture a bit of his fun personality. Arrivederci Nick!

marked

Well, upon realizing that my wonderful logo up there is misspelled (I only put one "R"...and I must apologize to all those Spanish speakers in Chicago whose signs I would often make fun of, wondering why they didn't have a native speaker do some spell checking), I created my first watermarked image. Yes, yes, this is a bit Photography 101ish, but in all honesty I never wanted to stamp my name on an image...so when "Azzurro Blu" came to me, I knew it was watermarking material. Not only this, but I also bought some amazing actions from Paint the Moon, which was recommended by my friend Whitney of Eminence Photography I highly recommend checking both of these sites out!