As I type this, the temperature, as described by meteorologists, is "in the single digits" and the wind chill is even lower. Odd or not, the sometimes biting winter air has never been a deterrent for me. No matter how cold it is, you will never hear me longing for a warmer clime. As a friend always reminds me, I was the insane one when we were children who was never intimidated by sub zero temperatures. She recalls, as do I, me standing outside at night trying to hose down the driveway so I could create an ice skating rink while she waved from the light of a warmly lit window. Somehow the hose never froze and somehow after several applications, I was soon out there skating with a record player on the ground playing Tschaikowsky waltzes. (my dear friend was still waving and cheering me on from the window even when I hit an unfrozen patch of blacktop!)  When I remember those nights, or the days playing for endless hours in the snow and walking back from skating on the pond at dusk, there is no recall whatsoever of being miserably cold. 

    As it is a new year, in a long overdue blog post, it seems fitting to start out with simplicity. "Grace," a single word and it seems all that is needed to describe this amazing photo shoot. I could add "poise," "charm" and other words to describe Mary, but "grace" is my initial impression. (Of course it doesn't hurt that her mother has been my best friend for decades and she also happens to embody grace and a plenitude of other rare qualities.)

Yes the sheep is real.

Despite comments from curious skeptics, it is not a photo shopped, stuffed or computer-generated sheep. A child or two from this shoot has the hoof prints on their feet to prove it. Additionally, no sheep were harmed in the making of this photo. Conversely, a few delusions of grandeur were harmed (as in dispelled) regarding the peaceful life of shepherds. A lesson or two was learned (even by me) as to the challenges shepherds surely encounter trying to herd resistant sheep. We imagined that a choir of the heavenly host in Bethlehem likely made this task more difficult (or easier?)  While on the subject, the horse (also real) led us around the photo shoot and determined how he wanted to be featured. Fortunately he was a natural and loved the camera.
For this year's card regrettably, livestock is not available. We are, however, already booking some limited October and November sessions with other wonderful themes. Please feel free to email us for information.

While fall is surely one of my favorite seasons, there's much to be said about a photo shoot on an early summer morning. Other than yard sale-ing, it's one of the few things for which I will excitedly rise (early) on a Saturday morning. What's even more inviting, this particular shoot was at a friend's farm.                                   

My original intention for the girls was having a backdrop of weathered, old barns and textured fields as a composition to fill most of the frame. However, these close ups stole the shoot and we were so pleased with the results. Here are just a few with more coming. We processed these photos in a few different ways. Each respective effect that we settled on really seemed to work well for these images.                

It did get predictably very hot as that August morning progressed into afternoon. Just when summer's oppressive heat begins to wear on you, endurance is easy because you know that autumn is just around the corner. Just as the waning summer days give the last of that certain summer light, likewise it is also the last of its warmth. Having fours seasons on Long Island is ideal. I can't imagine wanting to live anywhere else.

And so autumn has arrived, with chilly mornings and a palette of colors for its own perfect light. But, for this journal entry, some of the last light of summer.