Sunday, July 24, 2011

Tropicality

striped trunk and shadowed leaves, 2010
The humid and tropical weather in Chicago right now made me think about this photo shoot on a trip to the Florida Keys. These three new photos were taken at a small botanical gardens in the Keys. All have a slightly warm tone to them; I like the silvery glint that black and whites get with a warm filter. 

I'm still slowly going through the photos from this trip. I find that it is a process to reflect on what I have seen, the images I have captured, and try to come to some sort of understanding of them. I'm slowly coming to terms with the "tropicality" of the Keys and my experience there with nature. Life there is so different from the Midwest; these photos are just some glimpses into that difference.





fauna forest, 2010


twin fauna, 2010

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Some Great Lakes Revisited

floating docks, Lake Huron, Michigan
       
I've been revisiting some of my Great Lakes photos as I have been working on my portfolio on 500px (you can view my portfolios as I add to them at jwight.500px.com). The one above, floating docks, was taken at Lake Huron in Michigan. I took this photo at the end of a very long day of traveling up the Lake Huron coast. It's a little busier than I usually like my compositions but I love the contrasts - light and dark, as well as the contrast between the geometric docks and the masses of clouds. The sun was perfect that day, so I was able to get some nice reflection of the docks off of the water.

The photo below, quiet superior, was shot as I was getting shot at! I had drive up Lake Superior Road just outside of Superior Wisconsin, and walked around the coast of Allouez Bay. There was a small boat on the water that I had assumed was carrying two men who were fishing. Much to my surprise though they started firing warning shots at me. It turns out that they were bird hunters and I was disrupting their hunting!

Luckily, I was able to get this shot off before I was too rattled to continue. It's a quiet shot of a sometimes stormy Lake Superior. The irony of the shot is that it is the quietest photograph I have taken of Superior in one of the unquietest of circumstances!


quiet superior, Lake Superior, Wisconsin

Monday, July 11, 2011

New post, new fun, and a new lighthouse photo

A new post! And, I bet you thought I would never come back!! Well, I AM back and busy as ever. You might notice that there are some new features on my blog. I have paired up with Fotomoto so that folks can now order prints of my work! Underneath the photos in each of my blog posts there are links to purchase prints, share, or to send a free e-card of the photo to a friend. I am still working out some of the kinks but am excited to be rolling this out!

lighthouse majesty
My photography is also now on 500px.com, a new-ish photography sharing site. You can view my portfolios at jwight.500px.com - I am just getting started there, so many more photos will be added soon. AND,  if you would like to purchase the photos in any of my portfolios just visit my profile page at 500px.com/jwight and join 500px yourself. You will have access to my work and to the work of many other talented photographers.

Speaking of 500px.com, I was pleased to get such a nice response to my work from fellow photographers. One of my photos from the great lakes collection was chosen as a favorite in the first hour I uploaded it! You can see the photo, lighthouse majesty, to the right. Looking forward to sharing many more photos soon and rolling out more fun features!