Autumn Painting with Light ... in the Woods!

One of my very favorite things to do in autumn is play with daytime long exposure photography, using the foliage to, quite literally, paint an exposure with their palette.

Here are a few of my favorites from a recent road trip to Telluride (for an architectural photography gig which I also can't wait to share).  Enjoy!

Rothko | Denver Art Museum

Museums are wonderful indulgences for the soul, right? And I happen to just love photos of people moving through these spaces, soaking in the color, the vibrance, the cultural history and the art.

So you can imagine what an honor it was to be invited with Modern in Denver magazine to photograph the press preview of the new Rothko exhibit at the Denver Art Museum! It is a rare treat to be able to photograph such an exhibition space with such great art -- I'm sharing these here as my way of saying GO check it out!!

As an Art & Art History major in college, it was a thrill to see these incredibly famous, vibrant and abstract paintings in person. Included in the exhibit are also influences of Rothko's -- totally inspiring treasures in their own right.

If you're curious to learn more before checking out the Rothko works for yourself, see the article in the current issue of Modern in Denver, which includes an in depth look at what it takes to put together an exhibit of this magnitude, including a conversation with curator, Gwen Chanzit (being interviewed above for Rocky Mountain PBS). Cheers!

Experimenting with Optics + Light

When you fire a frame with your camera, you are literally painting that exposure with the light of that scene. This concept  has always fascinated me, and from time to time I like to intentionally play with that concept, pushing that light to create luminous paint strokes, if you will.

For an upcoming photo project I am experimenting with slowing down a fixed exposure in order to capture motion as something moves across an otherwise fixed scene. This can be challenging during bright daylight as the camera will quickly overexpose if the shutter is left open for more than a tiny fraction of a second. In order to compensate for that tendency to overexpose, today I have been playing with different kinds of mesh and filters.

A side effect of the mesh is that it creates lovely, ephemeral and soft bokeh patterns, made more subtle when using a wide aperture. (click on photos to enlarge, and note patterns in the background) 

I kind of love it. 

When you zoom in close on these files they start to look like a painter's brush strokes. 

Optics + light... how fun.

Painting with Light

Warning: These photographs aren't for everyone.
But if you're among the curious... I'd like to share!  There's something I find enormously compelling and peaceful about leaving the exposure open just long enough to "paint" the sensor with a swath of light dotted foliage.  Resulting streaks of color appear painterly, but are completely the result of photographic processes.  I'm going to include a few sets here from my favorite experiments with this method.  Enjoy!

Finger Painting | Wearable Art

We had only a tiny window of opportunity in which to fit in a shoot with Nicole wearing her latest painted dresses (co-designed by Chemical by Sasha for the Telluride AIDS Benefit).  

She was a trooper out there in the sudden (and intense) snow squall, and in the end, the whirling snow added quite nicely to the magical quality of the dresses.

See more of her work here.

Art Dress by Nicole Finger

Nicole Finger, an incredibly talented painter (and lovely person) from Telluride, Colorado, asked me to photograph her this past weekend wearing the fruits of her latest passion, couture painting.

It began last year with an original creation for the Ah Haa Auction: a bold safari themed dress which she modeled during the live auction, adorned with a huge, live snake draped across her shoulders!

This year's spectacular dress (the second in what I certainly hope will be a long line of Nicole's art dresses!) takes a retro and artful turn, its inspiration being Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss."  The fabric is intricately painted with shimmering colors and then hand jeweled.

The piece will be auctioned during the live auction part of this Friday night's annual Ah Haa School "Artopia" fundraiser in Telluride.

Sparkles beautifully in late afternoon Colorado light... and on such a gorgeous artist!

Just for Fun: Painting with Light + Color

I have experimented for years with the technique of slowing down the shutter speed and panning my camera while exposing a shot, but to get an image that goes beyond just a blur to something soulful and beautiful is not easy! This year I finally achieved a few images that I really love.

Using a camera to "paint" with color can be hugely satisfying... It is incredibly fun to take an exposure beyond straight capture, into a whole new realm of creativity.

Some images are more abstract than others, and really start to feel like paintings, complete with brush strokes of natural color and light.

I look forward to experimenting next with printing these on fine art papers!