fourpointedstar

Back in late December, I ran across this composite photo by Sven Bergmeier on Facebook – the yellow leapt off the screen, just like the serenity of the dancer leapt into my memory. As is normal for me – I started imagining ways that I could create similar images.

original image here

This image rattled around in my brain for a couple of weeks until Side Street Studio Arts, here in Elgin, announced the call for art for their 13th anniversary. One of my goals is to enter more of my photography into exhibits, but not the simple images, but the creative pieces.

I asked my oldest daughter if she would like to help create an image for the Side Street exhibit; she’s danced in a private studio, and then in her high school’s Orchesis program as well. I showed her the idea and then some ideas for a pose when she jumps; and then, on a 25 degree morning, we went out along Lake Michigan and captured quite a few photos.

I love how this images shows her joy and enthusiasm, the orange pops against the blues and concrete, and the variations in her jump add to the image rather than detract. Hopefully other photographers will see this creation, and be inspired to create images too.

Cynthia and I share the same birth month and when she was younger, we would plan trips for our birthdays. This was a hiking trip to Matthiessen State Park; evidently I never posted all of the photos. You can see the other images here.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

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Normally, I reserve my blog for still life or wild animal artistic photos; however, this is the 100,000th photo that I’ve taken with my Nikon digital SLRs.
But there’s another reason that I love this photo: Sally and her husband Gene have almost 20 horses that they own or board; they love horses. Cynthia, my daughter, loves her toy horses; but, other than a few pony rides at the fair, she’s never around horses. Sally enjoyed seeing Cynthia’s fascination with horses turn into a love for them today. I’m certain that both of them will remember today for quite a while.

Now, back to that 100,000th photo:  I’ve had 4 Nikon SLR’s now – D50, D80, D90, & the D7000. They’ve each had their own personalities, and I’ve sold each one to friends who’ve enjoyed using them as well. In fact, my first Nikon, the D50, was sold a second time to another friend.  I love photography; and, like Sally, I love seeing others learn to love photography too.