Monster #3 - 11/23/15

Gel pen on sketchbook paper

Spontaneous Portraits (Summer 2015)

Sometimes you just need to ask to take pictures of people to stay inspired. It helps when your friends are these people. Here's a look back to that impromptu photoshoot from Late July.

Of course, we ended our day with pizza.

Favorites from Summer 2015

Not everyone values photography with the same intensity as a person in the field may.  Regardless, I discover the importance of capturing memories in this manner when it's an icy, rainy, gray November day and I'm huddled in my sweatshirt nasty and congested. I think back to summer, taking my camera everywhere from sun-up to sun-down, capturing whatever caught my eye. I miss that presence of sunshine that goes away so early this time of year.

Here are just a few of my favorites I took from this summer.

Forest Hill Cemetery (11/6/15)

There is a large cemetery just down the road a ways from where I live. I've walked by it hundreds of times and acknowledged its presence, but I overlooked it as a simple landscape with rows of granite slabs.

The city of Madison purchased the land for Forest Hill Cemetery in 1857 around the time of the Civil War. Given the fact that this occured during the Civil War, the cemetery is rich with civil war history--including a Union soldier plot, a Confederate plot (held prisoner at Camp Randall), and there are several Native American burial mounds on the land as well.

There are tales of ghosts being present here. We did not see any that day, if you are curious...but the trip provided interesting history, a splendid fall hike, as well as an opportunity to photograph some hauntingly beautiful and  interesting subject matter.

November Jaunt in New Glarus, WI (11/15)

Once in a while on a Wednesday, I go for a hike with my camera and a friend of mine.

We kept things simple on this ordinary November day. With rumors of rainfall and limited light, we knew this trip wouldn't be any grand excursion. With the thick blanket of gray clouds looming heavily in the sky and the trees bare like skeleton fingers against a brown landscape. When the light isn't beaming down through the leaves in a kaleidoscope of color and nature seems to be at rest--finding captivating images can be a challenge, but we manage to find beauty no matter what time of year.

Besides, there's nothing like stopping at a charming little brewery in New Glarus for a glass of Serendipity.