Friday, November 26, 2010

The Gathering



























I took this image at Cross Estate Gardens in New Jersey earlier this year and was pleased with the composition and artwork I used but always felt something was lacking to make it work for me. I tried adding a figure but it still wasn't right. Then, as if on cue, while I was working on the image, I heard lots of commotion outside my window and realized my birds were back! This huge flock of blackbirds comes to my neighborhood every fall filling the trees and sky and covering the ground! I grabbed my camera and got as many shots as I could before they moved on. They were just what I needed to complete "The Gathering"!

Hallowed Ground










"Hallowed Ground" is a montage created from a photo session I did recently with friend and model Mary Anne Christiano. My plan was to photograph her in a local cemetery to make use of the beautiful old trees and architecture of the mausoleums. Luckily, I took a variety of test shots prior to our session because we were rained out that day and had to do the whole shoot indoors. I had Mary Anne pose with some of the locations in mind and I was able to montage the two images to get the composition I wanted. Worked out okay after all!