Month: September 2018

“Paris is always a good idea.”

I have to agree. It has been many years since my last trip to Paris, and I have good news: My friend Diane invited me to join her in November in Paris. Pourquoi pas? I’m going!

Making travel plans again for the iconic city allows me to think back on my 2004 trip to visit my friend Louise, who was living there with her family. We walked all over the city together, starting with Le Tour Eiffel.

#paris, #iconic, #eiffel, #dofirst, #arrived, #seine, #travel
Fresh (or not so fresh) off the airplane, we went to see the Eiffel Tower from across the River Seine.

We hiked to the top of Montmartre for lunch, the art in the square and a visit to Sacre Coeur, a beautiful Catholic church.

#sacrecoeur, #montmartre, #paris, #travel, #summer, #france
View of the neighborhood from the tower of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, Paris, 2004.

On Ile de la Cite, the first arrondissement, where the Cathedral of Notre Dame is located, we stopped for ice cream at Berthillon before wandering the narrow streets lined with elegant shops.

#paris, #berthillon, #june, #summer, #travel, #icecream, #glaces, #sorbets
June was the perfect month for ice cream in Paris at the well known Berthillon.

It’s hard to make a short wish list for my November trip, since I spent over a week in Paris in 2004 and toured countless museums, churches, gardens and neighborhoods. One things is for sure: I want to walk the city again. There is so much to discover on foot.

#art, #notredame, #paris, #seine, #walking, #travel, #explore
On the Left Bank of the Seine near Notre Dame, it is fun to peruse the art displayed in the vendors’ stalls.

Environmental Portraits

While I devote most of my time to Landscape and Nature Photography, I also practice Portraiture. When possible, I like to tell a story with the portrait, and place the subject in their home environment. My Sewickley friends Kelly and Steve enjoy raising chickens, so they held two of their favorite hens for the shot.

#environmentalportrait, #familyportrait, #portrait, #chickens, #hens, #freerange, #coop, #farm, #fall, #story
Kelly and Steve are happiest home on the farm where they raise hens, bees and vegetables.

Summer’s Bounty

#vegetables, #tomatoes, #peppers, #grass, #plate, #heart
After I arranged summer’s bounty in this heart shaped plate, I realized it would make a nice photograph.

As Summer turns to Fall, we will soon turn the cameras toward the foliage. But not before we remember the beauty and fresh taste of our summer harvest.

This image is available on a square ceramic tile in 4.25″, 6″ and 8″. It’s perfect for your kitchen, year ’round, and it makes a unique and personal gift. Contact Cathy at cathykellyphotography@gmail.com to place your order.

Back to the American West

This week I will pack for a new adventure to Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This time next week, I’ll be rising before the sun to photograph those majestic peaks and the leading lines of the Snake River, and working sunset as well.

I will take part in my fourth photography workshop with the great landscape photographers Don Smith and Gary Hart. I began studying with them in 2013 in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, and went on to work and enjoy two more workshops in Kauai and Maui.

That first workshop experience in Bryce Canyon was stressful. I wasn’t used to getting up in the dark before dawn (around 4 am) with frigid temperatures, wind chill and high altitude (close to 9,000 feet) and to keep functioning at my best as I became more and more tired each day. While I produced some respectable (okay, beautiful)  images (see below), I managed to break my Nikon D700 camera (putting the memory card backwards and bending the pins) and had to order a new Nikon D800 midweek, with rush shipping. Fortunately, I had a backup Fuji S5 to use for a few days.

#brycecanyon, #dawn, #sunrise, #hoodoos, #light, #landscapephotography, #nationalparks, #queensgarden, #victoria, #USA
The earliest rays of morning light illuminate the hoodoo that resembles a stature of Queen Victoria in London in a section of Bryce Canyon known as the Queen’s Garden.

While the embarrassment and frustration of breaking my camera remains a very bad memory, I propelled myself forward by continuing to learn important principles of landscape photography and making friends with several very talented photographers who supported my journey then and still do today. We have kept in touch.

I also discovered the beauty and majesty of the American West and its National Parks, and I have made my journey of discovery, learning and growth continue into the future. I hope you will subscribe to this blog (type your email into the form on the right to receive an email when a new post is published) and share my new images coming up next week from Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

I welcome your feedback in comments and your efforts to expand our community with your friends who will also be interested in landscape photography and future journeys of discovery, learning and growth. If you like this blog, please recommend it to a friend.

Monterey Bay in Watercolor

Just one year ago, I stood on Hurricane Point looking north into Monterey Bay, admiring the white Cumulous clouds and the boulders offshore. I shot a wide angle landscape photo, so I could remember the beautiful scene.

#montereybay, #hurricanepoint, #route1, #california, #iconic, #cost, #seascape, #clearday, #september
From Hurricane Point on this clear day, the offshore boulders form leading lines to the most prominent boulder.

A year later, I processed the same image in a new way to simplify the shapes and colors with a watercolor effect. What do you think?

#topazlabs, #simplify, #processing, #montereybay, #bigsur, #routeone, #route1, #seascape, #california, #westcoast, #hurricanepoint
I gave the image a dynamic boost and simplified the details to create a watercolor effect with Topaz Simplify.

 

Back to School at Hogwarts

It’s early September, and school starts a new academic year. Does your school look like Hogwarts? This sunlit cloister of Durham Cathedral in England looks a lot like Hogwarts, Harry Potter’s school, because parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed here.

#durham, #durhamcathedral, #cloister, #harrypotter, #movie, #harrypottermovie, #school, #september, #sepia, #blackandwhite, #bw, #shadows, #architecture
Durham Cathedral’s Cloister was the perfect setting for Harry Potter’s school Hogwarts in the movies.

Rendered here in a sepia-toned, black and white photograph, we can appreciate the sunlight and shadows of the Norman architecture. I recall similar architecture at the University of Sydney in Australia.