Sunday, December 13, 2009

Winter Landscape











Pallets of blues, grays, and warm neutrals. Winter is the season of looking inward. The days are so short. We are told we need to sit still for a moment and reflect. Winter takes the most motivation to go out exploring with the camera. Too many layers to wear, too heavy boots, too thick gloves and the camera needs to be somewhere in between all the layers so that my body heat can keep the battery happy... but once I am out and moving the cold air makes me feel so alive. It is refreshing and energizing. I can go deeper into the woods. The light is brighter. The most fascinating things happen wherever there is water meeting freezing temps. The canvas is closer to blank. Simplified. Truly a different world.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Thursday, November 12, 2009

October Garden

My parent's garden in south Jersey. A row of flowers for the border- Cosmos, Zinnia, and Mole Beans.





Elegant branches of a Dogwood tree.


A pack of Snow Pansies from our favorite farm market. These came back to NY with me.



An arrangement I made for my parents out of their flowers. I loved the colors of the hydrangeas- lime, turquoise, and a blush of purple. I found the ball mason jar in the basement. I had never seen one in an aqua color, and I liked how it made the orange colors pop.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Fall Light






These photos are from the same weekend as the next post. When the sun is out and I am not at work it is time to be a weekend warrior. This was a late afternoon at a friend's piece of land in the western foothills of the Catskill Mountains. The land is set on the western side of a very large hill, so the sun just drifts down in the late afternoon like a falling feather.
There is a light this time of year that is characteristic of the season. It is a shift in color that starts right before the leaves begin their show. A Crisp, yet Warm glow.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Forsynthia



A little tip that I read from the Upstate Gardener's Journal- starting around February forsythia branches can be cut, brought indoors, placed in water, and will bloom! It's a nice treat.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

My Photographs for Life in the Finger Lakes Magazine






I am very excited to have been featured in Life in the Finger Lakes magazine's Spring edition. 
The article is called "Spring Woodlands, The photography and thoughts of Mindy Arledge."  It features several of my landscape and botanical photographs as well as an artist's statement and what inspires me.  They also put in a quote that I think about with my photography, especially this time of the year-

"The voice of nature is always encouraging." -Henry David Thoreau, Walden, March 18, 1858  

It was a long, cold winter here in Ithaca, NY.  When I was putting the photos and writing together it was sub-zero temperatures outside.  Spring and everything that comes with it felt so distant, like a dream you just wish you could go back to.  Now that it is finally getting warmer and the days longer, I am back out there with my camera every chance I get.  The first signs are here, stirring up fresh ideas...

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Birthday Party Photography


This little girl's first birthday party was really fun to photograph.  Although Mom was a great photographer herself, she wanted to enjoy the party and not have to worry about taking all those pictures.  I captured the sweet little details and special moments of the party for them, giving them the memories to always go back to and share.