sunday at the farmer's market

personal : just me & my contax

I can't seem to put down my Contax 645 camera. I have been shooting a lot with it at weddings recently, getting a handle on the exposures and compositions that I like with it, since every camera is so different. I have been playing with different films as well to find the ones that I like best (so far Kodak Portra 400/800 wins). I shoot everything wide open (f2 whenever possible) to achieve the yummy shallow depth of field that I love so much. Anyone who has assisted with me knows that if I have to go higher than f4 I whine a little...

This is a personal shoot I did a few weeks ago. It was early evening and I was wrapping up work at the studio. The light pouring through my windows was that incredible late-in-the-day light that photographers swoon over.  I grabbed my Contax and wandered around near my studio and in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis. I looked for colors, textures and contrast that caught my eye. When I got this film back I was so excited! The true beauty of film is that if you nail the exposure in camera and get great scans (I get mine from Richard Photo Lab in L.A.), you don't have to touch the images in post-processing. For someone who shoots thousands of images regularly, this is a dream. The goal is to always spend less time processing images and more time shooting. The bottom line? I LOVE FILM! I included some little captions about each image too, since I always love to know what is behind an image. 

Enjoy!

(This is an old, weathered table outside my studio.)

(I loved the color of the door and the strong contrast of the shadow of the tree.)

(The soft even light on these benches and the remnants of snow felt so dreamy. Film has such a lovely range of tones that is hard to achieve in digital.)

(This street lamp was tucked in between two buildings. The wind was howling and my hands were freezing, but I had to make a picture of this. The subtle pinkish tone and the even light was gorgeous! The way they were standing so tall and silently, tucked away from everything, made them feel like a secret.)

(I saw these yellow flowers inside this window as I walked by. They seemed to long for warm Spring as much as the rest of us)

(The same kind of street lamp but in strong sunlight. Again, the tonal range blows me away and I love that shadow!)

(Something about this shot/location reminds me of a movie set. I want to bring a cute couple to this spot pronto!)

(I saw this on a poll near where I parked my car. I loved the remnants of other letters above and the subtle sense of the city in the background.)

(This funky little thing was on a side of a building in the Warehouse District.)

(I saw this lamp in the window of a shop and loved the shapes, colors and reflections.)

(This beautiful old tree is at the edge of a parking lot. I wonder what was there before they paved it all, and who decided to keep just this one tree. I hope it stays for a long time.)

(The colors and textures of these intrigued me.)

(I saw this bathrobe hanging in a window and loved imagining someone playing house in this store!)

(What photography is to me.)

(What I strive for at my studio.)

 

(I saw the bird print in the window and all of the amazing light reflecting off the buildings. I love looking in windows of shops that have closed for the day. Everything sits perfectly still. There is so much quiet beauty that I am drawn to.)

(This feels like Christmas to me. I wanted to see how the colors would render on film. It feels nastalgic, which is a quality I am always striving for in my images.)

(The contrast of the blue wall and the white snow was interesting to me. I have learned along the way that overexposing film by one full stop will give it a lovely quality, so that is what I do with all of my film work. I love the shapes of the snow and the muted colors here.)

(This was sitting against a wall on a sidewalk and stopped me in my tracks. The subtle colors with the even, warm light drew me in. I love the little pop of blue!)

Raindrops

I have been taking a break from shooting personal work lately to focus on setting up my new studio and getting into the wedding season. This morning after looking out the window and seeing snow falling, I decided that I would keep my camera next to me in the car and take photos if I felt inspired and BOY did I ever! I found this green door near my studio and was at first just drawn to the vibrancy of the green and the opened door. As I walked closer I heard raindrops and saw these huge drops falling from the roof and making the most incredible splash on the metal. Spring is here!

kaja's camera bags

Sometimes you just connect with people and you can't explain it. Personality, common interests, whatever...but for some reason you just click. That's Kaja. She is an amazing art teacher who loves photography but because of the stresses of teaching and life circumstances, she hasn't been photographing as much as she wants to. After talks about old film cameras, favorite photographers and subject matter we like to shoot, we both decided we should go on a photo adventure together. I have a fridge full of expired film that is just begging to be shot. I went over to her house one night and after great conversation with our partners and a lot of wine, we pulled out her cameras and started talking "shop." It was fantastic. I LOVED her camera bags, they were so worn, so weathered with experience. You could just tell that those bags had been hauled around on so many shoots by someone else and then they were handed to Kaja to restart her photographic journey. It's just so amazing. This was before we went on our adventure, so for me, this image holds the excitement and the anticipation of getting out and shooting together. 

Just go and take some risks and try whatever it is that you want to do. Why not? It's never ever too late to start again. 

morning coffee

One of my absolute favorite things is having coffee in the morning with Libby. It's slow and it sets the tone for the day. We both have very busy careers but in the morning we can have an hour of time together before our separate lives begin. Even better to be in Mexico, in the warm morning sun on the patio in our room. Perfection. It really is all about the small, everyday moments. 

The strength of women

My mom made this amazing bodice for me when I was in college and I keep it in my living room now. It is a constant reminder of the strength that women have. It is a source of inspiration and courage when I need it, a reminder of the incredibly strong mother I have. 

Photo Adventure / Loppett

My friend Kaja and I had been talking about going on a photo adventure together for awhile. We finally found a day that worked and it happened to be the day of the Twin Cities Loppett which is an amazing cross country skiing event on the lakes in Minneapolis. Neither of us had ever been to it before so we grabbed our film cameras (I think we had 6 or 7 between the two of us!) and ventured out. I shot with my Hasselblad and Contax 645. My favorite was the kids race, those guys were cruising around and kept falling down but were having so much fun! This is exactly why I love Minnesota in the winter-people make it fun. 

Pip

My brother, Pip, is an incredible chef. He is someone who can make an incredibly delicious, creative meal by opening up the cupboards and the fridge and making a plan on the fly. You can see the gears turn in his head as he begins to plan a meal. When I was last in New York, we had spent the day wandering around taking pictures and throughout our stroll the topic of dinner came up. We went into a market and looked around for awhile and then he said, "I think I'll make pasta." A few hours later we were back at his apartment watching him make it. There is nothing I love more than watching people do what they love and Pip most definitely loves to cook. 

I shot this on Contax 645 with 400 Tri-X film. 

guard against perfection

"As best I can, I've tried to remove most of what is superfluous from my life. I try to put myself in positions-in physical locations-where the possibility exists to be astonished. I also try, as William Stafford said, "...to be on guard against perfection." -Keith Carter

Afternoon Beer in Brooklyn

I recently bought a Contax 645 film camera. On my recent trip to New York, I left all my digital gear at home and grabbed this bad boy along with my Hasselblad. This was the first shot on my first roll of film in my new Contax. I was at a long, wonderfully lazy brunch with friends and saw this rustic table behind where I was sitting bathed in soft window light. I took my freshly poured beer and set it up with the group of friends in the background, although you can't make them out, I wanted to have a sense of movement back there, a sense of wonder. I knew this shot was going to be soft since I had to shoot at 1/15 of a second at f2. I LOVE soft, ethereal, imperfect images.

Farmer's Market Flowers in Brooklyn

There are few things more lovely to me than a bunch of wild flowers from the farmer's market, dried and sitting in sunlight against a blue wall. This is in my sister's living room in Brooklyn and every time I visit, I make some photographs in this room because of the light and the colors. I am so drawn in by the most simple of details. For me, that's where the story lies, in those everyday moments and objects that say something about us. For me, a photograph can't ever just be about the light, it has to have a hint of a story involved, even if it's very subtle. 

Sundays

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. There is something about the day that invites sleeping in, lingering over the New York Times, sipping too much coffee, eating a delicious brunch and just slowing down. One of my favorite spots for brunch in Minneapolis is Cafe Barbette. A friend and client works there in addition to being an incredible dancer. I ran into her on Sunday and she brought us some amazing mango sorbet on the house to have after brunch...it was incredible! 

Here's to slowing down, losing track of time and enjoying little gifts like sorbet. 

Winter on Film

(My brother Pip at Thanksgiving peelings onions)

(Pies that my mom made at Thanksgiving)

(Sled after the big snow fall, Minneapolis, MN)

(Hydrangea in my parents yard, Oconomowoc, WI)

(My mom's garden in winter, Oconomowoc, WI)

(A true Freeman Family lighting technique for Christmas)

(Garden, Oconomowoc, WI)

(Birdhouse, Oconomowoc, WI)