An embrace of light

*Dedicated to a special friend and woman from my childhood who is very ill and being cared for in an ICU.  Sending warm light and love her way.*

I continue to be very fond of having about an hour on Monday evenings to myself, and I find myself looking forward to the walks on the levee with Sparkle.  The weather has been gorgeous, and the late day cool, breezy air welcomes me to my elevated levee view of the Mississippi River and downtown Baton Rouge.  Yes, I said "cool, breezy air" while still being in Louisiana.  A gift indeed, especially with the longer daylight hours it's wonderful.

On this given day, we walked on the both the bike/walker path and the river side flats.  Water continued to sit while flowers bloomed and trees greened a bit more.  I was very taken by the placement of the sun through the gathering of trees and vines, and realized that in just one week it was sitting just a bit higher than before.  Possibly I wasn't the only one aware as there were a good number of cyclists, runners and walkers making the most of the experience.

I had fun experimenting with the water reflections and the sun, hit the ground for some florals with great background bokeh and even tried a few sun placement shots between a horseshoe like tree split as I was walking back up the incline to leave.  As usual, time had passed very quickly and I had a handful of minutes to make it in time to pick up my daughter.  I squeezed in a couple silhouette shots of people as I made my way to the car, and started making plans in my head to do more of the same during my visit next week.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, instinct told me to turn and look one more time.  The sun was sitting softly like a golden ball of light within the ends of a tree branch.  Quickly I stopped the car and positioned myself in  the open car door to watch.  It was beautiful and timeless in a breath, and it changed before my eyes inviting me to soak it in before it disappeared.  I took a series of shots, and was lucky enough to have a sampling of people walk through the scene, too.  I felt it in me that this was something, and held it well without distractions to always remember.  Oh so to return to be able to do it again and again.


When feeling out a title I went through cycles of 'Just one more look', 'Stay with me', 'Instinct'.  'Embrace of light' was born out of the moment you stop as a photographer because you see, know, look for and wait for the right light.  We inherently know that that particular combination of light and nuance will not last forever and we take the best advantage to embrace and appreciate in our actions with our eyes and camera.  In that moment with the sun, I took it in with both self and tool, nearly making my wish to extend the experience true.  This is the gift and art, the action of embracing light.   On these things, I will think, process and share.

Time change sunset on the Mississippi

I enjoyed my first sunset since the 'spring ahead' time change over the weekend.  Usually I walk a dark levee while waiting for my little one who is in gymnastics, so the golden skies and late day sun on the Mississippi was a welcome change.  I was first greeted by a crucifix, which was not there the week before, as I crossed River Road to climb the levee stairs.  I assume that there had been a death in this location.  The extended sun light pulled me over the levee and to the river with Sparkle to be near the tree and vegetation line.  Greening had slowly begun, so the area is still overcome with dried vines and grasses waiting to burst with growth and life.  Before having to leave, I was able to cross an open area towards a parked tugboat.  Peering through the brush, I hoped that timing would help me capture the setting sun through its tinted windows.  It wasn't to be, and walked away catching glimpses and appreciating the play with golden light once again.

In the familiar

In the familiar, there is something more to be discovered.

I have walked by this tree on the river side of the levee many times, and with each pass it grabs my attention in different ways.

Running with the Transit of Venus

Meet Brandon Dufrene, a man who was exercising when I arrived at the levee look out spot near LSU's vet school .  He was at the top of the stairs, just about to make his decline, when I took this quick shot. He passed me on his way down so I showed him the image and apologized, too, for interrupting his workout.  He said that was okay because he had already finished his 15 mile bike ride earlier.  Keep in mind that it's nearly 90 degrees and high humidity even at 7:30 pm, and I commented that it must be tough getting a work out in those conditions.  He explained that it's great for your lung capacity and cardiovascular endurance as I was standing there dripping in perspiration standing still.  Maybe I'll make the effort one day to get out there with my sneakers instead of my camera and embrace what Brandon exemplifies.  It's also very cool to think about the fact that as he was running and moving, so was Venus and the other planetary forces.  If I was in fact a runner, I'd probably find a ritual in that thought as I went out into the heat of the sun.

After I made it to the top of the stairs and looked across the river at the setting sun, I decided to find a location closer to the river to shoot.  I didn't have much time, but I went for it.  Well, by the time I set up the sun started moving behind a cloud that I didn't see at first.  Somehow grabbing a picture of Venus got lost in my mind unfortunately, and I took a few pictures of the sun, with Venus in transit, escaping us for another 105 years.  It's a good lesson if grabbing the opportunity when it's there because that moment in time will not return and conditions DO change out of your control.  I'll have to be satisfied with my photo set from the observatory  and enjoy the story and experience in that.  :)

Chasing Venus and the sun did lead me to finding a pathway to the river...let's see how that will open up another world.

Partial lunar eclipse

6.06.12: 
My dog woke me at 4:30 AM as if she knew that I wanted to head out to the levee to try to see the partial lunar eclipse.  I took her out into our backyard and saw a light in the sky and knew I had to make it.  By the time I arrived, the light was just a smear and disappeared because of the clouds.  I set up anyway hoping for a brief peek out and waited.  Luckily, the moon found a clearing, and in the hazy, humid air I got to see it with Earth's shadow.  There was a soft glow to it, and when looking back at the image, I get a sense of the feeling it carried. 

Solar Eclipse - Baton Rouge

I drove out to the levee on my own tonight to catch some of the solar eclipse.  Upon arrival I was more than happy to see a small crowd of about twenty people finding the right spot to view with or without their devices.  I especially chuckled over the young man nearly putting his head into his box to check out what was happening.  The man and the woman watching through their iPad sparked my curiosity, too.  With a smile on my face I strolled through the people to stake out a location where I thought I'd avoid the tree line on the Mississippi.  I knew that we wouldn't make it to complete eclipse since the sun was already on its way to set, but I was still very excited when I saw the first little space of the sun covered.  I took a few shots hand held then realized that I wouldn't see much more where I was standing because of the sun's drop into the trees.  Scooting over a bit helped that, and I set the camera on the tripod in back display mode where I could see what was happening very nicely.  I had a good show with the gorgeous sunset colors and a few wispy clouds overhead.  Even with its quick departure, the little that I saw amazed me.  Sure it was a tease because I wanted more, but I was happy and satisfied to have been there.

I did get to meet a few folks who were nearby at the conclusion, a couple of them being the people with the iPad.  It was a nice exchange of images - mine on the camera and theirs on the iPad in real time.  It ends up that the iPad application, 'Star Track' I think it's called, gives you access to a calendar of planetary events, info about each of them, and a way to track and name what's happening in the skies in real time.  So thank you Jay, Adria, Marc and Betsy Fraiolis for sharing in the excitement and giving me a look into your media view of the event.  :)  On the way out I also met a nice group of folks who sat on the levee incline throughout.  I have a silhouette shot of them in the set - Corey, Heidi, Lauren and Laura.  I hope that they all peek in to take a look.  :)

Here's a small album with a few more images of the scene.  :)

Two girls and a cloud

Another great night of gorgeous weather got the whole family out.   We went to the levee path with our favorite gear - my  husband with his bike and Sparkle, my older daughter with her roller blades, and my youngest with her bike.  Me, of course, carried my camera and of course found myself walking down the incline of the levee towards the grasses and Mississippi to see different perspectives of the sunset.  My girls were calling for me, but before heading back up towards them I took this shot.  I first asked for a pose which didn't work out right.  They must have seen my husband in the distance and both turned at this moment.  The spontaneity worked out great, and that little cloud in the distance was a great plus, too.