These two photographs were taken in a rural part of Northeast Ohio where my parents now live. Their very kind neighbors have a beautiful pond with some rather lovely inhabitants. This swan and her babies posed prettily for me as I carefully walked around the pond snapping some photos of them.

Today Ben and I went out to the North Chagrin Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks, a place where anyone in the east side of Cleveland has most likely visited since childhood..us included. You’d think now I’d have seen it all..and I admit sometimes I’m a little bored with the same old trees, pathways and ponds…but coming during the changing seasons is always a treat. I captured these photographs on our woodland walk near Buttermilk Falls, adding to their vibrant colorful glory with a little digital enhancing. Autumn is my favorite season so there were quite a few photos to go through, and I’ll probably add more in the future. I hope you enjoy these!

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MediaevalBaebes.com

I’ve had the honor of photographing two live performances of classical medieval songstresses, the Mediaeval Baebes. This series is from the second show that I attended in Columbus, Ohio, in October, 2007. Some of these photos are used by the band on their official website (see link above)

At the show in Columbus I met Emily and the other ladies (first time I saw them the band was a very different line-up). They were all very warm and welcoming, and encouraged me to keep taking photos at their gigs! Haven’t been to a show since last year, unfortunately, as they stay around their home in London and only come to the East Coast here in the US. Hopefully they’ll make a trip out West to my current area someday.

You will see a lot of portraits of my dear friend, Kristy Rose. She likes to dress up and frolick in front of the camera! I would be nowhere without the willingness of my friends to sit (stand, run, jump, dance!) for portraits. This series was shot in my childhood home, where we made use of a dark purple canopy net and some old prom dresses. This was right after she cut her hair really short. I titled the collection Stately Grace for Kristy’s striking resemblance to Princess Diana in some of the shots.

My good friend Rachel and I did a little photo shoot the day before she left for San Francisco in October, 2007. Little did I know I’d be leaving home as well, less than a year later, and end up on the West Coast less than 200 miles away from her then home of Portland! Rachel is now back in San Francisco with the great friends she’s made there.

I worked with Rachel at my job in the photo lab…I had a part in hiring her as my assistant. We worked together for a little over a year before I finally left that position to focus full-time on Web/Graphic Design. We recently attended FaerieWorlds in Oregon where we met our faery artist idol, the famous Brian Froud. We’re hoping to be vendors there next year!

I have an ancient friendship with my dear friend, Andrea. We’ve been friends through thick and thin for 20 years now. In first grade we were standing in line waiting for our teacher to take us in from morning recess on the first day of school. Standing around, waiting, a group of us little girls agreed to be friends…and some of us, like Andrea and I, still are today. I cherish these close friendships in a world were trusting people and making real connections is very difficult.

This series was shot on Andrea’s little Elf! (A Canon Digital Elph point and shoot). We were enjoying a walk along the “Duck Pond” at the North Chagrin Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks when I took these shots. I especially like the one of Andrea taking in the glory of the beautiful forest.

This is one of my favorite series, taken in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Ben and I just finished watching the movie 300 in the digital theatre in Valley View, Ohio, and I was left in a dream world because of the amazing visuals in that movie. So this series reminds me of that magical day and of course the Mystic Woods themselves are quite magical.

January, 2006

Photographed in the beautiful North Chagrin Reservation
at the Cleveland Metroparks
in Northeast, Ohio

This series was photographed in 2002 for my Advanced Photography project at Lakeland Community College. The entire series was shot with Kodak TMax 35mm black & white film and was processed & printed on 11×14 Ilford paper myself, using the “old ways”. Lakeland has an excellent traditional lab. The series focuses on the beautiful gardens and architechure of the estate of William G. Mather.