Susannah Storch Photography: January 2010

Sunday, January 31, 2010

January 31, Gordon

Today's photo was taken at the newish Oskar Blues restaurant here in Longmont. Fried pickles! The best buffalo wings! Sweet potato fries! It is pretty good bar food, and it is getting easier and easier to get a table. We are pretty lucky to be so close to the OB experiences...both restaurants and the fun Tasty Weasel tasting room.

A whole month of blog posts! At this point, maybe I should mention that I am not after capturing the most profound shot every day...or else I wouldn't even know how/where to get started. My goal is simply to use my camera everyday. I am getting better at carrying it wherever I go...of course, I didn't bring it on my rock climbing day, and I forgot the batteries/memory card when I was in Denver on Friday...but, still, I am just trying to take photos everyday. Some I like more than others, for sure. If you are so inclined, I would love to know your favorite to date.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

January 30, Golden West Milling Co

I ran around Longmont this morning, visiting some stores that I've been meaning to get to: Serendipity (a vintage/antique store), the Cheese Importers (great cheeses, sandwiches, and dishes), Home Depot...At any rate, I drove down a street I haven't been on before, and came across this abandoned building.

The Golden West Milling Company was started by two "Charleys", Charles A. Johnson and Charles A. Miller, around the turn of the previous century. Both guys hailed from Sweden, and upon meeting, became business partners until their deaths in 1955. The city of Longmont was considering moving a museum there, but then two teens decided to light the place on fire last year.

January 29, Snowy Nose

I didn't take too many photos on the 29, but I did capture this one of Chloe, white snow on her black nose.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

January 28, Light

An orange glow to combat today's dusting of snow. I noticed this light in the parking garage at work. It looks cooler isolated in this photo than in real life!

January 27, Starfish

Wouldn't it be nice to be on a warm beach about now?

Another high ISO image...as the days get longer, I can lower the ISO for evening shots!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

January 26, Silo in the Morning

You gotta' love that morning light. This silo was photographed on my way into work.

Monday, January 25, 2010

January 25, Water Tower

Took a walk through the 'hood this evening and strolled by the water tower. Someone needs to get up there and repaint that American flag. And in case you've always wondered about water towers, check out this wiki link to everything you want to know and more. Except how to paint them. I wouldn't want that scary job.

Ooh, as I type I am listening to a song I like on iTunes. I wasn't sure the artist, so I took a look. Hackensaw Boys. "Sun's Work Undone." And their album art appeared. And guess what it is? A water tower. And on it is written "Love What You Do." The end.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

January 24, Snowshoeing Near Nederland

We headed to the Moffat Tunnel area to snowshoe with the dogs, but the 17 degree temps coupled with the strongest winds I've seen since the last time I was there were encouragement enough to turn around. We found a place outside of Ned instead, and had fun walking in the snow.

I brought along one Quadra Ranger, housed in a kayaking dry bag. The bulb was wrapped in a ziplock bag. I did my best to keep the camera dry, but as you can see, it was snowing quite a bit at times.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

An interview with Elijah Gowin

Elijah Gowin was my photography teacher at St. Mary's College of Maryland. Thank goodness he was there to push the photography program! It was due to him that I became a Canon gal and a fan of Robert Frank. Anyway, here is an interview with him that I came across on the internet.

Interview with Elijah Gowin

January 23, Blue Eye

Photograph of half of a man's face with a blue eye

January 22, Haitian Happy Hour

man in front of pool table with a bag of popcorn

Blew off some steam on Friday night by attending a Fundraiser for Haiti at the Boulder Draft House. It wasn't clear if we were contributing to the cause or not, although earlier in the day on Friday I discovered that it is incredibly easy to donate through text messaging/cell phone bill/the Red Cross. Afterwards, we headed to Catacombs in the Hotel Boulderado. I hadn't been there in ages, and as always, it was a good time.

Finally, photos of people! I took a portrait class for fun last fall, and it has been nice to not shoot people, but here some are. All at ISO 1600 on my digital Rebel XT with a 50mm f1.4 prime lens.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

January 21, Grass

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

January 20, Cleo and Ollie

Photo of Ollie the dog chewing on a stick

Yes, more animals. I couldn't choose between Tracy's dog or her cat, so I posted both of them. Both shots taken at ISO 1600, resulting in more noise than I prefer.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

January 19, Records

Yes, I alphabetize my records, and then soundtracks go out at the end.

Monday, January 18, 2010

January 18, Vail Pass

I wanted to test out my new-ish lights on Rob back country skiing, so we stopped by Vail Pass on our way home. Apparently, there is powder in Colorado. And lots of it. We trekked for hours, and I got a couple shots I like.

January 17, Team Work

Go Jets!

January 16, No Snow

This shot, taken from a Beaver Creek ski lift, sums up the current snow situation at Colorado ski resorts: lacking.

January 15, The Road to Golden

A photo at dusk of the mountains on the way to Golden

We headed up to Eagle for a weekend getaway of skiing and more. This photo was taken on our way up.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

January 14, Numbers

Short depth of field photo of numbers on a weight machine

© Susannah Storch 2010

Another photo taken in the little gym that I use. I was thinking about a short depth of field shot with my Jillian Michaels work out book and some gym equipment in the background, but since she is set to take over the world, decided that wasn't necessary.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

January 13, Red Truck

Red truck parked in a neighborhood street in Longmont

I love this red truck that was parked just a few blocks from my home.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

January 12, Quesadilla

A quesadilla cooking on the stove for dinner

Quesadillas for dinner while we watched Heroes. Took a while since being the cook and photographer was a bit of a juggle. And I roasted peppers myself to put in them.

Monday, January 11, 2010

January 11, Torture

Short depth of field photo of an exercise bike

Sunday, January 10, 2010

January 10, Left Hand Trail Hike

Photo taken from the Left Hand Trail in Boulder of telephone poles, mountains, and a silo

Went for a walk through the snow and mud at the Left Hand Trail area outside of north Boulder. It was a beautiful day, but as soon as the sun went behind the Flatirons, it got chilly fast.

January 9, Buffaloes and Ornaments

Short depth of field photo of a Christmas tree ornament

I went skiing yesterday, and passed the buffalo off of I-70. I forgot they were there, so I grabbed my camera in a second and got this shot. I like their formation, and their long shadows from the early morning sun. The second photo was taken yesterday evening, and is of my friend Sarah's Christmas tree. We went to a local state park and chopped down our own trees this year (with a permit). I know you can probably do this in Maryland, but both photos--buffalo and DIY Christmas trees--represent Colorado to me.

January 8, Another Animal

Chloe, my black lab mix dog, sits for a photo

So the default photo subject around here seems to be the animals. Chloe is not the best subject--she HATES getting her picture taken, and she is black and shiny. But in this photo, taken with one light bounced off the ceiling, at least you can easily make out her facial features.

January 7, Just When You Think...

...you won't have any photos for the day, you see the cutest thing ever.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

January 6, Climbing Shoes

Photo of climbing shoes in a studio setting mixed with text about having camera present

Well, that about sums it up. Had I brought my camera with me, you may be looking at photos of climbing legend Lynn Hill instead.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

January 5, Chloe Before Sunset

I've been wanting to photograph Chloe sitting in her new favorite spot in the backyard. After fumbling with connecting Pocketwizards to my 580EXII and camera, I grabbed one Elinchrom Ranger Quadra instead. Chloe was too wound up to sit still in her spot, and in this photo she is wondering why she has to model instead of go for a walk. I would have liked to use an umbrella/softbox and another light to eliminate the hard shadow behind her, but it was cold and getting dark and Chloe wanted more than the backyard.

Monday, January 4, 2010

January 4, Chicken Tortilla Soup

It had been a while, but I visited the Still Life With blog today, and was inspired. Thus, a photo of my dinner.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

January 3, St. Vrain Greenway

I spent much of today trying to edit/tag/catalog/etc. photos that I haven't gotten to in 09. When I did manage to tear myself away to take some photos and walk Chloe, I headed to the St. Vrain Greenway Trail not far from my home. A couple thoughts to share: Chloe is the worst fishing partner in the world. She whines. She gets attacked by black flies. She wants to swim. Chloe is also not the best photography partner. She prefers rolling around in snow and mud and sniffing under rocks to sitting still so I can click without my wrist about to be jerked off. Of course, off-leash is a different story.

The St. Vrain Greenway Trail is not all that inspirational to me in terms of a photo subject. IF I had a medium format or large format camera, perhaps some landscapes of the farming equipment and industrial warehouses mixed with the ponds, reeds, mountains in the distance, could be interesting, but I don't, sort of.

I did feel excitement when I walked by Left Hand Brewing Company, perhaps because the beer is "brewed on the banks of the might St. Vrain." And because they have a simple, cool logo. And a silo-esque thing with a bright red ladder climbing up it. And a cozy red neon sign. So instead of stopping in for a Sawtooth (I really need to check out their tasting room), I took photos.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

January 2, 2010 Rabbit Mountain

We took the dogs to Rabbit Mountain for a hike. The temperature wasn't too bad--upper 30's, but it definitely got colder while we were out there. After the hike, I finally purchased my upgrade to Lightroom 2, and am loving it. In the second shot, I experimented with the masks option, using a gradient filter on the lower half so I didn't blow out the sky. Yes! A good day.

January 1, 2010 The Kitten Sleeps

I am going for it: I am going to shoot one photo a day for all of 2010!

For this first photo, I took a break from being productive around the house early January 1 to photograph the new kitten Oscar sleep next to Rob. Or maybe I was being more productive? At any rate, Oscar is The Cutest Kitten Ever. And happy 2010.