Tetons in Fall!

There is no better time to visit the Grand Teton National Park, than Fall...well, unless it be Summer, when the temperatures are warm and the days are long, that's nice too...or Winter, when the mountains are white and the animals are visible...or Spring, when the wildflowers are in bloom...  But I digress...  Fall is really spectacular! 

We've launched our new website!

My husband, Mike, and I have been working on our fine art portfolios for quite some time...to edit them, combine them and design a new webpage has taken some time, but proved to be worth the effort! We launched our new website http://www.mikeandkrisryanphoto.com/ and would love for you all to check it out and see what we've been up to!

We are this month's featured artist at Marigold's, a great new "try before you buy" wine shop in Pocatello! We have a variety of framed art on display; traditional prints, canvas wraps and a new vivid metallic print that is pretty amazing to see!

As a result of all of this preparation, I am taking a week or so off! I absolutely love being a photographer and wouldn't trade it for the world, but all of this computer work has made me a little stir crazy (not to mention all of this rain!)! So, enjoy all of these images, a sampling of our work...take a look at our new webpage...and enjoy your week!

Photo-a-Day! And...a little message about authenticity!

your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's
life. don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of
other people's thinking. don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out
your own inner voice. and most important, have the courage to follow your
heart and intuition. they somehow already know what you truly want to
become. everything else is secondary.

- steve jobs

Photo-a-Day! Sun-drenched weekend!

It seems I am obsessed with sunshine! I get that way in mid-May, when the days of true warmth and sun have been few and far between!

So, I am taking the weekend off, to play...and am wishing everyone a weekend full of sunshine and time to be outside enjoying the warmth and renewing powers of Spring! Whether you spend your time in a garden or in a lawn chair, playing catch or playing on a swingset, on the water or on a hike...breathe deeply and enjoy!

Here comes the sun!

Photo-a-Day! Don't try this at home!

Don't try it at home...but definitely try it wherever you are traveling! I have a whole collection of these kind of abstract shots...taken from the car window...while someone else is driving!
As an experiment, and to cure the boredom of sitting in a car for hours, I matched my shutter speed with the speed we were traveling...set it on manual focus, kind of in the middle of the scene somewhere! I love it!
But really, try it...and see what you come up with!

Photo-a-Day! Rusted metal!

As a photographer, I am always looking for cool textures...and color! This old truck had both!

Photo-a-Day! Spring in the Tetons!

One of the many things we love about heading to Jackson for a weekend...Spring! (It doesn't look like this yet, but it will...in about a month!) Beautiful blue skies...mountains still dusted with snow...if you haven't been there...GO! It's lovely.

I just had to share this one...

Awhile ago, I created a series of photographs/cards entitled "Here's Looking at You" (more information to come soon on the updated Mike & Kris Ryan website!). The images I used thus far were of small animals (ducks and geese, for example) all looking at ME while I was looking at them.
This picture, this animal, unnerved me a bit, as he was looking at ME while I was looking at HIM!
Mike and I spent Easter weekend in the Tetons, one of our very favorite places to spend a weekend! On Saturday afternoon, we were privileged enough to spend several hours with this big guy...a lumbering, furry, huge, meandering grizzly bear! More images to come on our website...this one is just a teaser!

Photo-a-Day! Happy Easter!

Photo-a-Day! Waiting for Spring!

A photo from one of my favorite places, Corvallis, Oregon...and one of my favorite time of year, Spring! Isn't this what Spring is supposed to look like?! What is all of this white stuff still doing around here? Oh well...enjoy the weekend, whatever your weather!

Emotions!

...okay, so this next "assignment" is, as always, open to anyone and everyone who has a camera (yes, even the one on your phone will do!!!) and an imagination! Seriously, email me an image (heartandsoulimages@cableone.net) and I'll post it here! Then brag to your friends that you are a published photographer!

I'm going to call this one, PHOTOGRAPHIC EXERCISING! ...sort of a "stretching your legs" kind of assignment, designed to get you thinking, feeling, looking around you, and imagining...

It's Spring, sort of (I woke up to snow this morning!), and we are all beginning to think about what we want to look like as Summertime approaches with the dreaded Victoria's Secret swimsuit catalog judging us from the coffee table, right?! Hmmm...okay, well maybe that's just me...but certainly most of us are still shaking off the doldroms of Winter...and are in need of some physical exercising, as well as some mental exercising, right?! Okay, well I can't really help you much with the physical exercising (unless you want to join me walking my dog!)...but I can help you with the mental exercising!

Your assignment... Photograph an Emotion!

Oh, see...that's not hard...it's easy to photograph happiness, right? Maybe with a big, cheesy smile! How about sadness? A pouty child's face perhaps?! Or seriousness? Okay, so now go farther...photograph energetic...or warmth...or love. How about generosity...or forgiveness...or patience. Grief...or anxiousness...or fear? Want more of a challenge...don't use people in your photographs! Ahhhh, what?!!! Okay, well, use people if you like, but also give a thought to a human emotion translated to things too. Be creative!

Don't you love it when you feel something when you look at a photograph? I know I do! (Did you see the image I posted the other day from Benjamin Edwards...talk about emotion!) Don't be intimidated...you don't have to photograph ALL of the emotions I suggested...just pick one or two, or come up with your own...think about how you can capture an emotion in a photograph...

Whether you are a portrait photographer, a nature lover who never goes anywhere without a camera, a dog walker with a point and shoot, or a student with your cell phone in your pocket at all times...you see the world from your own interesting perspective...and I would love to hear from you!

Finally...!!!

I feel really badly when I don't make the time to complete my own assignments! But finally, I have some photos to post...for the latest assignment...PATTERNS!
When you look for patterns, you really do begin to see them everywhere...in nature: flowers, pine cones, tree branches, and even clouds have patterns formed by the winds!
My niece and I stopped by this grove of trees between home and Boise on Sunday afternoon. You've probably seen them...rows and rows and rows of trees! If it hadn't been so cold and windy that day, we would've spent a lot more time...and we decided it would be fun to come back and wander in the dark...!!!



And then there are man made patterns...these being in my game closet! I kind of like the purposefulness of patterns, orderly patterns as well as RaNdOm ones! Makes me feel like things are under control!

Assignment!!!

I am certain you are ready for your next creative photography assignment...?

We're going to call this one simply "Patterns". Your assignment, photograph patterns! Patterns exist everywhere...in nature or man-made...macro or in landscapes...physical patterns or metaphorical patterns (oooh, got you thinking now, huh?!).

Keep in mind, these challenges are designed to aid you in your creative thinking...aimed at not only your skills as a photographer, but also your willingness to "look" at things differently...and to translate what you see, and how you want to express it, through the lens of your camera. In order to do that, you should be practicing your previsualization skills as well as familiarizing yourself with the mechanics of your camera.

Think before you shoot! What do you want to show...what should you leave out...is there a better angle to shoot from...how is the light affecting your image...? Lots of questions...and I certainly don't want you to lose the spontaneity that photography can often be...but I do want you to think a little about composition when creating your PATTERN IMAGES!

So...email me your images... heartandsoulimages@cableone.net And, have fun!!!

Is it Spring yet?

It is snowing outside, again, still...and don't get me wrong...I do love the snow...at Christmas-time!!! This is definitely the time of year when I get a little antsy...awaiting Spring!

So, I've decided to challenge myself (and YOU, if you are willing) with some fun, experimental, weekly photography assignments...not just to pass the time while awaiting warmer days, but also to hone my (and your) skills as an artist...as a challenge to visualize things differently, creatively, uniquely. You can participate in these weekly exercises on your own and simply consider my suggestions a little creative push to get you through some of the doldrums of the in-between seasons...or, I would LOVE IT if you would participate actively in these exercises by emailing me your own photos (heartandsoulimages@cableone.net) ...and I will post them generously on my blog! Perhaps we'll even make a contest out of it!!! Prizes anyone?!
Let's have a little fun...!

Are you ready for your first photography assignment???

Okay, this is just a fun one...

Photograph a word!
The parameters...each photo must represent a letter (but never literally a letter!)...and the letters collectively must spell a word (more than 3 letters please, and no profanity!)...no Photoshop (or other software) manipulations...photograph what you SEE! Examples: have you ever noticed how many X's are on a tree? or that some doorknobs are a cool swirly S? That sometimes you see a C in the clouds? Get the picture?!
Choose a word that might tell something about yourself, or your mood, or where you are...choose items that exist naturally (rather than items that you've placed)...think outside of the box...look up or down, look at things differently...BE CREATIVE!!!
So, grab your cameras...you don't need anything fancy for these assignments...just a point and shoot will do...and go see what you can find! I'd love to be able to share your photos so please email me or tag me on Facebook (Heart & Soul Images) with your own interpretations!

My intention is to do a photographic assignment weekly, so check back often...and I'll be announcing prizes soon!!!

How I spent my winter vacation!

Remember those essays we all had to write at one point or another in grade school…"what I did for summer vacation” or something along that line…? There was always some kind of fabulous adventure to write about…a new bike, a new best friend, a trip to see the grandparents in Chicago, a trip out west to see the Oregon coast for the first time (I grew up landlocked in the Midwest).

It is only now, more than a few years after grade school, that I know…I never really did anything that spectacular during those vacations, though it was surely spectacular to me at the time…never really saw anything that unique…and I know this now because I got to experience a truly spectacular, wonderfully unique place…the island of North Caicos.

I will write about it a little more, in a later post, but here is a visual preview of my “how I spent my winter vacation” essay!

New gallery!

I have finally added a very small sampling of my nature portfolio to my webpage! www.heartandsoulimages.net I will be adding more after the holidays, along with pricing information for limited edition prints and fine art cards, but for now, just a teaser!

Happy Holidays!

Stanley, Idaho!

I am a pretty fortunate person!

I got to spend a long, lovely weekend in the mountains of Central Idaho with my hubby...kayaking on glass, photographing nature's beauty, lingering in the solitude of hidden lakes...oh, and hanging out with the locals at the Fireman's Ball at Redfish Lodge! We got carried away at the silent auction, but, it was for a really great cause! Gotta support those fireman who are preserving our beautiful lands!

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the weekend! Beauty surrounds...on...

...and off the water...

Mike Ryan Photography

My husband will be updating his website soon...(as soon as I get to it!)...so be sure to check it out periodically for new images! http://www.mikeryanphoto.com/

Kayaking weekend...continued...

...and some other pretty things in the park...

My creative work is available in prints, fine art cards and on canvas. Call or send me an email to inquire about sizes and pricing. This Fall I will officially launch a gallery on my Heart & Soul Images website which will feature my landscape, wildlife and macro photography!

Idaho skies...continued...

Another Sunday drive...