Life Of A Shadow
Holyoke Merry-Go-Round – Holyoke, Massachusetts
For me, tackling big, life-changing projects like this means a lot of other things take a backseat – photography included. I can only fit so many to-do lists in my head at any one time, especially during stressful situations.
But, I’m making the best of it.
“Find the light. Find it and harness it. It’s ours.”
Justin Nicole Melville, fellow Jackson artist and photographer.
On the first of October last year, I took a walk in the Whitehouse Nature Center in Albion, Michigan. It was a beautiful fall day, one that only hinted at the darkness to come. The leaves were just starting to fall, and I wanted to play with the light and see what I could capture.
This what I came up with – edited and processed more than a full year later.
I’m doing this more and more: letting projects sit for a while, and then addressing them months (or a year) later to see what sticks out, creatively. For these leaves, I knew I wanted to let them marinate for a while.
Here’s to the last days of October.
Big transitions in my life the past year or so: the birth of my daughter, a new job, getting ready to sell our house and move into the city.
So it is with the seasons as well. The temperatures here in Michigan are dropping steadily, the leaves are changing, pumpkins are popping up at roadside stands. Autumn is in the air.
Much like last year, I’m trying to stay on top of all the transitions and stay involved with creative projects. It’s tough. And I’m not working on anything specific now, but I have some ideas and plans brewing.
Here’s to the in-between.
Bending Light On The Wall – Jackson, Michigan
Great light in a studio space in downtown Jackson. I was there for a portrait project, but the way the light was coming in the windows was too great not to grab.
Summer nights around the house – when the angle of sunlight turns the mundane into dramatic.
It’s enough to get lost in. Evenings like this, there’s entertainment in simply watching the light move, and shape, and shift.
Like some mythic, benevolent dictator, the sun shows its preferences in direct ways. A set of headphones here, the neighbors yard over there. You can’t question it. You just record it.
And hope the light shines on you.
Where you could sit on the edge of your bed
And you could stare into your own shoes
And in the pools of light there
Go wherever you choose
The Tragically Hip, “Vapour Trails”

Jackson, Michigan
What I love about mobile photography is that you get to capture magic when you see it, without any fussing around.

The lodge at Tobermory, Ontario, offered a perfect view of Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay off the back patio. The way the light came into the main sitting room was perfect.