Been staying out of trouble lately..

…who am I kidding.  The truth is, I have been homebound keeping my 4 year old out of trouble while my wife does a fantastic job nursing our month old.   I am not always home, but I am in the car a large portion of the day shuttling Mr. Iron Man back and forth between preschool and home.

Ah, the life of an involved parent.

In my free time, I have rediscovered watercolor painting.

I had a breathrough the other night when I started, and completed this really loose watercolor in only a few hours.  My primary goal was to keep it fast and not get bogged down with mindless detail (one reason I switched to photography in college- my photo realistic painting style was driving me bonkers).

Alvaro Castagnet, the fantastic Argentinian painter, came to mind when I was laying in the dark, loose washes of this scene of the Cathedral in the colonial Ecuadorian city of Cuenca.

A little help from the spray bottle, some salt, and a bunch of paint later, and I was rather happy with the outcome.

This watercolor of the Roman ruins at Dougga took a little longer to complete.  Who would expect Roman ruins in Tunisia?  Not I, but Tunisia is home to some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world.

This painting is a photo composite of the Cementerio de Trenos (no translation needed) in the Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia).  I stumbled (due to elevation & exhaustion) out for sunset one night many moons ago.  It was an amazing, but cold, experience.

Do not worry, I have not given up photographing.  Megan and Sam’s wedding photographs from Milwaukee, WI are processing on my computer as I write, and will be posted online tomorrow.

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

Sincerely,

Ryan

R. Fox Photography

(919) 645-8345

ryan@rfoxphoto.com

October 4th, 2011 by admin | No Comments »

This weekend I had the pleasure of photographing a wedding in Milwaukee.  It was a super fast three days of flying, shooting the  wedding, and returning.  However, the weather was amazing (60 degrees) with plenty of sunshine, fun family, and a photogenic site for the wedding and reception.  Thanks Sam and Megan for letting me document your rehearsal and wedding day.

(Megan and Sam kissing after their first-look)

(Hi-key shot of the dress.  This is achieved in camera with no photoshop tricks)

(Portrait of the bride shot using a speedlight to camera-left and fill light on-camera)

(Mother of bride laughing at wedding rehearsal dinner antics)

(Megan rim-lighted by off-camera flash at hair salon)

(Megan’s Mom with Sam in the foreground)

(I love this shot of the wedding couple outside.  The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds much to my chagrin.  Luckily, not many could tell I was constantly adjusting fill flash power and swearing under my breath:))

(The dudes, trying to look suave, with a little sun flare added)

I have only scratched the surface of the photographs- having done a rough edit up to the ceremony.   The film photographs will be returned next week

I’ll post some wedding ceremony, family, and reception shots this weekend!

Sincerely,

Ryan

R. Fox Photography

ryan@rfoxphoto.com

(919) 645-8345

September 20th, 2011 by admin | 1 Comment »

I have been a very bad boy and neglected my blog for almost a month.  However, I would like to defend my actions by saying that I have been very busy.

Our second son was born the August 27th.  We couldn’t decide on a name, so I called him HE-WHO-WOULD-NOT-BE-NAMED, until I annoyed my beautiful wife Jasmine enough to convince her to make a decision.

Welcome to Raleigh- Luke Fox.  He liked his name- he smiled immediately afterwards. I can not wait to say, in several years: “Luke (dramatic pause), I am your father”.   Followed by deep breathing….

I know, it is not original.  But I am sleep deprived.  Humor me.

Thanks to all the doctors, nurses, and staff at Wake Med.  Luke’s birth was a great experience- especially after our first son’s “birth” was a cesarean after 72 hours of induced labor.  Whew.

The first thing I said after Luke’s birth:

“He’s not going to stay purple forever, right?”

And the second was:

“That was awesome!  I never want to see it again.”

Above all, I would like to tell my wife how much I love, and respect her.  I cannot believe what women, and their bodies, are capable of doing.  I am in awe of the sacrifice, pain, and uncomfortableness she endured (while teaching full-time until she went into labor).  She deserves this maternity break, and much more.

We missed the remnants of  Hurricane  Irene completely.  I had no idea anything hit Raleigh until I returned home two days later to discover a tree fallen across my backyard.

Ryan

R. Fox Photography

(919) 645-8345

ryan@rfoxphoto.com

September 12th, 2011 by admin | 1 Comment »