dn.jy | Blog

This Setting post is about the first time I took a real train trip and fell in love with the whole culture :)  Over Thanksgiving week, I went from Carbondale to Chicago to New York to Washington, D.C., to Chicago, then back to Carbondale (…when we jumped right into our first string of Law School final exams, yikes!) and had a grand adventure!  

This post only includes images from being in the trains and train stations, and I hope these pictures show a little of the feeling of movement and rhythm that is inherent in train culture. 

If you like words better, you can read detailed posts about the epic trip :)

Union Stations of Chicago and Washington, D.C.

These window shots below are free-lens shots during our stop at Utica, NY

In motion, from the tracks…

…and then there is something about buildings’ corners

…and beautiful bridges :)

Finally, here is a mish mash of videos from the train that I used for an Amtrak thing, with music from one of my closest and coolest friends, Dan Bakst

ETA: Amtrak from DN|JY Productions on Vimeo.

This summer, I’ve been slowly but surely organizing all the pictures I’ve taken in the last three years, and I’d like to share some snapshots of my travels with you, in a series called “Setting.” As we live out our stories, we experience our surroundings like settings of the story, allowing them to shape and enrich us. For example, when planning for portrait shoots, I try to make sure that our locations are personal and meaningful, because settings are often pathetic, reflecting the personalities and uniqueness of the people who have created moments there.

This batch is from my second and third visits to St. Louis (the first being my flight in for my graduate interview), and it has a different look a feel because I shot these on 35mm film. Real film grain adds so much to pictures :) Furthermore, the little point-and-shoot I used was the one my parents used to shoot all of our family vacation pictures when I was a little girl. So many significant memories through that little lens :)

To start off, here is a moleskine sketch of my first impressions of St. Louis. Needless to say, I love that city very much :)

I love driving through the fields before getting to the interstate

The colors of the city are so great!

Below are some shots from Off Broadway on Lemp Ave., where I met Deas Vail and danced to some beautiful music with some beautiful people. You are the Balance, You are the Fold, You are the Sails that bring me Home…

I really loved the art museum in Forest Park as well - I visit the Art Hill/Pond every time I go to the city (more pictures of those for later posts) :)

I will forever remember my first hot air balloon festival :) Watching them lift off was the most cathartic experience (pleasantly surprising, for me). Something in me was set free as I watched all of them lift off into the sky. Maybe one day I will understand.

My friends, Darleen and Simon, got married and had their reception at Al Lopez Park. I had never been there, but had heard good things about the park, all related to BBQ’s and picnics. It’s right by the Raymond James Stadium on Himes Ave., so it was a really good location for the couple since the wedding ceremony was about 5 minutes away. 

Adam was awesome enough to help me with the shoot that day, so we set off early to scout out the place, mainly looking for good frames for making portraits. Adam was also awesome enough to model the frames for me :)

Ever since Angel had told me about the tree she found with heart shapes grown all over its trunk, I have been looking for such phenomena in nature. Here’s a cool tree and a plant with heart-shaped leaves:

These frames were discovered on the other side of the lake from the Hunt center:

and as we were trekking around the lake, we found a mossy turtle (or is it a tortoise?)! Moreover, that frame on the left is one of the favorite frames I’ve ever found…too bad we couldn’t bring the wedding party over here…any other couples want a nature shoot at Al Lopez? :)

This last one is another gorgeous frame I found. You can barely tell that it was hot and humid, or that just on the other side of the lake were hundreds of families partying…the light was really harsh, but the blue sky reflected off the water is just so beautiful and quiet :)

I’d say we had a great stroll around the little lake at Al Lopez…this is definitely a location to which I would come back for portraits. The frames were such fabulous finds!