Monday, July 24, 2006

New Images in Gallery

I've updated my gallery to add some new favorites. (All taken in Colorado!)
www.bethriserphotography.com/Gallery_Home.html

Enjoy!

Friday, July 07, 2006

E. B. White's Birthday

I found out by reading a newsletter, just minutes after posting my spider web image, that E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web was born July 11, 1899. Happy Birthday, Elwyn. Now I need a picture of a pig.

That reminds me of the last pig-like creature that I saw. It was a red river hog at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs a few weekends ago. This zoo is great. Take your hiking shoes, good directions to and from, and go early before the storms kick up. http://www.cmzoo.org/

Wishing for spiders


Being from the East Coast, I could always find a wonderful spider web with dew on it. Last spring I decided there were no spiders here in my part of the world that created the beautiful webs, so I bought a wooden spider-attracting frame from Target to lure them to my backyard. It was just a simple wooden frame, like a giant bubble blower from a bottle, one that supposedly would attract spiders to build their web in it. It lasted one week — a snow storm came and broke the frame from the heavy wetness. Well, I suppose the word got out somehow that I wanted spiders, 'cause later that summer we suddenly had these giant spiders under our deck.

The creatures were definitely a little freaky at first, one was about an inch long. I did some research and found out they were "cat-faced spiders." If you tailgate this spider, it's rear end actually looks like the face of a cat with ears and all. Seriously. They are harmless garden spiders that create the beautiful webs that I recall from Virginia. Some of their webs last summer grew to three feet in diameter.

This morning I went in the back yard to cut a few roses for my girls' breakfast table and on the way back up the stairs I saw a five-inch web freshly spun, and absolutely, perfectly symmetrical. So, of course, I had to take a picture of it.

Then Chloe came outside and stood at the top of the steps with the sun behind her, giving her this amazing halo. The beauty of nature . . .

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Tracy & Tim's Wedding

I recently photographed a wedding for a friend. I'm just starting to photograph weddings. Here's a slideshow of a few images from the evening:

http://www.bethriserphotography.com/slideshows/tim_tracy/

The wedding was at the Pines in Genesee, Colorado.
http://www.thepinesatgenesee.com/

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Garden & Outdoor Sessions

Here's a slideshow to show mostly gardens, Hudson Gardens, the Denver Botanic Gardens and then a few backyards. It's comprised of only about six sessions.
www.bethriserphotography.com/slideshows/gardens

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Jones Soda

I thought it would be fun to submit photos from sessions and other photographic moments to the Jones Soda website to try to get a photograph on a soda label. I have a few up at the moment, but with client's permission, will try to put up one image from each session.

Go to www.jonessoda.com/gallery and do a search for "Beth Riser." You'll see the ones I've uploaded so far. Unfortunately, it's slow to load because they require large files. Have a great 4th!