Four is a great age!

Working with children is such a pleasure! It reminds me of when I did my student teaching with the middle schoolers. You never knew what personalities would emerge from day to day. It keeps you laughing and on your toes!

Photographing kids is much the same! Ask them to do something silly, sing a song, or get them talking about their favorite story and you never know what will happen. So if you're the one behind the camera, like me, be prepared!

Four year olds can be concrete in their thinking, so when I asked Joe to do something that didn't make sense to him for great picture making, he shot me this look. Write you own caption for this one! Frankly, I think it would make a great GAP Kids ad!

Dance, Dance, Dance!

Sometimes it's a blessing to be oblivious to what's going on around you. My 2 1/2 year old niece has this technique down pat! She spent a week with me recently, while her 4 year old brother underwent heart surgery to correct a congenital defect. Her parents and grandmother stayed with us and it was a difficult time during the early days of recovery.

But for Ella, it was all about singing songs, making up funny phrases, taking bubble baths and dancing in the studio! I danced with her, sang with her and made up funny phrases too. All the while her "live in the moment" lessons were relieving the stress everyone was feeling. If it was a long day at the hospital, you could always look forward to fun time with Ella when you got home.

This is one small reason why I love to photograph children. Like dogs, they live in the moment and that's such a sweet space to be in!

Good things come in small packages!

Babies, babies, babies! There's been a mini baby boom in my neighborhood this summer! Lots of new cute faces and the sound of a new baby's cry eminating from the neighborhood when I'm walking the dogs.

With new babies comes new children to photograph and new ways to present the newest member of the family. It's always fun for me to think about how to show off this precious new gift and so with great enthusiasm, I went to work with my neighbor's newborn. A peaceful child from day one, George Andrew made my role easy!

As I always go to the newborn's home, I could right away see that the couch was the perfect backdrop. We found a suitable window for the best light and after a quick meal, he was ready for a nap. A little bow tying and positioning and for a moment, I felt like Anne Geddes!

I combined the photo with my card (front) template and it fit the image to a "T." He's all wrapped up for his big presentation to the world! Welcome!

Mental Maps

My summer reading has included the book "DEEP SURVIVAL" by Laurence Gonzales which is a dissection of the characteristics of survivors. Centered mostly on surviving wilderness situations, Gonzales talks about "updating" your mental maps and changing plans according to the information before you. (Non-survivors actually ignore this info!)

So last night I went out to photograph the full moon. My mental map imagined it coming up over Lake Michigan with some rocks in the foreground. Guess what? I missed the best night to photograph the full moon by 2 days (check the calendar Peg!). So I changed my "mental map" and started looking around and I quickly found it!

I set up the camera/tripod and waited for the light to fall off even more so that the lights in the buildings were brighter. I made one image every minute. It was a nice summer night hanging out by the lake with the water splashing against the rocks and muted sounds of the city. All because I changed my mental map!

Senior Summers

Wow - I can't believe it's August! Long days of sun make the Senior season go fast but it's not over yet. These days find me still having fun photographing high school senors. I've always enjoyed this age group! From teaching at the high school level to coaching them in Track and Field, I love their perspective on life - the glass is half full.

With that in mind, I head outdoors at this time of year to make portraits that show who these young people really are. In an hour and half, we come away with some "storytelling" images of who they are. Parents express their awe in how natural their senior seems in their portraits and how real they appear.

So what if it's August then! I'll be photographing Seniors into the fall so you need to get in gear and check this off your list, give me a call - 414.550.5340

Lean Into the Corners . . .

The dogs days of summer are here and that means hot day on the bicycle! You know, the kind of day when you have to make your own wind by going faster on the bike. The only problem with that solution for cooling is when you stop, the sweat flows and makes one's clothes "stick," even after you've stopped sweating!

Although it wasn't quite as hot for the Downer Ave. Bike race, these guys were generating lots of heat. This racer was caught on "Collision Corner", for which I have coined the name, due to the high number of accidents each year. I'm always amazed at their muscle memory and ability to keep the bikes so close together and still upright. The concentration and hand-eye-foot coordination must be just right.

But this guy had found a little "pedal room" and was clicking into a higher gear. So I thought of the metaphor found in this image: just lean into the corner and all will be alright!

Stylin' at the Race

Good times happen on the East Side of Milwaukee, the last weekend of every July! It's called the Downer Ave. Bike Race, which is part of the International Cycling Classic. Cyclists compete in this challenging urban race while locals and out-of-towners alike gather to watch them cruise past - pulling wind along with them. Treacherous corners and downhill straight-a-ways make for some dramatic action.

Even if you aren't a fan of bicycling, you've got to walk around and enjoy the people watching. This young man got a close up feel for the wind blowing through, or should I say by, his hair as the cyclists zoomed by.

See you at GALLERY NIGHT/DAY!

Hey everybody! When you get done having fun down on Bradford Beach, head on over to the Third Ward for Gallery Night festivities! Be sure to check out the Light Ideas Gallery in the Marshall Building (corner of Water St. and Buffalo St.) in the Lower Level. (A parking structure is at the corner of Chicago and Water and parking is free on Gallery Night!)

I'm showing 8 spectacular images from Alaska, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Montana! You can preview the show by going to the "outside" portfolio on www.peggymorsch.com Most of these images were made while on solo trips, including a drive to Alaska and back with my two dogs. I'll be at the Gallery from 6 - 10:00 p.m. on Friday, July 27 and 10:00 - 3:00 on Saturday, July 28.

In addition, check out the awesome, framed portraits of kids, dogs, and families that grace the other side of the gallery! It's is been a while since your family has had a portrait, now's the time. The first 5 people to ask me about photograping their family will receive a $100 Gift Card! See you there!

Gallery Night Show

Mark your calendars for Friday, July 27th and Saturday, July 28th because it's the summer Gallery Night in Milwaukee, WI!

This is where I kick off my new business name: PEGGY MORSCH life photography, and show nine (9) finely matted and framed nature images from solo trips since 1998. Can you say Alaska? Some of the images are from there, as well as Montana and Wisconsin. Besides these signed, limited editions, there will be a smaller prints available for purchase as well as some fine note cards. Additionally, I'll have some choice, framed portrait pieces hung as well. People and places - that's what I'm about!

Come early for some "adult beverages" and talk with me about what each of those solo adventures brought in the way of personal insight as well as photographic imagery. The first 5 new people I speak with will leave with a Gift Card valued at $100. Come early!

Check out the images at www.milwaukeestock.com and click on "New Photographers Gallery" on left side. See you there!
Peggy

Sweet Taste

My work recently found me in the historic town of Cape May, NJ for a professional photography workshop. While we were indoors stretching our minds, the sun was shining and finally warming up the earth after a long, cold spring. After class I swooped into the downtown area to see folks swarming around the local fudge and ice cream shop. Ice Cream! There's nothing like your first outdoor ice cream cone when the weather beckons us to shed layers of clothes.

She was having fun eating that ice cream cone. Her eyes sparkled as she that sweet taste of sugar and cream melted in her mouth. I asked to make a few photos of her and she obliged. Then suddenly her child came out and she stuck her tongue out at me. It was a playful motion. One that said I dare you to take my photo now. Truth is, I missed it. But this one still captured the warm evening and a love affair with a cone in Cape May.

A Summer Sail

While it's snowing today, the day before Easter, when Spring should be blooming and birds singing, I needed to go back and work on some "warmer looking" images to get myself in a springtime mood. Here's one!

Last summer we took our nephew out on the Dennis Sullivan schooner for an excursion on Lake Michigan. It's a replica of the type of schooners that used to sail Lake Michigan regularly, ferrying freight from port to port in the 1800's.

The weather was drizzling, warm and the ride, thankfully smooth when sailing inside the breakwater. The sails caught a bit of a summer breeze and the passengers enjoyed the view. I think this image tells the story of the evening sail quite well. Quiet, skies somewhat foreboding and the canvas sails from yesteryear.

Catch a ride on the Dennis S. Sullivan at Discovery World in Milwaukee, WI.

Down with the old. . .

Time demands change and nothing could be truer in the field of construction. In my neighborhood, it's the construction of Columbia-St. Mary's new hospital and the destruction of an old medical office building that once housed the St. Mary's Nursing School.

I'd watched this building be prepared for demolition - windows gone, doorways boarded up and nothing but early morning sunlight pouring through openings that had long been closed up. But it was the brick by brick process of the tearing down that caught my eye.

I watched the human-directed robot make brick and stone collaspe like legos. It took less than 5 minutes to take down a column of brick and mortar and I reflected on the number of muscles and minutes it would have taken to put it all up.

When he and the robot neared the large stone that formed the front, main entrance, I felt a twinge of sadness. Here it took but a single pneumatic shove to loosen this heavy stone from its moors and see it tumble down to its demise. When he tried the cornice piece at the top of the arch, it held. Perhaps it was pure stuborness on the stone's part - it wasn't ready to go just yet. In what seemed like a show of respect, he moved away from emblematic piece of stonework and found a weaker point to work on. Another day.

A New View

Have you ever seen some of the old photographs of cities? Seen the old cars, old clothing styles on people as they crossed the street, and the older buildings created by craftsmen? When I recently went to the top of a new parking garage in Milwaukee, I had that kind of dejavu.

As I framed up the image, just wanting to capture the light, late snowfall coming down on a popular East Side intersection, I thought of the old images I'd seen of Milwaukee in the early 1900's. Some photographer saw it fit to record day to day activities as they unfolded on the street.
lk
And there I was, doing the same thing! Documenting the same pedestrian happenings. The billboards, the tailights of the cars, and the snow falling, But there was something different about my image. Something that separated it from those images made long ago - it was color. When the truck moved into the intersection I was snapped back to the present, still documenting, but showing a different perspective to an image that was unavailable years ago.

For the Love of Dogs

Dog show in town - gotta take the camera and GO! Lots of canines looking their very best while owners/handlers are desperately trying to get them groomed to perfection in time for their "romp around the ring."

No question about it - I like dogs. With an English Pointer (field) and a Coonhound mix tucked in at home, I set out to record some of the behind the scenes action and check out some of my favorite breeds. I'm comforted by the fact that closeness, devotion, loyalty and concern is given freely across the borders of species and I usually seek that out when working with canines and their owners. There was lots of that action to catch. Owners kissing their dogs in the ring, standing next to them with a comforting hand on their head or a puppy, too young for the action, curled up on its owner's lap.

She didn't know I was watching; didn't care that my eye had spotted her "lovin up" the dog that laid on the grooming table, enduring yet another "fluff and buff" before the show. That honest smile and gentle acceptance by the dog says it all. Who cares about "Best in Show" when the lead up into the ring is where it's at!

Mysterious Dancers

Walking my dogs each day has opened my eyes to the changes that occur in my little micro environment called Lake Park. Each season brings out slight nuances that appear due to time of day, light changes and of course, weather.

It was early January when unusual warmth came to Milwaukee and melted some of the snow. The melted moisture made its way into the atmosphere as ground fog and like magic, Lake Park became this ethereal, mystical landscape.

I took the dogs home and went back to the "dancers" I'd walked by moments ago. They they were, frozen in position while the ground fog moved around them. Keeping my "what if" philosophy going, I made images from different angles and positions. This one gave me that settled feeling of knowing that I had on film what I had in my heart.