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nyc: the soundtrack

Tomorrow I fly to New York City to meet Ben for my birthday weekend. He is there for two weeks on business, and so we decided to combine a happy reunion with Happy Birthday! I have been working furiously to get ahead at school so I can actually enjoy my time away, while also making time to read a few dozen restaurant reviews.

In preparation, I have made a playlist for the trip. I am fairly proud of the end result (equal parts romance, sass and celebration), but I am still looking for suggestions. What song would be on your ultimate NYC soundtrack?

-a

Theme from New York, New York byFrank Sinatra  

A-Punk by Vampire Weekend

City of Blinding Lights by U2

No Sound But the Wind by Editors

NYC-Gone,Gone by Conor Oberst

Bad Romance by Lady GaGa 

Just Dance by Lady GaGa & Colby O'Donis

The Only Living Boy In New York by Simon & Garfunkel  

1901 by Phoenix 

Yer So Bad by Tom Petty

To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High) by Ryan Adams

Positively 4th Street by Bob Dylan

Downtown Train by Tom Waits 

Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys) by Jay-Z

Electric Feel by MGMT

New York City Blues by The Yardbirds   

Next Exit by Interpol

I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers 

Miss You by The Rolling Stones

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out by  Bruce Springsteen 

(Antichrist Television Blues) by Arcade Fire  

Kids by  MGMT 

becca and elliott's day-after preview

I am sitting in a coffee shop outside of D.C. right now, having just shot a great wedding here last night.  Elliott's family are old friends of the Kirkbrides, and they have meant a lot to Abby and I over the years. 

The ceremony and reception were at the beautiful Raspberry Plain in Leesburg, VA, with a bluegrass band, dancing and amazing food.  The whole thing took place during a snow storm, but Becca and Elliott were troopers and trudged through the snow with me for portraits.  

Here are a few pictures from the day. 

-b

 

  

 

 

why i go to school

When I was a junior in college, I learned that there is nothing in the Bible which says that heaven will entail standing in a grassy field while wearing a gauzy white gown, playing the lyre and singing praise choruses ad nasuem. It was such a relief after everything I had seen in my Bible story books as a child.

This week, I learned that until 2008 there had never been a U.S. Supreme Court ruling which affirmed an individual's right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Growing up in Wyoming I assumed that was an unquestionable privilege, akin to the right to own a large truck or drink Budweiser.

Revelations like this make the countless hours and dollars spent on higher education worth it. (And I am not being facetious--I might never have found out otherwise.)

-a

ding dong, the bells are gonna chime

I have finally put up a website focused on my wedding work. 

BenjaminRasmussenWeddings.com

I have shot a handful of weddings every year for the past several years, and I love what they add to my life as a photographer. So much of my time is spent trying to create beautiful images in tough situations, but weddings are tailor-made to be beautiful. I just get to hang out all day with a couple who is totally in love, which makes my job so much easier.

It is exciting to start doing some weddings in the U.S. again. (I cannot remember the last wedding I was at where the reception lasted less than seven hours, as the Faroese ones usually do.) 

I am still only going to be doing a handful of weddings this year (probably around 10), and two of those spots are already taken.  So if you are getting married, drop me a line.

I have also decided to sweeten the deal for those who aren't getting married. Anyone who refers a couple to me who book me for their wedding gets $100 in the mail. Consider it my little economic stimulus package.

Here are some of my favorite images from over the years that I found while putting the site together.

 

 

 

 

 

-b

O Captain! My Captain!

This weekend Ben passed through my hometown on the way back from a work trip. He was lucky to get a morning of fine weather to go cattle feeding with my Dad. For my siblings and I, this was the activity where we got our first taste of driving, accurate-steer-counting, digging out a snowbound pickup truck, and struggling with 50 lb. sacks of feed. For Dad, it is the daily ritual that embodies the ranching lifestyle. On a good day it means lovely weather, a companionable dog, healthy animals, and the satisfaction of stewardship. On a bad day it is a parade of frustrations: broken fences, numbingly hard work, sick steers, frozen hands.

We kids admire (stand in awe of) Dad's faithfulness and skill at this work. And on a day like the one pictured here, with dramatic Wyoming skies, golden grass and the fluff of Angus fur, we envy Ben.

-a&b

new year's day walk

Abby and I are in Arkansas with my family enjoying a break from work and school.  This is the first time that the whole family has been together in over five years, and the first Christmas in seven years. 

-b

oh rosemary plant, how lovely are thy branches

Merry Christmas! This year Ben and I went for the Christmas tree that keeps on giving--namely, a sprightly Rosemary plant from our neighborhood grocery store. She is a perfect miniature stand-in, and smells lovely to boot. She and Mr. Basil will be traveling with us to Wyoming and Arkansas over our break so that we may enjoy them into the spring.

-a

P.S. When I asked Ben to take a photo of the tree, I pictured something cozy with warm yellow lights. I think he made it look like a film noir villain.

celebrate

"The Incarnation took all that properly belongs to our humanity and delivered it back to us, redeemed. All of our inclinations and appetites and capacities and yearnings and proclivities are purified and gathered up and glorified by Christ. He did not come to thin out human life; He came to set it free. All the dancing and feasting and processing and singing and building and sculpting and baking and merrymaking that belong to us, and that were stolen away into the service of false gods, are returned to us in the gospel."

-Thomas Howard, Evangelical is Not Enough

he's cute and talented

This afternoon we got Ben's most recent cookbook in the mail from the Faroe Islands. To clarify, he did not cook the delicious dishes; he just made them look that way in the photographs. He shot the images for a dessert cookbook last year, and this summer he returned to work with the same chef and art director for a second outing.

Ben's first love is the work he is able to do in conflict zones and with struggling communities across the globe. How embarrassing for him to have a wife who thinks that his cookbooks are his finest work! 

I jest, but I do also love his food photography. It evokes the great work going on in Australia and Denmark with lifestyle photography: clean, bright and naturally lit, vibrant colors. It appears the book is available online, but I am unsure if international shipping is available. The bookstore's Web site said it was the best selling book in the country last week!

I am sorry for all of you who don't live in the Faroe Islands and/or do not read Faroese, because you are missing out on some wonderful food. I am grateful that the one linguistic skill I have retained from our year living in the Faroes is reading recipes. I plan to try the meringue-topped rhubarb cake over Christmas break.

Great job Ben, Oddvør and Ingibjørg!

-a

Thanksgiving

I picked up a Rolleiflex 3.5F in late September. It is a beautiful little piece of German engineering and her name is Imelda, after the former first lady of the Philippines. (Abby names my cameras after dictators, so Imelda has joined Joseph Stalin, Our Dear Leader and Co.) 

I am finally taking some time to get film scanned and edited, and it is so nice to use analog again.  It is refreshing to work with something more tangible than megapixels and sensors.

These are from our trip up to Wyoming to see Abby's family over Thanksgiving.

 

 

-b