© 2024 Nick Wilkes Photography. All rights reserved. A Madison WI portrait and commercial photographer serving Madison, Milwaukee and southern Wisconsin. Site by Isthmus Design.
Family
Went out to Muscoda again this year to photograph this crew, less all the relatives and plus a new little brother. They have this perfect little getaway cabin, tucked up in the hills, full of splendid winter sunshine and warmth. And if you can manage to break away from the coziness, there is a beautiful forest with big oaks and lots of trail to stomp around in. And you get to do it all with Darwin the dog, who I simply adore. Lucky guy, I am.
The early freeze-down this year has had me a little bummed, as I always feel like I can count on November for being perfect: highs 40 - 50 degrees, beautiful monotone landscapes of 100s of shades of browns, crunchy leaves, crisp air, empty parks, etc. November is often a month filled with personal climbing trips and lots of pre-holiday family portrait shoots, but the cold has slowed things down on both fronts. Despite some crushed hopes, I really enjoy the variety Wisconsin weather brings; adversity always raises new opportunities and keeps the adventure alive in what otherwise might grow routine.
While I would rather shoot outside any day of the week, when it is raining down freezing drizzle and the steps to my clients' home is a skating rink... then we work inside. A good time to have some fast, wide lenses, which is why I decided this shoot would be the perfect excuse to buy the 35mm lens I have been thinking about for a while. So this session ended up being almost entirely shot with that new lens, and I loved the opportunities the glass opened up for us.
I love it when families want to do an urban shoot. Not that Madison is that "urban," but shooting along an urban corridor is just a lot different - in a challenging, good way - than shooting in a park. More difficult, I think, because the hard lines of the city don't naturally place to the warm, intimate feeling most families are looking for. But shooting in a city neighborhood feels more day-to-day than park romping and I like that authenticity.
The black and white image of this little boy holding his dad's hand... it might be my favorite capture of the 2014. I can't think of one I like more. It has a timeless feel to it, and his eyes are so dead-on sharp and beautiful.
After moving back to Madison in 2010, we spent a few years exploring different apple orchards before landing on a place we loved last year: Door Creek Orchard. I think this orchard is pretty popular, but we go during the week around 4:30 and it's pretty quiet. Tom, one of the owners, is always really sweet with the boys, telling us about his unique Black Welsh Mountain sheep, letting Basti ride his tractor, and even providing dinner recommendations. And the setting here is pretty idyllic, with a gorgeous farmhouse and barn overlooking the expansive wetlands below.
If all these things vanished, however, I would still come here for the fantastic apples alone. Door Creek grows an Empire apple that is currently my very favorite eating apple. We bought $35 worth, thinking they would last us into December, but they are already almost gone. A testament to their flavor, or our gluttony... you decide.
These three girls are absolute sweethearts. And God bless their mother for getting them all rested up before the shoot, so they were ready to run like crazy until I could corner in some way or another. She was worried about the girls being difficult, but they were so perfect: full of life and emotion and expressing so much independence and love for the world. Can't beat it. Yes, I ran myself ragged... and yes, the mosquitoes were ridiculous... but adversity and adventure is a great recipe for awesome images.
As always, it's a wonderful honor to capture a fleeting moment in one family's evolution. Everything passes so quickly. I'm excited to look at these images with these girls in twenty years and see what memories they evoke. I don't think they will remember the shoot, but perhaps what is was like to be that age, what sisterhood was like then, how their experience of their mother has changed over years. Fun to think about.
Our friends came up from Oconomowoc on a Sunday evening, and since Maya was still elbows-deep in dinner preparations, we made a quick escape to the other side of the neighborhood for a shoot. I hadn't photographed these girls for a couple years, and I missed their charms.
B.B. Clarke Beach is a favorite summer hangout for our family. I think it's probably my favorite beach in Madison, mostly because the beautiful shaded hillside gracing the shoreline creates some elevation and perspective in a town and landscape that can be short on both. It's a little swimming auditorium where folks can go to watch a show of splashing revelers, diving board performers, and sleeping sunbathers. A neighborhood treasure.
When you work with a people who love each other like crazy - whether it's a family, co-workers, a group of friends, whatever - it's pretty easy to capture with a camera. I feel so lucky to know people like these.
At the cusp of adding another member to the family, the Horibes met up with me at Olin-Turville Park on Lake Monona for a photo romp. We shared a great picnic, ran around, swatted bugs, found a frog, waded in the water. It was good fun. And I was reminded how fun it is to hang out with kids when my own aren't around.
We are so fortunate to have hundred-year-old city parks to enjoy in Madison. The big, fat oaks at OTP are so damn gorgeous. They are the definition of picnic trees. Olin-Turville is such a great resource... if the lake were not between it and downtown, it would get tons of foot traffic. It would be like Central Park. But for some reason, the spit of John Nolan Drive is enough to keep most folks away, and the paths through the forest and fields of Turville Point are some of the most peaceful in the city. Thanks to the folks with the foresight to create places like this for us.
When it's finally warm enough to go outside and scoot with abandon... that's joy. Nice to feel spring approaching, slow but steady.
Headed west on Saturday for a family portrait session on Saturday. Jeremy said his family built their cabin near Muscoda because they felt it was "kinda off the radar." Yeah, I'll say. I had only been through Muscoda once before, and though I was enamored with it, I did not think I'd ever be back there for a portrait shoot. But opportunity struck and I was psyched to follow State Route 60 (aka The River Road) down the Wisconsin to the 40-acres retreat these folks use to escape the city.
A few notes:
• A "cabin" does not always denote a humble log cabin affair in the woods. Sometimes a "cabin" is really something more.
• It's pronounced Musk-a-day, not Mus-co-da. I'm not sure how anyone would figure that out on their own.
• There's are numerous hidden sandstone parapets and buttresses in the driftless terrain west of Lone Rock. These guys had two really neat formations hidden in the trees, up on the ridge. Wondering if there could be a secret climbing crag somewhere in the territory?
I might be in the minority, but I think the best holiday cards look seasonal. The holiday season is cold, but we can't let that stop us, especially when we all have layers and layers of wool, leather, and down in our closets. It's usually in the 10's or 20's here in December, so when I see families looking bundled up and cozy together, having a great time despite the minor inconvenience of 7-degree windchill factor... those cards gets to be on top of the fridge. Solidarity!
On the other hand... those conditions are tough to shoot in, and I never wish for that kind of weather. But that's what we got last week, and this family pulled through in high style. I compliment their spirit and love the shots we walked away with. Thanks for setting the record for my coldest portrait shoot ever!