RaceyTay brings me back to "New York in Autumn"

I've been following Canadian Tracey's (aka RaceyTay's) photography for a while now. Her motto, "I brake for bokeh," pretty much says it all: she loves shallow depth of field and the soft, light blur of subjects in the background. (Bokeh, taken from the Japanese word meaning "blur", is the Americanized version of Boke, since most Americans mispronounced it as rhyming with "spoke", but it is pronounced like "BO-kah.")

 Anyway, how lucky was I to learn that after entering in her super popular online contest, I won a free print from her? The only hard part was choosing! I finally decided on this piece:

I adore the dreamy bokeh of sunlight and fence post in this piece! And the colors are classic and creamy. I can't wait to hang this on my wall!  I'll be reminded of the place my sister lives every time I look at it.

Besides gorgeous fences ("fenceh", as she likes to say) Tracey also works her unique magic on everyday sightings like bicycles, ferris wheels, and birds- her bird photography is downright amazing on its own, but check out this incredible capture of a "Greedy Blue Jay" available in her shop, and you'll get a sense of her humor and personality as well!:

Tracey's online shop is well worth visiting! You'll soon see why her work is so popular. And even cooler, she creates her own- FREE- presets and actions for use in Lightroom and Photoshop, so that we can all have fun glowifying our photos! Check her blog for those free goodies!

I was a Guest Blogger! (plus, Contest Winner!)

Sounds like a bad reality TV show, but in fact it was a really fun and eye-opening opportunity provided to me by photographer Katrina King. She's taking a break from blogging (yes, the horror!) for Lent and has invited others to join her in contributing to her site. Check out her entire blog, and then view my guest post here!
In fact, this was so fun I might continue the theme.

 

"The Gathering Storm"  by Emma Newson

More exciting news....I'm the proud Valentine's Day winner of a new photograph print by photographer Emma Newson of the UK! I was so surprised when she convo'd me this morning on Etsy to tell me about it. My favorite print of hers, "The Gathering Storm," (above)  is being shipped to me now, coming all the way from Europe. Woo hoo!  Learn all about Emma and see her gorgeous photography blog, Emma in Wonderland!