Sneak Peek: Lorenz Family

Searching for the perfect stone...

...mission accomplished.

Just a quick peek...a beautiful family session of a mama and her two lovable boys on the beach.

Aliza

Three Girls in Dark Glasses in Indiana

We ran down hills through tall grasses and reeds. Leaves of gold, rust, and fire, cooled only by droplets of green. An earnest sun. A motionless spider. A cold marble slab covered in carmelized sweets. Bright blue eyes and a ride in a minivan. Holding a day, a moment in time before it races on. Two girls in dark glasses. Racing down the hill. One girl in dark glasses. Click the camera quickly. It looks like they were flying. Click the camera quickly to keep the day. And hold it still.

The day. It flew.

Bloomington, Indiana | October 2010

Aliza

Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue....Aquarium Tank

I don't know what it is about this photo, but I just keep staring at it. A baby beluga (cue the Raffi music) followed its mother, swimming through the murkiness of the deep salt water tank at the aquarium. As we watched from the viewing deck, many feet under water, mother and newborn traced circles around the depths of the tank. I couldn't help but wonder if the mother was purposefully teaching her child to swim and glide through the water, or inadvertently demonstrating patterns of boredom in captivity. The circular swim was mesmerizing. Each time their bulbous white bodies darted gracefully (yes, gracefully) past us, I aimed to freeze a moment with my camera, but with the very low light and surprising speed with which they sailed by, the images were nothing but a blur. So, I timed it differently. To get them as they swam towards us. Far enough away. Zoomed in. I love that the moment is so dark. So quiet, almost haunting. Hardly discernible. Just the curve of their bellies-up bodies, a hint of light from above. Just mama and baby, circling their own private ocean.



Aliza

"My Kind of Town, Chicago is..."

We boarded the early crack-o-dawn train, and sat next to passengers on their way to work. Home. Anywhere but here. The red-head in frizzy braids and sweatpants next to us conducted a loud private conversation on her phone. After hearing about her hangover aftermath at her third shift waitressing job due to five too many Red Bull and vodkas the previous evening, I was thankful that I had toasted my own bagel that morning. Newspapers whipped open. Used college textbooks were highlighted. Lipstick was applied. iPhone apps were downloaded. We watched the farm fields and small towns blur past us. And it was no time before we got there. We stepped outside and immediately looked up at the buildings, and the sun streaming through the few cotton ball clouds.

Our bitter rivals in all games athletic, their pride resting on their ketchup-less hotdogs and thick-crusted pizza, chewing gum and wind, gangsters and Oprah. Big buildings. Big airport. Big history. And all that jazz. Chicago. We spent the day 103 floors up, and under the sea before a sleepy, and quiet, ride home on the rails.

Chicago, Illinois
(Willis Tower Skydeck, Shedd Aquarium)

Aliza

Friday Thoughts: Up Nort' Wisconsin

Every year my husband's family travels "up nort' Wisconsin" with fifty of our closest family and friends. We rent out the same resort (I use this term verrrry loosely) and bum around for a week. I only took along my little Sony Cybershot point-&-shoot, because, believe it or not, I like to actually just stretch out face down on my pink South Beach Miami towel (talk about a cheap & useful souvenir!) and get my tan on. There's nothing like arriving at this resort (which could be marketed as a "diamond in the rough" or "an antique") after our four-hour drive with full bladders and finding our cottage's toilet sitting in the shower while the owner was crawling around trying to fix the plumbing. Welcome to vacation! At some point in between watching my nine-month old nephew eat half of the beach, mixing up enough bloody marys to quench the thirst of the entire population of a small African country, whacking my 10,000th skeeter, recording an acapella version of "Single Ladies" with my three year old niece on my hubby's iPhone (hours, literally hours of entertainment), building campfires that would make Smokey the Bear quit his job in frustration, having a "tea and crumpets" (read: "cran-apple juice and Cheez-Its") party on the beach with enough children to compose a decent-sized pre-school classroom, making my mother-in-law a salami sandwich so good that when it accidentally dropped in the sand, she shook it off and still ate it, and marveling that the "quaint" and "cozy" cottages have defeated all laws of physics and are still standing...I managed to grab this shot of friends both young, and, um, younger...ahhhh, vacation...nothing like it...

Rhinelander, Wisconsin | August 2010

Aliza

How Many Hearts Do You Count?

Sometimes a girl from the city needs to surround herself with the opposite. The crowded space filled with buildings, deadlines, meetings, emails, appointments, and housework fades away. The space fills up with hikes in the park, wine tastings, crossword puzzles, bookstore browsing, and mugs of hot coffee. Just a few hours in the car and we're there. Door County. Our getaway at times when Italy's not an option.

This is what we saw.
Do you see the hearts? How many do you count?

















Aliza

The Very Best Part of Spring

"Just now the lilac is in bloom | All before my little room."
~Rupert Brooke

All of these gorgeous lilacs grow in my sweet little backyard. Is there anything more perfect than the day when lilacs bloom to their fullest?

Aliza