Artists of the Boro Calendar
April's "Rain Sun," shot by Virginia Lincoln from her front door, was totally spontaneous. "We were in the middle of a thunderstorm and I went to check the ponding that often happens in our yard," she said. "I could see that the sun was streaming rays of light down to the street. I grabbed my iPhone and took the photo." Her inspiration? None. "If I see a view, whether natural or architectural, and I have a camera handy, I take a photo," says Virginia, who has lived in Glen Rock since 1991. The Rain Sun image resides in one of her 60-odd scrapbooks – she dabbles in art journaling, altered books, collage art and the like – preserving images of trips and family. It's also in a calendar she made for her father. Virginia is a retired Essex County prosecutor and defense attorney, now president of the 60-voice NJ Choral Society in Ridgewood, where she has been a member since 1987 and a Board trustee since 1993. Her vocalizing began in high school. "A scheduling error put me in Glee Club instead of the art class I selected, and I've been in a chorus ever since." Virginia's passion for photography started with a gift on her 10th birthday, a Kodak Instamatic in a hard case with a neck strap. "It made me feel like a photojournalist, and once I started taking photos, I could not stop, moving from Kodaks to Canons when I was 14." In high school, she learned how to develop black and white film and print photos in a darkroom, even setting one up in her parents' basement. These days, she uses her tiny Olympus Pen to take High Dynamic Range photos, requiring three or more exposures to get the right mix of light and dark. She snaps with the iPhone - with its praiseworthy panorama feature - for social media and other situations, "depending on circumstances and what's closest at hand." To see more of her work, visit instagram.com/nj2nh.photography/. |