brooklyn scenes from hurricane irene

More than once this weekend I thought about blogging while we were holed up and preparing for Hurricane Irene to come tearing through Brooklyn. Instead, it proved to be an opportune time to catch up on sleep, paint my dining room, and lazily watch some over-the-top news coverage of the storm. (“IT’S THE SIZE OF EUROPE!”) While the damage in New York City definitely doesn’t hold a candle to what’s going on in parts of New Jersey and Vermont, I wanted to share some of these Brooklyn scenes of the storm and its aftermath.

Did you venture out into the storm? Have shots you’d like to share? Send ‘em our way – we’d love to see them.

“Fun in DUMBO,” by BSEinBrooklyn:

“Irene’s Aftermath,” by Ed Brydon:

“Fallen Bee Hive” and “Fort Greene,” by Marta Curry:

“Hurricane Irene,” by Josh Derr:

Untitled, by Todd Sheridan and “My Very Lucky Friends,” by David Pexton:

“Car Wash,” by Andrew Mohrer:

“Irene’s Aftermath,” by Ed Brydon:

“The Wonderfully Underwhelming Irene,” by Warren Jackson:

“Hurricane Irene,” by Josh Derr:

world photography day

Wow, I can hardly believe it’s been a whole month since I last posted. You would think I’d want to get my act together for World Photography Day and celebrate the invention of the Daguerreotype or something. Shame.

Turns out traveling every week for work is pretty exhausting, or else I’m just a sissy. While my schedule hasn’t been great for blogging, it’s been way fun for Instagram’ing and getting questioned at airport security every time I drag my beast of a camera anywhere. Guess I’ll have to postpone for the next photography holiday. Ahem.

It feels great to be back in New York. I’m feeling strangely creative and inspired this week, so I wanted to share a few inspiring photos and wish everyone a good week. I hope to share lots more this week!

“Best Canal in NYC,” by Peter Kruger:

“The Back Weeds (Jamaica Bay),” by Peter Puleo:

“KO LMAN,” by Adam Lerner:

“Oscar,” by Ian T West:

Untitled, by Lucy Aboytes:

“Dreadstuy,” by Lyouba Assadourova:

“C-Rock and Black, East New York,” by Chris Arnade:

“Roadblock, Brooklyn Bridge Park,” by Ed Brydon:

high contrast in lower manhattan

Last night, I ended up taking a walk through lower Manhttan and the Financial District on my way home to Brooklyn. Because my shopping trip wasn’t going so well, it turned into more of a Hipstamatic photowalk, and I can’t say I was that disappointed. There’s something so gratifying about shooting with my iPhone – it never gets old and there’s always a new app to try!

For those of you Hipstamatic / Instagram geeks like me, I’m in love with the Matty ALN / AO BW lens/film combo. I just love the super moody contrast it creates:

Maybe my very favorite shot from the night – and potentially a future photo shoot because how fun would it be to stake this spot out for an hour or two – was this ice cream truck that parks at the head of Wall Street and serves all the bankers getting off work. Kids in a candy shop, I swear:

And certainly, the post-work commuter crowd was looking dapper and a constant source of inspiration:

Ahhh, now back to the air-conditioned comfort of sweltering Brooklyn! Hope y’all are staying cool in this heatwave!

brooklyn mixtape: summer in the city!

A month ago, Anna over at doorsixteen.com opened my eyes to a great website / mobile app called 8tracks, which allows you to curate and upload your own mixtape, share with friends, and stream the music from anywhere! I know that everyone’s jam right now seems to be Spotify (tweet me or leave a comment if you need an invite) but the allure of the mixtape is probably why I still have BOXES of them sitting at home in my old bedroom at my parents’ house. I just love how personal they are.

I put together a mix of eight summery songs I adore — featuring Brooklyn-loving bands, naturally — which you can stream below. You can find me over at 8tracks as jillysp and who knows? Maybe I’ll share more tapes here on the blog in the future! Hope you enjoy!