Ellen Bennett Photography

Your Bio

Most of my creative existence has been spent as a pianist/composer. My feel for music parallels with what I see through the viewfinder.

I am captured by old buildings wherein the history speaks through its worn exteriors, animals in various stages of action or inaction, fog, and nature. These subjects possess a unique voice
and the camera gives that voice volume.

As a self-taught musician and photographer, I have composed not from any learned theory but from the visual and emotional aspect of the story.

I like to keep the image as clean and pure as possible. Luckily, the digital camera allows me a wide margin for trial and error.

I want you to see what I see, then seek the place in your own heart allowing you pause for thoughtfulness.



All photographs are copyrighted, Ellen Bennett Photography, 2005. No photographs may be reproduced without permission of Ellen Bennett, Ellen Bennett Photography.

Galleries

This Business of Horses : Training the athlete at the farm requires times and consistency. At the track, the same rules apply with the exception of an exercise rider on the back of the horse instead of one of us. Arlington Park, located northwest of Chicago, is a prestigeous track. The Backside is clean, orderly, and well run. The grandstands, paddocks, and public areas are meticulously groomed. We are fortunate to have several fields to train our horses near the farm. The farm is like grease in a machine: constantly in use. Note: Thanks to Josh Bosier for taking some shots of us riding.

This Business of Horses

Training the athlete at the farm requires times and consistency. At th ...

Updated: Jun 30, 2008 5:26pm PST

Back Roads : Back Roads in the country are main roads.

Back Roads

Back Roads in the country are main roads.

Updated: Jun 14, 2008 7:22pm PST

Mill : Kent Feeds/Railroad Street Mill is in Hastings, Michigan. Suzanne buys the horse grain and oats here and it is one of the last remaining working mills in Southwest Michigan. The owners, John and Sherry Cheeseman, say the lineage probably dates back as far as the 1930's. As you will see, the equipment is evidence of that time passage. There have been many owners of this mill, some of the outcrop buildings have changed, but the main mill remains where it was so many years ago. For these photographs, there was but one light bulb on in the working part of the mill. You will see this bulb on several of the photographs. It was located near the door, which made shooting a challenge. The outside lighting was cloudy and murky, so I used artificial flash lighting. I used my wide angle for most of the shots but used the Macro for more detailed stuff and the telephoto for the outdoor higher shots. The lighting was tricky to work with and my equipment list is quite short for this kind of work. I am intrigued not only with the evident history here, but the placement of objects, the smell of the sweet feed, and the dustiness of the surroundings. Quite a few of the lighter spots on the photographs which resemble 'blow out' are actually pockets of dust. I wanted, as I always do, composition.

Mill

Kent Feeds/Railroad Street Mill is in Hastings, Michigan. Suzanne buys ...

Updated: Dec 27, 2007 2:22pm PST

Under the Michigan Sky : Another work in progress. Living in the country affords me a different view of things depending upon the weather. I love the wide open spaces, the two lane roadways that stretch on. It might be miles before I see another vehicle, and sometimes it will be in the form of slow moving farm equipment. What the city offered to me in pace, the country offers in peace.

Under the Michigan Sky

Another work in progress. Living in the country affords me a differe ...

Updated: Dec 10, 2007 7:32am PST

Travels Abroad : Here are some photographs from a recent cruise I took with my mother. We sailed from Barcelona to Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples, and Palermo. It was a quick trip, only one day in each port. But I fell in love with Florence and Sicily. Was inspired and intrigued at Pompeii, and would like to spend more time in Rome. I took hundreds of photogs, in time I will download more. Enjoy the visit.

Travels Abroad

Jody's Kitchen : Kitchen Culture. Nothing quite like it.

Jody's Kitchen

Kitchen Culture. Nothing quite like it.

Updated: Apr 23, 2006 12:10pm PST

Stasis and Birth : Rarely do they die, they just wait until Spring in stasis. Twisted, gnarled, softly intersecting, their branches have a life of their own.

Stasis and Birth

Rarely do they die, they just wait until Spring in stasis. Twisted, gn ...

Updated: Apr 23, 2006 11:41am PST

Fog : These photographs were taken in various locations around the country.

Fog

These photographs were taken in various locations around the country.

Updated: Dec 30, 2005 6:57am PST

City of Boston : It might be the most expensive city to live in these days, but there is sure a lot of good fodder for the viewfinder!

City of Boston

It might be the most expensive city to live in these days, but there i ...

Updated: Dec 04, 2005 8:55am PST

Nature : Its all around us, we just forget to look sometimes.

Nature

Its all around us, we just forget to look sometimes.

Updated: Nov 12, 2005 12:26pm PST

Portal : A portal is the beginning and the ending of any story.

Portal

A portal is the beginning and the ending of any story.

Updated: Nov 10, 2005 7:53am PST

Black and White : Always the artistic form

Black and White

Always the artistic form

Updated: Oct 31, 2005 11:42am PST