Photography | Smart Alice Blog: Web Design, Photography & Random Thoughts

Scenes from a vacation during COVID-19

18. September 2020 · 5 comments · Categories: Photography, Places

We rented a houseboat and trolled the waters of Voyageurs National Park. Just the 3 of us and the woods.

We towed a motor boat at the back of the houseboat and took it out to explore the park. There are no roads or bridges – you can only get around by water.

Exploring Namakan Lake

Mitchell Bay on Namakan Lake

Rocky wrestles with the outboard.

Kettle Falls Hotel, the bar with slanted floor. You get there by boat of course.

Hiking near the hotel.

At the edge of Randolph Bay, Namakan Lake

Breakfast on a houseboat. The ladder in the background leads to the “penthouse” bedroom. It has room for a double mattress and the ceiling is about 4 feet high.

Moored at Randolph Bay

Randolph Bay

Securing the motorboat to the back of the houseboat is tricky.

Mission accomplished

Cliffs on Grassy Bay off Sand Point Lake

Our intrepid captain

The rocks here are 2.5 billion years old

Moored at Wolf Point in Crane Lake

With nothing but water and woods, there is no light pollution. The night sky is spectacular.

Where the Vermillion River enters Crane Lake

Moss garden on the Vermillion Gorge trail

Vermillion River

Vermillion River

4 Friends | 4 Photographers | 4 Ways of Seeing

22. August 2019 · Comments Off · Categories: Photography

Alice, Lynsey, Barry, & Fred visit the Peace Garden & Roberts Bird Sanctuary at Lake Harriet. All of us met taking photography classes taught by Xavier Tavera at the UMN. This was our first excursion that was NOT a class assignment – we just got together to visit and take photos as the spirit moved. It was great to hang out while drifting about looking for photographic inspiration. Photo sets appear in the order in which I received them!

Alice

Lynsey

Barry

Fred

Sea Ranch, California

02. May 2018 · Write a comment · Categories: Landscape, Photography

Sea Ranch, California is a planned community designed to meld with the natural environment. A walking path runs along most of its 10-mile coast line. Lawrence Halprin, landscape architect. The Sea Ranch Covenant and Concept

All photos Copyright, Alice Gebura

Promo Cards

05. January 2018 · Comments Off · Categories: Photography

The New Griots Festival

19. July 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: Performance, Photography · Tags: Dowling Stage, Guthrie Theater, New Griots Festival

The Guthrie Theater hosted the 2017 New Griots Festival at its Dowling Stage for 10 days of inspiring performances and free community workshops. The festival, a presentation by emerging black artists in the Twin Cities, is the brain child of Jamil Jude and Josh Wilder. I photographed some of the workshops and rehearsals. It was deeply satisfying to watch the audience sizes growing as word got around that this was the place to be to see amazing talent with both breadth and depth.

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Merce Cunningham: Field Dances

09. June 2017 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance, Photography · Tags: dance photography, Merce Cunningham, modern dance, Walker Art Center

The Walker Art Center hired me to photograph Merce Cunningham’s Field Dances. The Dances are based on the movements of children he observed at a playground. At the Walker Art Center I photographed the workshop where volunteers were taught five interactive movements and then joined by a corps of professional dancers to perform the piece.

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Visions of Sugarplums

04. January 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: Dance, Photography · Tags: burlesque, Nutcracker

Visions of Sugarplums is a burlesque parody of our traditional Nutcracker ballet, joining the catalog that includes Mark Morris’ The Cracked Nut and Myron Johnson’s Nutcracker Not So Suite. Sugarplums is a hoot with lots of talent, great costumes and music.

In 2014 I photographed the dress rehearsal for the Sugarplum’s inaugural run at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. This year I photographed the dress rehearsal and one of the performances for the 2016 show, this time running at the Lab Theater in Minneapolis. In the following compilation of images you might notice how different lighting and textures are created in the two theaters.

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Re-Imagining the Background of a Studio Portrait

13. February 2016 · Comments Off · Categories: Photography, Portrait · Tags: composite with Photoshop, portrait photography

Studio portraits are great because I can control the lighting and other factors in the environment to create a high-quality image. But they can be a bit boring with the same old backdrop. I enjoy using Photoshop to create an alternate background. First there’s the technical challenge of making a clean mask. How this goes depends on the clarity of the edges. Elements such as flying hair are time consuming. Then, once I have an idea for the background, I have to figure out how it’s going to work in terms of light, color, perspective, and blending. All photos Copyright 2016 Alice Gebura All Rights Reserved.

Cara Seymour, 2015 Lois Greenfield Workshop

Replaced the wall and floor with a soft background and figure shadow

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Anton LaMon and Kelly Vittetoe, Photo shoot at the Tek Box, Cowles Center for Dance

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Sunset and water. Bi-colored filter on the dancers to blend the tonality.

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Anton LaMon and Kelly Vittetoe, Photo shoot at the Tek Box, Cowles Center for Dance

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Hue, saturation, and exposure applied to background fabric from another photo. Created a mirror floor.

Production Photos for A Fiddler’s Tale

09. November 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance, Photography · Tags: dance photography

In Feb., 2016 Minneapolis Music Company will present A Fiddler’s Tale, Wynton Marsalis’ composition inspired by Stravinksy’s L’Histoire du Soldat. I worked with Artistic Director, Mischa Santora, and the dancers Anton LaMon and Kendra Vie Boheme Dennard to create production photos for the upcoming performance. Some of my photos are posted below and you can find out more about the performance here.

Generations

16. August 2015 · Comments Off · Categories: Dance, Photography · Tags: b-boys, ballet, breakdance, Nutcracker

August 15, 2015

Who needs anatomy drawing class when you can photograph b-boys! Outside in the Cowles Center parking lot in 90-degree heat, b-boy crews from around the country were battling to make the finals and win some cash prizes. I loved shooting all manner of contortions, freezes, kicks, and airborne gyrations. The tricks are impressive but I also thought the upright dance moves created their own poetry.

Earlier, inside the Cowles Center in the Minnesota Dance Theater Studio, I photographed a lovely Nutcracker performance workshop. Choreographer Katie Rose McLaughlin has imagined how Clara’s life might have unfolded after the Nutcracker episode. Four female dancers play Clara at different ages. The younger dancers, including the superb Barton Cowperthwaite, were technically and artistically delightful. Yet, I was especially struck by the grace and elegant movement of older dancer, Lise Houlton.