Between Frames - November 2024
How the heck is it December already?
A New Home, Yet It’s All the Same:
Paloma and I spent most of the month of November packing up all our belongings and then unloading them again a few days later. We finally moved into our new place on November 10th, after six months (almost to the day) on the road & in between homes. We’re incredibly grateful for our new apartment. It’s incredibly cozy, in the cutest neighborhood, and perfect for the life that we are wanting in Grand Rapids.
Despite the fact that we are no longer NJ/NY residents, Paloma and I are in Manhattan today, sitting at Culture Espresso as I write this. It’s my usual spot (to quote the title of one of my friend’s Substacks, which I highly recommend). Throughout the course of the twelve issues of Between Frames that I have written, probably seven or eight of them have been written from this bench in Culture.
Our lives don’t feel completely settled right now, but I hope that once the holidays (& all our travels) are over, things will settle down some. In this vein, I didn’t get the opportunity to shoot as many photos this month as I hoped to. Regardless, here are some of my favorites.
One piece of housekeeping: If you aren’t already a paid subscriber, please consider doing so! You can even gift subscriptions to people you think would enjoy them! Each month, my paid subscribers get a print of one of my favorite frames of the month as a little thank you!
*Side note: We’re on track to pass 100 subscribers this month. It’s wild to me that 100 friends & strangers have decided to follow along to the story of my life between shutter presses. Thank you! 🥳🥹
Lynchburg, VA:
Paloma and I made the trek down to Lynchburg a few days before our trip with my mom for one main reason: the Vacation Manor boys were playing a hometown show. I’ve never been able to see VM play live, so this was really sweet to see, especially with so many of our friends being in the band/good friends of the band. Our friends Nolen, Joseph, & Troy opened for VM and it was just one huge homecoming party. Here’s a frame or two:
Paloma and I had to make our way up to the Blue Ridge Parkway while we were in LYH, especially with some leaves left on the trees in the mountains.
The beginning of this month was spent with my mom in Leatherwood Mountains (a true slice of Heaven). We got there right at the end of the fall season with many of the leaves still on the trees. The Lord really blessed us with the ability to “see Fall happen” a handful of times in different states (Michigan, Colorado, New Jersey, Virginia, and now North Carolina).
Ferguson, NC:
In Leatherwood, we didn’t do much besides resting and going on little walks through the woods. It was great that way and we left feeling restored as we had a long move to Michigan ahead of us. Before we get to that, here are some images from our time in Leatherwood:
You’ll see that I photographed the exact same view a number of times, each one in a different way though because of the ever-changing light on the golden trees. The one above is a favorite of mine because of the way that the hills in the background turned purple during blue hour one day. The frame below is another favorite because of the haze over the valley that was illuminated during golden hour one afternoon.
The next photo is one that I am immensely proud of. It’s the Milky Way Galaxy photographed from our back porch. Leatherwood, by being deep in the Appalachian Mountains, gives you the chance to see more stars than you can count. The lack of light pollution gives you the chance to see the Milky Way with your own eyes. Throw a camera on a tripod and open up the shutter for a few seconds and you get this. My favorite part of this image has to be the slight glow behind the trees; it helps accentuate the trees so so nicely.
The last frame from Leatherwood I’ll share is one from our way back to Virginia. In order to do all that we had to before our big move the next day, we left Leatherwood shortly after dawn. On our way out, the sun had just crested the mountains and was lighting the fog up in the valleys below. I pulled off near a cow pasture to grab this photo:
Grand Rapids, MI:
We’ve been in Grand Rapids for about two and a half weeks now. I haven’t shot much, especially now that it’s winter there (it’s already snowed 6”, with another 6” coming this week). The weather has been so gloomy with almost non-stop clouds, but there have been a few moments of sun.
To be honest though, I don’t care that I haven’t shot much. Things come and go in seasons. If I have to shoot “x amount” in order to create content for XYZ thing, then I am not making art for the right reason. This newsletter is meant to be a place to freely release the art that I do make, while also holding onto some of it for myself. The world doesn’t need to see everything that I make and I actually prefer it that way.
Each photo is a piece of me and not everyone deserves to see that.
With that out of the way, here are a few frames from our first weeks in GR.
Conclusion:
That’s all for this month. Truthfully, November came and went in a heartbeat. I miss the longer days, the autumn leaves, and weather that isn’t so frigid, but I’m grateful for this new season that we have entered into. Life looks a lot different, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Instead, it’s simply lovely.
Things from November that I love...
This Lord Huron bolo tie. You had best believe that I purchased it ASAP and now it’s on it’s way to me.
We live super to this coffee shop and it’s a new fav. Just look at it.
Statistics, particularly F1 statistics. Oh, yeah, that reminds me. A new Ferrari Delusion Syndrome is dropping soon.
This “pin keeper flag” from Oxford Pennant is super fun for the person that likes to collect pins (Paloma and I do, so I am very interested).
A super rad BFCM deal from Autocamp. We love their Yose and Zion properties, so we are eyeing making another trip soon.
A fun way to try new coffees! Madcap’s tasting set of their 2024 roasts will be something I get soon!
The Void. Only for those wanting to follow strange trails.
Loved everything about this, Chase! So excited to follow along with y’all’s new adventure in MI.
Love this life with you <3