[chit chat]on the other side of the lens

This morning I ventured down the street with my own children and attempted an official shoot. I am still processing the morning and trying to weigh my expectations with reality. In truth, I got some great images of the girls. And if that’s how I were to measure the morning, it would be considered successful.

But the other word to describe the morning…stressful. The hardwood floors refinishers arrived early this morning and the loud machines got on my nerves as I packed for our two night hotel stay. Estella was great in the beginning, but fell on her bottom half way through and was really, really grumpy after that. Adi wanted to eat wood chips, refused to stand, and kept coming towards me for the camera.

I suppose I could have picked a better day to do the session. But then again, I don’t think there is a ever a perfect day or perfect moment to take pictures. And that’s exactly why we need to keep taking them. Whether it’s a formal session or a quick ones on the way to the grocery store. The magic of photography is capturing the small moments in a great big life. If we keep waiting for the “perfect” day, we’d never pick up the camera.

Sometimes there are just images that make you smile and this is one of them…she was being a goof ball and “posing” for me.

Currently, my house is in complete chaos – we started a kitchen/living room remodel two weeks ago. With that, we managed to reduce our living space by at least 50%. It’s been ok, but I can’t wait for it to be done! Here’s the quick plan: gut the kitchen, knock out a wall, replace the fireplace, replace tile in foyer, and replace all carpet with hardwood. We are in the quiet, mudding and taping phase at the moment. When it’s all done, I’ll proudly post the before and after…

On to the studio…it’s been a good couple weeks of quiet catch-up. The senior season is full swing and my calendar is starting to fill up. Just a quick reminder that the Middleton deadline is early September.

And lastly, Doggy Daze calendars will be ready for pick-up/delivery starting on Monday. And they look fantastic!!

This is a fast and short post – the Doggy Daze calendar is in the final design phase and about to go to the printer. Whoohoo!

Here’s a quick preview…beginning today, you can pre-order the calendar. It will be available for shipping or studio pick-up in early July.

I was on the phone today with a mom of a high school senior and we were laughing about the fact that her daughter and her favored completely different images. I hear it all the time – but if you go to a museum and stood by a painting for an hour, you’d hear a diversity of opinions too. Some that don’t get it, some that connect with it, some that like it a little.

The reality is that photography, like any art form, is subjective. Each person brings their unique lifelong experiences to their consciousness when viewing an image. And just the same, the photographer consciously, or subconsciously, bring their own experiences to the image when they click the shutter. It’s really quite remarkable when you think about.

When I look at this image, there are so many things that it represents to me. Youth, energy, and movement. Then I look closer and I see the shadow on the boardwalk and the tree branch in the background that mimics the boy’s shape. And then my eye starts going to the patterns and lines…

This morning, I did a session with a little girl that I have been photographing since her first birthday. I just love this time of year – the lush landscape makes fabulous backgrounds and entertainment for the little ones. We headed to Olbrich Gardens and looked for frogs, lilly pads, rocks – we were successful and one person even saw a beaver!

While I don’t usually look at images on the same day of the session, I took a quick peek and thought this was adorable and carefree…

I am home now and trying to remember the events of the third day. It’s quite honestly a blur. Workshops are so intense: the relationships, the discussions, the image making. What I do remember is a fantastic discussion with my group in the morning, a lunch at the local burger joint, an enlightening conversation with Carlan, and meeting some great people sitting on the boat in the bayou. After all that, we took a two trip into the darkness of the bayous and looked for alligators. What a day.

What a day. We started out early this morning and headed to Fred’s in Mamou to listen to great Cajun music. The music club opens every Saturday (and is open only on Saturday) at 8 am and fills up gradually, until it’s completely full at 10 am. It was wild. Harley Davidson riders, retired tourists, buses of locals and a handful of regulars.

Then, we headed to Eunice and listened to an impromptu jam session of musicians. I had the opportunity to sit in the center of the musicians and I just closed my eyes and felt the music seep through every part of my body. It was the most moving experience and the highlight of my day. After a meal, we headed to a place where they race horses and buggies. Something I have never seen before. I ended talking more to the spectators than watching the horses.

The last stop of the day was a cajun dance hall. I was getting to the point of being tired, but managed to pull off some images. The ones posted here are from throughout the day, but are from my digital. My film will be ready in the morning…

Last night was the first night of the workshop. Every time I land in Louisiana, I am always struck by the unique culture here. It’s certainly a place of it’s own. The food, the people, the way of life. Unfortunately, just like in the rest of America, big box stores and the homogenization of culture is slowing eroding the fabric of this area.

It was an early morning with a 6:30 flight out of Madison. Once in Baton Rouge, I need to drive over to Breaux Bridge – a good part of the ride was on one the longest bridges anywhere – 20 miles through the bayous. It was at times an unnerving experience since there was no real escape or way to get off it.

I arrived at Debbie’s rambling southern house at 6 p.m. and was greeted by an amazing group of people. There are seven of us in the workshop – hailing from California, Colorado, Arizona, New York and Philadelphia. All of us are from different backgrounds, but there is one thing we do have in common: the love and desire to create images. After getting to know each other for awhile, we enjoyed a fabulous meal of gumbo, potatoes and banana pudding. Then, a dance lesson of zydeco let us burned off some calories!

Our day started at before 8 o’clock with a boat ride through the bayous. Many people used to live in houseboats, but today, with the rise of gasoline prices, it’s cheaper to live on the land. There were a few houseboats here and there, but for the most part, the bayou is an stunning vast, empty landscape of majestic cypress trees. These large trees were like statues dipping their feet in the water. Delicate, yet strong.

When I click the shutter, I can only hope that my images capture the fragility and tranquil beauty of this landscape.