My daughter and her best friend. They have known each other since they were babies. For as long as they can remember, they have been together. They are complete opposites and that is why they are so strong together.
They decided they wanted to do a best friend photo shoot and who am I to tell these two no.
I can not tell you how thankful I am for repeat customers. Ones who routinely call or email, almost like clock work. Sure it is great to have a client base, but that is not why I am thankful. I am thankful because I get to watch them grow up. I get to be a part of the documentation of their lives. The special yearly pictures. The ones that go up on the wall every year in the parents home. The images that will someday tell the story of their lives.
I have been photographing this little man for a while now. Look at how he has grown!
Back when I started to take pictures, it was because I wanted to remember every moment of their lives. I wanted to remember the sly smile, the look of intensity or the joy in them. I wanted to be able to look back on it years down the road and be able to tell them a story behind the picture.
I think it was all born out of lack of pictures or a lack of a story. I have 2 pictures of my mother and I. Two. I wonder about what was going on in those pictures, what is the back story. I think it is because I don’t have her here to ask.
But then my dad married the lady who became my mom, and she took pictures all the time. I have a bunch and I am sure in her attic or closet somewhere there is stacks and stacks. I remember the little things like the smell of a fresh canister of film. The whirl the cameras would make when the film was done. The excitement of the little envelope of pictures. Back in the day (just to much fun to say) we had to wait to see what came out. And then she would sit and write on the back of the pictures. Dates, times, people in them and why. I can look at those pictures today and there is no mystery. That is a gift.
I think that is what shaped my need for photographs. The two moms in my life. The one who left a hole in me, and the other who filled it up.
More than I would like to admit, my mom has shaped who I am. I want to give my kids what I can find in her closets. A story of who they are, so that even if I am not around they can rummage through my files and laugh at what made me smile and tear up.
So the back story of this picture. My son is now being cyber schooled. Long story short, his school did not work with his gifted mind and this works better for us. He is now home all day with me. Most of which we are sitting at the kitchen table, with laptops and school books and paper. But he takes these breaks in the day to relax and get focused. A home version of recess and class breaks.
He has taken to doing things he knows that his sister would lose her cool about. And one of those things is playing her instruments.
This her ukulele. She loves it and is teaching herself to play it since her guitar teacher wont. And if she were here, this might have been a fight. But she wasn’t and he got his hands on it. He played it for a whole break. Just kind of jammimg away. Then the time came where he had to go back to class. He packed it away, tucked it back where she had it, and she never knew.
I took the moment to grab a picture. I loved the way the light hit him. I love the look on his face. I love the story. This I want to remember when he leaves my house and starts on his own life. The moment at 12 where he took 15 minutes to find the music in the day..
I can’t believe I have been at it this long. This blog sure has evolved since I started. And I have neglected it so much in the last year. Last October I wanted to hit 500 posts and it took me another year before I got there.
Lately I have been trying to take more enjoyable for me pictures. I took this set at a pep rally bond fire. My son plays in the High School marching band and I am dying to take a good picture of him with the band. So far, no luck. But I brought my camera with me to the bond fire, just to see what I could get.
I am loving these three.
The fire was slow to start but once they got it going it was amazing. And just like the fire, I was slow to start. Had to keep fiddling with the settings till I saw what I wanted to see. These are all shot in jpeg and they are SOOC. Just watermarked, framed and websized.
Sometime I look at my own kids and think where is the time going, but it doesn’t really hit home until you see their friends growing up along side of them. I can be in denial until they are 30 that they are getting older, but there is no denying it when I photograph a friend. I look at this little guy who is not so little any more and think about the time when he and my daughter met. He was a shy little guy on the stairs and my daughter was all, “Bumble Bee!!” as she played with his toys. They are both in fourth grade and that was before they were in pre-k.
I just finished up this couples wedding images. They were so much fun and sweet. I have watched my share of bride shows and was terrified to work with them, but the couples I have worked with make me rethink it.
Last night my daughter and I went to a soccer game. We were on City Island outside of Harrisburg Pa. I snapped some pictures of her before hand playing around and having a good time.
But when we left the sun had already set and we were walking back to the car holding hand. She asked if we could get out of the crowd and walk by the river. Sure, I said. All of a sudden she gasps and says, look at the bridge!
It was an old iron bridge all lit up and the reflection on the river was beautiful.
She asked if I could get a picture and her excitement was contagious. Let me see if I can.
The first one, I tried to hold the camera. Was that a mistake or what! The camera had a long open shutter time and one can not simply hold the camera still long enough to get a clean picture.
But we were in a gazebo, so I put the camera on the ledge, pushed the button and held my breath.
I just about squealed.
