Thanks Craig and Andy for a great visit.
-
This is a continuation of Gina and Keith’s wedding (to see all of the series click here).
Since Gina had hired a photographer to document the day (so I could be a guest for the night) so I made an executive hurried decision… no digital only the Rollei.
I wanted to enjoy the night and not worry about photographing the whole time and I didn’t want to be the obnoxious guest that gets in the way of the hired photographer while he was trying to do his job. But the minute I left my canon in my room and joined Gina and her family as they were heading down in the elevator, I started to regret my decision. Because her photographer was not there and the scene was amazing… and the elevator, although really dark had great lights and mirrors everywhere… so I guessed the exposure on my Rollei, crossed my fingers, held it really really still and jumped in… and here’s the story of Gina and Keith’s wedding at the United Nations from the Rollei’s perspective…
And here’s one with me, just to prove I was indeed there and having lots of fun… thanks for the amazing wedding Gina and Keith!
-
I have all my film, from my trip across the East, in a nice neat stack, just waiting for me to scan them and show them to the world on my blog, but the problem is I have 10,000 other things to do first… so I am saving my film as a reward for myself… “No film, until you finish your veggies.”
But I couldn’t help myself, here’s one of my favorites, so far, from Gina and Keith’s wedding at the United Nations in NY.
OK, now back to work, seriously.
-
The photo above is my absolute favorite photo, maybe ever, but that’s because it is of my family.
The elegant bathing beauty is my grandmother, facing her is my grandfather, and to the left is my mom. And I need to do my research, but I’d like to believe they are at the same beach we all still go to every year, but I am not sure.
My grandparents are now 84 years old and still want to go swimming in the ocean… although they are frustrated because they can’t get in and out as easily as they used to. For the rest of us it means we all come together and work as a group to get them through the rough waves and out past the breakers. It definitely was a little scary, but we made it through, together, every time. And as a result that experience is one of Arann and my favorite memories of the trip.
And for all my fellow photo nerds who are wondering how I got these photos… very nervously while holding my Rollei over my head and jumping very very very high when the waves came… I do NOT recommend it! As soon as I was out in the middle of it all I realized what a bad idea it was, but I figured I should at least try since there was no way of getting out quickly.
The Rollei seemed to weather the adventure just fine, but my light meter, the same one that went swimming in the Byrnes High School toilet last summer, did not live to see another photo shoot. It seems it was a fresh water meter only. RIP dear meter, you served me well.
At first I was bummed about the fuzziness of the photos, but I think it is appropriate and I like how it somewhat matches the old photo.
But the photo below… is my new favorite favorite… not planned, or staged, just a real moment (told to wait for a minute while I run and get my camera) on the way to the beach.
My two favorite boys, I mean, men.
-
Here it is… the chosen one. My first photo on a book cover published by a real publishing house (unlike my self-published book.) This is the rough draft of their design. The photo is enlarged and the rest of it wraps around the book jacket… with some of my other photos on the back.
I think it looks good. I am happy. Yay, for working with a team of good designers and a writer who believes in having good photos. Thank you UC Press and Jonah.
-
Putt-putt at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina with my whole family and the same decrepit safari animals that are older than I am.
These are my cousins…. they were featured here last year as well, and now it seems photographing them with our favorite fiberglass animals has become as much a tradition as anything else.
And appropriately, the 2008 series is definitely my favorite thus far.
This is my color version of Richard Avedon’s Dovima with Elephants. It was a happy coincidence.
I knew my cousin Riane was planning to wear her red dress, and I knew the elephant would be there, but it wasn’t until we were all standing next to each other that I saw the opportunity, and I was super super excited… I think the golf club is a fantastic touch.
And just like Avedon’s, my masterpiece has a flaw as well… I chopped the poor elephant’s trunk off. I would say, “There’s always next year, to try again,” except next year we are going on a special trip for my grandparents’ 65th wedding anniversary. And, who knows how long our poor elephant will be allowed to roam the Earth, since Ocean Isle has been trying to spruce itself up lately. So there is a strong probability that he may not be here the next time we return, and therefore this masterpiece will have to be complete as is.
-
The night after I returned from my 3 week East Coast jaunt, I had to do another photo shoot for the cover of the farming book I have been working on, because the marketing department changed their minds and said this…
We're hoping to find an image that speaks a little more to the subtitle of the book: A Year of Farming, Eating, and Drinking Wine in California.
I'm thinking of something informal looking, the aftermath of a meal outside, before the table is cleared off. A meal involving vegetables and wine of course. Some background (blurry or otherwise) showing the farm might be nice. I don't think there need be any people in the picture (but maybe animals are OK!).
But the deadline was, of course, set for the Friday after I returned. So, nothing like jumping right back in. Luckily, I had Mimi, Arann’s mom, who is an experienced food stylist, with me to help make sure everything was as photogenic as possible, because I didn’t even have time to think about that aspect as well.
Now, which of these photos as a cover of a book would tempt you to pick the book up to find out more…
-
Just to give you some insight on the emotional reality of photographers… well, of this photographer anyway, I only assume other photographers feel this way too…
I started off Saturday feeling nervous and unsure about my the upcoming shoot, and was wondering how much longer I will be able to keep up my highs and lows of photography.
But at the same time, the confident part of my brain started waking up and saying, “It will be fine, you can do this. It’s just cute kids, easy, go. The point was to photograph the next generation of Marin Agricultural Land Trust wearing promotional t-shirts for their annual report and brochures.
And this is what we did…. Patrick the boy below was super shy when he came in, and was hiding behind his mom. But I invited him to climb on the hay bales with me and soon, the real Patrick came out.
It was lots of fun, and I was in my favorite type of studio… huge barn with skylights. So I am still a photographer for another day.
-
Rehearsal Dinner Cruise on Friday, followed by a wedding at the United Nations building…. it was amazing. I was not the official photographer, as Gina is one of my close friends and she did not want me working, but I of course could not help myself.
This is just the tiniest sample, as it is only the day after the event, and I am still recovering from the festivities… but I wanted give them a glimpse before they depart to the Galapagos Islands (I tried to convince them to take me along with them to document their honeymoon but for some reason they weren’t so keen on the idea.)
Happy travels, Gina and Keith, and thanks for the amazing weekend.
somewhere between a handshake and two kisses 