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beach

What photos of children on a beach should look like…

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Today I received my film from our annual family trip to the beach, which included four rolls filled with images of my two boys (ages 3 and 1) and their cousins running on the sand and swimming in the ocean.

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At the same time I am looking at photos of my three-year-old on the beach, the world is furiously debating a very different photo of a three-year-old boy on the beach: the photograph of Aylan Kurdi’s tiny body in a bright red T-shirt and dark shorts, face-down in the surf.

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Aylan, his 5-year-old brother, Galip, and mother, Rehan, 35, were among 12 people, including other children, who died after two boats capsized while attempting to flee their war-ravaged homeland, Syria.

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To hear the little boys’ father talk about what happened in the ocean and how he tried to save his sons is unbearable. I feel a sadness for him I did not know was possible before having my own kids.

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If there is any comfort that can come to the father of Aylan, hopefully it is that because of the photograph of his three-year-old son dead on the beach, the world is now finally paying attention after:

  • four years of armed conflict
  • 200,000 deaths
  • more than 4 million refugees, mostly women and children,
  • and an estimated 12.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, including 5.6 million children, according to the UN.

What if the photo of this one sweet boy washed up on the beach can help save the 5.6 million other children who are still living in danger?

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What if everyone who saw that photo of little Aylan on the beach signed a petition to allow more refugees in their country and sent a donation to nonprofits who are on the ground working to help refugees?

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So in honor of Aylan Kurdi, I have signed a petition and sent a donation, because I want to live in a world where the only photos of little boys on the beach look like this…paigegreenBeach09022015-000074240006To learn more about how you can help the migrant crisis please click here: http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/world/iyw-migrant-how-to-help/

 

Wait for it…

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Seana first contacted me on November 10th about family photos. We had three or four scheduled dates to meet but each time it just didn’t work out… thanks to conflicting holiday schedules, bad weather, the flu, and even an epic battle with poison oak. But we didn’t give up. We waited until schedules calmed down, the weather was just right, the poison oak went away and everyone one was feeling healthy, relaxed and ready to play…

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Thank you for not giving up, Seana.

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It was so worth the wait.

You tell me… (contest below)

I often get asked, “What is the difference between film and digital.”

So I have a series of descriptive words that I use to try and convey why I love film so much.

But it is hard… so I need help.

I’d love for you tell me what you think the difference is.

So… this is film.

And… this (click here) is digital.

Now you tell me what you think, by Friday the 18th, and I will pick one person to win a surprise film print.

Leslie and Sophia… and Andy Warhol

Last week I got this email:

Good afternoon Paige,

I recently moved to the city with my 3 year old daughter and we would like to capture our love for life, SF and each other. We live near Baker Beach and spend hours there each week so the sand, ocean and bridge are symbols of our life. I have browsed your site and I’m all in! Are you available and taking on new clients? I look forward to your reply, Leslie

I said, “Yes, please! I would never pass up a day at the beach and I am always accepting new clients.”

So we made a date and in her final email she said,“You will go bizerk over my 3.5 year old daughter…Stunning and a personality that lights up the world.”

She was so right.

I did go bizerk over her daughter. And the love they have for each other and for life is contagious.

What she didn’t tell me is that her daughter goes bizerk over her impersonation of Andy Warhol…

It was hilarious.

And informative…

I had no idea that Andy Warhol had so many cats and that they were all named Sam.

But Sophia did and it made her laugh every time.

Thank you Leslie and Sophia… it was a pleasure to meet you and document your lovely SF life.

And thank you Andy Warhol for being so amazingly funny to a 3.5 year old.

This was our New Year’s eve…

We went mussel hunting.

The walk, the hunting, and even the cleaning, with the help of Outkast and champagne, were amazing.

The meal… well, it needs some refining.

But really, it was always about the adventure.

And that is a good reminder for 2011.

We are going to Iowa…

On April 4th, 2010, our wedding anniversary, Arann and I went to Tomales Bay, to the house where we stayed the night we got married.

Well, fake married. We haven’t legally gotten married yet.

In November 2008, we were at the height of our wedding planning when California passed Proposition 8, denying same-sex couples the right to get married, and we were heart broken. We thought about canceling the wedding, but instead we decided to continue with our plans, because we felt the ceremony with our loved ones was the most important part.

And on April 4th, 2009, we had an amazing celebration with family and friends.

But because we want to get legally married in a state where all people are allowed to get married, we haven’t gotten legally married yet.

At first I didn’t think the legal part mattered to me. But a year later, I can feel the difference. Even though people, and insurance agencies, don’t question us when we say we’re married. And even though we made our vows to each other, and in my heart I know that is the most important part. I also know that if anything happens to one of us, the other one has no legal rights. And that bothers me.

So in June…

We are going to Iowa.

Because who wants to go to Iowa to get married?

We do.

We want to support the middle state that has historically been a leader in civil rights.

First making a stand against slavery in the civil war, and then putting woman’s suffrage on the agenda 50 years before the rest of the country.

And now leading the way again with same-sex marriage, which became legal in Iowa on April 3, 2009, the day before we got fake married.

Coincidence?

No way.

We are going to Iowa.


Bathing Beauties…

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.

Another Comparison…

I apologize for being repetitive… but now that I have said sorry… here I go again… these are the Rollei’s version of the same weekend adventures… and my conclusion on the battle between film and digital… I like both. I think both have the potential (depending on the human making the decisions) to take really beautiful photographs… but they are different. They create different photos… and depending on what you want to photograph, you have to make the call. Or not, like me, and just lug around two obnoxious cameras and see what you get.

Here my cold friends are admiring the view for me, while I fiddle with the Rollei’s knobs, I think at this point, as their heads were blowing away, they would have preferred I stuck with digital.

And this is for Frank, he wanted the kiss…. and he almost has it.


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