Two photos

... that can sum up my weekend:

During some hang time with the neph I took this one.

While having a delicious dinner with friends I took this.

Both events were fun and filled with laughter. Laughing with a 7 year old and cooking up crazy ideas can be as fun as laughing with creative friends gathered in a kitchen together. A reminder of the importance to spend time with the people who make you smile.

Could you pick two photos that tell a story about you? Two photos that describe your weekend or your mood or maybe where your life is headed? I love a photo's story-telling ability, and how the same image will say different things to different people. I'd love to hear what these two photos say to you. Could be a good starting point for a short story...


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Single Photo Friday:: Sparkle

Hello Friday of Memorial Day Weekend! Today's image is one I took recently of a friend for my ongoing 'photos of real women' project. This image captures a piece of Tricia that was amplified that day as she was newly self-employed and ready for whatever adventure was next.

I hope down the road when she looks at this photo she'll remember how she felt those first few weeks of embarking on this next chapter of her life. The sparkle of things to come in her eyes, perhaps.

If you are up for being part of my Real Women Photo Project, please let me know! I would love to hear from you.

Have a safe, fun, and happy Memorial Day weekend!


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Single Photo Friday:: Smiles

Oh man, it's Friday already, and you know what that means: Single Photo Friday! Only I've had kind of a crazy week and haven't given an ounce of thought to what kind of photo I should share today. Hmmmm... what kind of a mood am I in?

Haha.

Well, I had a reminder today how important positive people are in our lives. I try very hard to surround myself with supportive people and a general positive outlook. I need to find a photo that reflects that, or one that makes me happy....

Joe laughing @ Chowderhead's.

Yes, I do believe we have found a winner! How can you look at this face and not smile or crack up laughing? 

Thanks, Joe for brightening my day! 

I get a dose of double happiness when I look at this photo, since it brings back memories of the visit that brought him to my doorstep. Two friends and a baby who left NYC last summer to hang out in my town and on my back porch and eat as much seafood as possible. So, I see this photo and remember the long weekend I shared with them laughing, smiling, EATING. I love how a photo is powerful enough to bring waves of memories rushing over you, creating instant happiness.

Really good stuff.

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Single Photo Friday:: Brunch!

Welcome to a new adventure on this here bloggity blog. A little thing I'm calling 'Single Photo Friday.' Not photos of single people (though that is a possibility), just a single photo I like. No big thing. Check back every Friday and see what it is my mind likes from week to week!

And, please feel free to leave comments. I love hearing from any and all of you!

I must have been hungry when I picked this one :)

Delicious Brunch @ Local 188 in Portland, Maine

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LIFE :: in Black & White

I photograph life. Simple as that.

So I may photograph your life, your business, or just my own everyday life. It is my simple goal to actually make images that have LIFE in them.

Here is a small sample of some past moments I have collected of my own life. Some of them are old scans, and all from my Black & White film days, so please forgive the quality...

 The Weekend Warrior, before he was truly my warrior.

 Family Reunion (Mom's side) in Virgina.

 Family (Dad's side) cooling off in Pittsburgh.

 Family Pig Pile in Maine.

 Friends at an Avocado Party in Bowdoinham.

 My Nephew on any given day.

 Weekend Warrior and his brother power washing the deck.

Nephew testing the waters. My bro and Weekend Warrior try to encourage him into the pool.

 My mom (Jamma) and Nephew (Max). Hard to believe he's now 7!

 Max's first Haircut.

 Max shows me that his Dora gummies are all gone. I like how his hands are shadowed on his shirt, in a similar way to the graphic on his t-shirt.

Weekend Warrior in full warrior mode, and needing a break.

That was kind of a fun jaunt down memory lane, photographically speaking. These are the kinds of things I capture because I like to bring my camera almost everywhere.  I think after all these years it's paying off.

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The Power of Photos:: Jen & Jeremy

Love this moment of them laughing during their ceremony.

My friend Jeremy called me the other day. I photographed his wedding this fall, but our friendship goes back to our Ithaca College days. He wanted to tell me about his recent visit with his grandmother. She's in a nursing home, and from what I understand, she is mostly unresponsive during their visits. This time was different.

Woot! Officially Married.

How cute are they?

They showed her photos from the wedding, the family event she was unable to attend, and watched her become more alert and responsive. The simple act of looking at photos brought a smile to her face and made her interact more with her family. He told me it was probably the best visit he's had with her.

The hair.

The dress.

The last minute phone calls.

Hair officially approved.

The delicate task of getting everything on the dress done right.

"I thought you would like knowing that," he told me. His voice was charged with happiness and excitement.

And he was right. I did like, DO like, actually LOVE to know those things. These kinds of stories are plentiful, and are always nice to hear. [Read my post below for some more thoughts on how important family photos are.] His grandmother may not have been well enough to go to his wedding, but the the simple act of looking through photos of her loved ones brought her to a place she hadn't been in a long time. This is the power photography has: a power to bring joy and happiness in the most surprising ways at often the simplest of times.

Fun, simple, and pretty table decorations.

Love.

Flip through pages of photographs, and relive old memories or create new ones. Pretty amazing stuff, isn't it? Yeah, I think so, too. I'm so glad he took the time to call me and share this. It's a good reminder for all of us that those albums full of photos don't need to collect dust. Take them out for you, your family, your friends, your new neighbors. Share and laugh in each other's moments, old and new.


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Another Pretty Place

Pretty.

Maine is a pretty place to live. But I love finding new places with nice views, and luckily as a photographer I get chances to do that. I spent the past weekend in Pawley's Island, South Carolina. Unplugged from technology, my weekend consisted of my camera, a wedding, watching the shoreline, and talking for hours with good friends and strangers.


Not only was there no internet, but no keys for the doors. Many of the showers were outdoors. A hammock on one of the decks took turns calling out our names. The crazy rush I went through in the airports to make all my connections was erased by sitting in a rocking chair on the porch and listening to the surf with a cup of coffee in my hand. More than once I thought how similar this coast looked to Maine, and yet I felt like I was a world away. And with my camera I often feel like everywhere I photograph is just an extension of my own back yard. Another place to find pretty stuff.

Another gem to add to the 'Go Back There Someday' list.

South Carolina or Southern Maine?

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Feel the Cake

Charlie Ellis turns 1.

Is there any better cake than the one you have on your first birthday? The freedom to eat fist fulls at a time while ingesting high quantities of sugar. The one time in life when more of your birthday cake ends up all over your body rather than in it. A moment that is all yours with a room full of people cheering you on. We all need more days like that in life.

I took this image over the weekend at Charlie's first birthday party. I love this shot. It's as if he's having a zen moment with the cake.
It makes me smile. And want cake.

Missing the Grain

Avocado Party, Bowdoinham ME

I miss film. I miss it like you might miss an old friend. An old friend who lives far away and always makes you smile. Maybe you've forgotten that you miss this person and suddenly a memory triggers something, you laugh, then smile, then wish you could hang out together. You remember how many good days (and nights) you've had with this old friend. That's how I feel about film right now.

I miss seeing grain. I miss the surprise when you get a roll of film back. I miss the feel of a sturdy camera in my hands. I love you digital, but you still don't hold a candle to my love for a technology that may have passed us by.

Matrix Ben, NYC subway

Why this sudden sentimental overload? I think it has been building slowly. When I look at some images shot in a square format I remember that I own a Hasselblad and that I can also go out make cool square images . Then I sigh and go do something on my computer. The final kicker was Friday night when I went to see a show at the Portland Museum of Art called 'Backstage Pass'. Brightly painted walls covered with Rock & Roll photography, grainy and gritty and sometimes candid but all amazing. I stared at image after image shot on film, often in low light, sometimes even exposed somewhat poorly and ached for my old equipment and a roll of film. I wanted to take my Pentax K1000 and stand on a street corner, camera dangling at my waist and shoot an entire roll of Tri-x 'from the hip'.

The Naked Cowboy, NYC

So, I have pulled out the rugged Hassy today and realized there is still an unfinished roll in it that has been in there at least a year. I searched for more 120 film at home and was sad to discover there was none. I'm not sure why that was a surprise to me, especially since I have always been much more of a 35mm shooter, but it was. I could take the ancient Pentax for a walk, but the battery is dead and the battery compartment seems to be sealed shut. Guess it's been awhile since that camera has been put to use! So, I am dusting off the medium format beauty (ashamed that I let it get dusty in the first place) and heading out the door to get some film, find some inspiration, and remember what it feels like to shoot film. Then I will wait impatiently for the results.

Latte Morning: From the Sunday Morning Series

Sage looks into the kitchen to see what her mother is up to

Sunday mornings in my mind have always been a day to relax. Get a late start, have that extra cup of coffee, maybe do something fun, and hopefully get recharged for the week that lies ahead. So I have found myself posting photos of my occasional Sunday morning (see Magical Morning, and Golden Morning). I thought about doing a monthly Sunday morning photo for my blog, and today while in San Diego I photographed Erika and Sage getting ready for their Sunday morning visit to the zoo. Erika whipped up some latte's while Sage watched and I photographed. Welcome to the Monthly Sunday Morning Series...

Erika fires up the espresso machine and I realize there is amazing light coming through the window and caffeine on its way to me.

Magic pours out of the two spouts...

Sage joins the party, and all the great light falls onto her face and into those crazy blue eyes.

Future Coffee Drinker :)

Sage gets her first taste of foamed milk, and her eyes once again catch all the light.

Chances are high that coffee will be featured often in my monthly Sunday morning posts, as it is one of my favorite things to enjoy. Lucky for me, Erika's love of caffeine matches, maybe even surpasses, mine. Sadly, next Sunday I will be back in the cold of New England, drinking regular drip coffee and longing for sunny skies. So spoiled am I after barely two weeks!

I guess I better start bracing myself for reality....



photographer's note: it is important to note that no coffee was given to the child in the photos, but more importantly the subject is nowhere near as skilled with the espresso machine as her husband is. Since he is serving in Iraq, the subject is doing the best she can and anxious for his return so that amazing lattes and mochas will be prepared for her once again. :)

Another One Bites the Crust

I had Gluten-Free Pizza yesterday!! California Rocks.

This is no award-winning photo, but it is evidence that in California I can eat at a chain restaurant and get it gluten-free and organic (and hopefully local, but I didn't ask) at this great place called Pizza Fusion. Can someone please open up one of these places in Portland, Maine? I would and all, but I don't really have any interest in spending any more of my life in the restaurant biz. Besides, that would cut into my time and prevent me from taking great photos like the one below.

2 divas and a Mainer

My heart swells when I see these two. Melody and Zeamora are my pals from Semester at Sea, and there's just something about the bond shared with people who see the world for the first time together, especially when some of the adventures include ex-prisoners. Of course, any involvement with criminals was always Melody's fault. Always.

Oh, I could write some stories!

Time Flies: My Year in Photos

2009 is here, and I am, in some ways, still trying to catch my breath from 2008. It was the year of re-connections and creative inspiration. There were a few risks, some adventures, lots of laughs, and many improvements. And on December 31 I punched out for the last time, leaving the place I have worked for the last four years. I am officially on my own. Self-employed. Unemployed. However you want to look at it.

It feels pretty good. So I spent New Year's digging through the photos of the past year, seeing where I've been and how far I've come. Here are some of my favorite moments....

New Year's Day, 2008. I photographed the Annual Lobster Dip, a fundraiser for Maine's Special Olympics. Crazy people jump into the Atlantic Ocean to support a good cause.

The weekend warrior started making animals out of scrap metal. I took a portrait of his latest, the pig.

The WW and I in a garage in Purcelville, VA. We bought an El Camino on EBay, and took a little road trip to fetch it.

This is my nephew, Max, on Easter. It's amazing how young he looks in this photo.

Tom Brady's love child is born in Portland, Maine. I'm kidding. This is Charlie Ellis, and he's pretty darn cute.

Hanging out with friends and therefore lots of kids is common for me. I'm a sucker for a swing set and always love photos of people swinging, no matter what age they are.

In the spring some college friends reunited in Ithaca, NY. First order of business: hit HotTruck. I saw this as a good opportunity to add to my collection of Ben Photos, and the shiny head in the Hot Truck light was irresistible, photographically speaking. Oh, and our friend Jeremy got engaged the next night. Woohoo!

I hung out on a rooftop with the band memebers of The Lomax. Later we hung out in an elevator and a woodworking workshop. It was cool. They are cool.

Just a family portrait I like. They each have their own personality.

A fun wedding shot. Can't remember what was so funny. I have to assume it was me.

Another photo from a wedding. I like it when I can get artsy while shooting weddings.

The El Camino was a hero driving up the East Coast in snow storms. It spent the summer resting and recovering in our driveway. The Weekend Warrior has a mistress.

These crazy bunch of New Yorkers left the city and spent some time in Maine. We all watch Dana as she decides what she thinks about this ocean thing. The next frame showed her running away from them laughing.

Max started Kindergarten. I of course showed up with my camera.

In September I took an awesome workshop on how to shoot film stills. This is Ryan. He was a very good photographic subject.