SHR Images & Photography

Switching Neighborhoods

2010-03-09T10:50:00.000-05:00

I've Moved! (Well, at least this blog has moved.)

Come follow my blog now at:

http://shrimagesandphotography.com/wordpress

(Sound familiar? Yes, I went back to WP. Talk about life being a circle!)

See you there!

A Fairy Child's Bliss

2010-02-28T13:46:00.000-05:00

Children born of fairy stock
Never need for shirt or frock,
Never want for food or fire,
Always get their hearts desire:
Jingle pockets full of gold,
Marry when they're seven years old.
Every fairy child may keep
Two ponies and ten sheep;
All have houses, each his own,
Built of brick or granite stone;
They live on cherries, they run wild--
I'd love to be a Fairy's child.

I'd Love To Be A Fairy's Child - Robert Graves

Bliss is the plaything of the child --
The secret of the man
The sacred stealth of Boy and Girl
Rebuke it if we can

Bliss is the plaything of the child -- Emily Dickinson

Meet, Greet, & Play Nice

2010-02-05T10:13:00.003-05:00

Your mom was right. There is no substitute for manners and civilized behavior.

I shared a cup of coffee with someone the day before yesterday, and I mentioned that there is really no replacement for face-to-face meetings with someone, especially if you're looking to establish a business relationship with that person. While we live in one of the most technically advanced nations in the world and in an era that would have amazed people twenty years ago (let alone a century or two prior), becoming this tech-savvy has drawbacks along with its advantages. We don't talk to people face-to-face. We Tweet, we Facebook, we e-mail. We text, and text, and text until we have to visit the doctor for our aching thumbs. One look at the news shows us that we have fast forgotten how to be civil to each other, regardless of what our opinions are.

Let's take a step back for a minute. A conversation, actually connecting with someone, means that I am sharing information with you. I'm giving a person some idea of who I am. I'm asking that person to consider my needs. I want something. I'm asking that person to take time out of their day to either help me with something or to give me something in return, especially in business. I have to communicate and be clear in those communications, and no matter how uncomfortable it may be, actually talk to that person. (And who knows? You may just surprise yourself and actually find that talking face-to-face isn't uncomfortable at all.)

So, in light of these things, what are the rules of meeting new business associates (which is, in actuality, meeting new people), and how does this all tie together? Here's how I see it:

1.) Do your research. They tell you the same thing for a job interview, and it's the same thing for meeting a potential new vendor or client you want to use your services. Go to their website. When you have your lunch meeting or coffee with that person, have a conversation with them. Find out who they are and what they're looking for. Ask them about their business mission. Ask them what they like or dislike. And the magic about conversation is that it's a two way street. Try to give the other person as much information about yourself and your business so that they can make a decision whether or not there's a fit. Do it within the bounds of reason and tact, however; a business meeting isn't the time to bring up the dubious distinction that you were the dorm's beer funneling champion for two consecutive semesters. Enough people already know that and will be more than happy to bring it up at the next reunion, so keep your mouth shut about it.

2.) Dress for the occasion.Take a shower. Put on deoderant. As someone who is in a creative field, I have a small bit of leeway, but just because I'm a photographer I wouldn't and shouldn't show up to meet someone in muddy boots and waders and expect the explanation, "I just got in from a shoot" to suffice. Your mom is right; it's rude and places still do have dress codes. And while what I might wear to meet a potential corporate client is completely different from what I would wear to meet a client interested in a portrait, in either case I need to look professional, competent, and neat.

3.) Be there when the person you're meeting arrives. This may mean that you have to get to your meeting place early - maybe an hour early, maybe a day early, maybe both - but make sure you are there and ready to go when your guest arrives, because you have no real idea how much time that person has to spend. And if the unthinkable happens and you're going to be late, call and let that person know so they can either wait or reschedule. When you get to your meeting, apologize for your tardiness once and move on with the meeting.

4.) Speaking of guests: if you've asked this person to lunch or coffee, pick up the tab. You wouldn't invite someone to your home for dinner, and ask them to pay for it. They are your guest. Find out where they would like to go; some people have food allergies and/or dietary restrictions you need to consider (and visits to the ER are not fun). And don't forget to get a receipt and make your accountant happy.

5.) Send a thank you note for your meeting as soon as possible. Here's one instance where technology works to your advantage. You can send an e-mail a soon as you get back to the car, but doan txt how gr8 it wuz to see U. PLEASE! Proper spelling! And proof your letter before you hit "send".

See? It just takes a little effort to be civilized. It makes people feel valued and important, which at the end of the day is something we all want, and in the end, you just might make a friend. How can that be bad?

O...M...G...

2010-02-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

I actually missed blogging!

I actually missed blogging?!

Yes, this is the same person who posted a blog love/hate/love post about how much time blogging took up when she wanted to be out shooting photographs. I don't think I was abducted by aliens during the night, and I haven't had any strange phone calls or appearances from Mulder and Scully. I haven't been blogging as much because I've been scheduling vendor meetings and designing marketing materials and doing other things to keep me and the business. But it was as I was reading someone else's blog that I felt a little bit of a twinge.

"Hmm," I thought. "I haven't written anything on the blog for a while."

I'm trying to compose a longer blog about the importance of family photos and why they are not a luxury, so that's been rattling around in my brain (and believe me, I'm sure that idea's bumping into a lot of other things). So I said I wouldn't post until I'd formulated what I wanted to say.

But I gotta admit. I missed you guys!

(You are out there, right? Or is my blog Wilson to my female version of Tom Hanks in that castaway movie?)

I think this might be a breakthrough moment on how I stopped worrying, and learned to love the blog.

Where Did She Go?

2010-01-27T14:13:00.001-05:00

Don't worry (not that you did, but I like to cover my bases JIC). I didn't fall off the face of the earth, or even fall down the steps at Raymondkills Falls. I've been busy-busy the past couple of days doing really productive things. I designed and got out a new marketing piece for the business that I began distributing today. (Side note - if any of you are reading this as a result of that piece, welcome! Let me know you're out there and drop me a comment.) Yesterday and today was doctor day. The one I was most concerned about was the dentist, but it turned out better than I anticipated.

I have a couple of posts in mind, so I'll be getting them into the hopper. Please rest assured that I'm doing my level best to keep up with my blogging responsibilities.

Computer Angst - A Haiku

2010-01-25T10:00:00.002-05:00

This is what happens when you spend a whole weekend with little sleep as you rebuild and re-tool your website. :-)

**********************
Why does Firefox crash?
Makes me cry big, wet tears!
I am not happy. :-(

FireFox crash again!
At least no BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!!!
Too early to drink?

Have kitty on lap
Sharp claws dig into my thighs
Cat too big for lap! :-)

Lobster bisque for lunch?
Maybe some egg drop soup?
Someone please cook it?

Now my website's done.
I have a screaming headche, and
My fingers are sore.

GEAUX SAINTS!!!!!

2010-01-24T22:27:00.000-05:00

THE SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

Roses

2010-01-24T10:00:00.013-05:00

One of the things I did was to visit a group of widowed friends while I was in Fort Lauderdale, and to participate in a rose ceremony to remember our spouses. We were worried the weather wouldn't hold, and that we'd have to postpone it till later in the day. Fortunately for us, the rain held off until the last of us was able to send out roses off into the sea and tell our spouses how much we miss them, and love them still.

If someone were to say to me "cry me a river," I'd have to let them know that I'm already way ahead of them.
If tears can fill an ocean, we all have certainly cried our share.

Remember Haiti

2010-01-23T10:00:00.005-05:00

It has been over a week since the earthquake and the terrible events that have taken place since then. Why do I choose to write about them now, rather than right after the disaster? I want to make a point that even though people there need us and need our support, they are going to need it long after it has become immediate news. The families who have lost loved ones, the people who have lost their livelihoods, limbs, and what little else they had will be coping with those losses long after the major news networks have moved on to the next sound bite. It is a lot like widowhood in a way. There comes a time when people outside of what you've suffered and lost expect you to be "over it" in a short amount of time without understanding that you never get over a loss like this. Life changing events are just that, and are not meant to be "gotten over". It is something you carry with you always. The people of Haiti will carry this with them always, and there isn't going to be a time limit or expiration date on our help. There shouldn't be after something like this.

The question we need to ask now is "what can I do to help?" and follow through with it. So many people say, "let me know if you need anything," and never follow through with it. Don't "almost do" something to help - DO something to help. Donate to the Red Cross and UNICEF for Haitian relief. If there is a supply drive being sponsored by your local organization, drop something off. And the most important thing of all to remember is not to be impatient that rebuilding is going to take longer than anybody can ever imagine. Grief and tragedy have their own timelines, but we can do what we can to help people affected by the tragedy move, survive, and eventually thrive one moment at a time.

Lions & Tigers &....

2010-01-22T10:00:00.005-05:00

...OMG! WTH is THAT?!

I went with a friend on a photo shoot/birding expedition to the Florida Everglades. I forget which park it was, but I don't know what I was thinking. It's the Everglades. It's muddy. It's wet. It has alligators and panthers. Did you know that Florida has panthers? I'd forgotten that. Panthers. Hmmm... OK; you can't see it, but I'm making my scared face. And why the possibility of seeing alligators doesn't have me making my scared face, but maybe seeing a panther does? I dunno.

OK. Here's a confession. I have a pathological fear of mud, and it's only mud of a certain viscosity that skeeves me right the hell out. I was never a child who liked to walk barefoot in the mud or make mud pies. No! none of it! And even though I wasn't walking barefoot through the Everglades and I had on my nifty hiking boots (remember the ones I bought on sale and that had a friend believing I was a pod person from Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Those boots?), it was just the feel of the mud as my foot sank and got stuck in it. I had visions of getting stuck in quicksand, except it was mud.

I swallowed my panic because I didn't want to worry the person I was with (and who'd have to share an hour and a half car ride back with me through the Everglades to Fort Lauderdale). I was doing OK until she points just ahead of me and says, "doesn't that look like an alligator track over there?" "I'm sorry; alligator WHAT?!" I think to myself. And I'm stuck in the mud. I can just hear my husband now. "Alligator?! You're here now because you got eaten by an ALLIGATOR?! How many bites did it take? One or two?"

"Oh," I said with amazing calmness. "Alligator where?" My friend points out a long trail that had been made by something of a substantial size, having flattened out the tall grass in its wake. Thankfully it was going in the opposite direction from us, and had long since gone before we got there.

You would think that I would have turned around at that point, but people think lots of things, don't they?

We went a little bit further, and it keeps getting muddier and wetter. I try to focus on the trees. I focus on the birds. I try not to think that I don't remember where the trail is.

And then we hear voices. Either we were both having a psychotic break at the same time, or there really IS someone else on the trail with us. Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Can I get out of here?

We see a group of people just ahead of us coming out of the marsh. Led by a park ranger, everybody is wet up to their knees. I breathed a bit easier seeing the ranger until she told us that she wasn't exactly sure if she'd picked the right trail back, so she was glad she saw us...

Yes, the Everglades are lovely this time of year. Just remind me not to go over a hard rain, and pick a trail that hasn't been defined by something big enough to consider me a tasty tidbit.

No Direction

2010-01-21T12:00:00.006-05:00

It is so cute that people think I know how to read maps! You would think that would be an easy skill; for me, it is not. I read maps the way I swim - kinda. Please use the term in a sentence? Alright. "I kinda swim just enough to stay afloat until I'm rescued, provided that rescue takes place within two seconds, max." I have had to have friends rescue me from my map reading mishaps as they've talked me across entire states to get from point "A" to point "B". It's the reason why I keep my passport with me. If I end up in Canada, I can get out, eh?

While I was in Florida, I had to get to Fort Lauderdale from my hotel for a shoot. I went down to the from desk to ask how far I was from the beach. "Not that far," says the man behind the desk, and reaches for A MAP. "Listen, buddy," I think to myself, "I'm sure you're very nice, but better men than you have tried to teach me how to read those things." My husband only made it as far as getting me to understand the odd numbered interstates run North to South and the even numbered ones ran East to West before smoke started pouring out of his ears.

"I'm sorry; I can't read maps," I reply. "Oh that's OK," says the man behind the desk. "It's very simple."

(*SIGH!* Does he have any idea how many of my trips start out like this, and end up in hours of "where the hell AM I?!")

I didn't want to dash his hopes that he'd been helpful and done his job, so I took the map and walked out to the car. Well, at least I had a full tank of gas. Go straight, make a right; go straight and end at the beach. By the end of the trip, I felt quite smug with myself because I didn't get lost. Travel to the coffee shop where I was supposed to meet someone, however...?

I'm just going to start tying one end of a very large ball of twine to the doorknob before I go anywhere.

Bienvenidos a Miami

2010-01-20T10:00:00.008-05:00

I've just returned from my photo shoot in Florida. (Nifty how I schedule a business trip there during the cold part of the year, huh? I'm feeling quite smug with myself.) I flew into and out of Miami International Airport, which was about as much fun as dropping something heavy on my foot. Before I left, I think I said on my blog post that I'd report on how the airport/airplane travel went. I'd have to go back through my blog to verify that, but in any case, here we go.

In some respects, this airplane trip was better than the last in terms of getting my equipment on the plane with me and to my destination. As I've said, I can't take the risk of having luggage handlers playing Catch-N-Oops with my delicate camera gear (and by extension my career), so I cannot check it. This, however, means that I can only take one camera body, one prime lens, and one telephoto lens. I also need to have my netbook to download my shots and to do preliminary culling of images, my external hard drive to serve as immediate back-up storage, by Hoodman (a small device that fits over the viewing screen on my DSLR so I can view shots while in bright sunlight), my SB-600 flash, batteries for my Nikon D90, its charger, batteries for the flash, and two SD card cases with SDHC cards. Add to that the cords and cables I need and a sun it, and it all fits quite neatly into my Lowepro CompuDaypack. This is the lightest and most compact I can pack, but what if I need my wide angle lens? What if I want to bring an extra camera body? And schlepping a backpack is bad for my back, which means I have to look for a luggage cart, which means paying extra money at four bucks a pop if I can't score an abandoned one. I actually had an airline ticket attendant fight me over a stray one the moment a passenger dumped hers. I didn't know they were in such short supply at MIA.

I thought I'd solved these problems by getting a rolling backpack that meets airline carry-on specs (in fact that was the main selling point that made me pay as much as I did for it), but every time I've traveled with it, unless I'm seated in the back and can get on early, more often than not I have problems trying to stow it. It does get stowed with me inside the cabin, but not without a lot of drama. I've also noticed that I'm not the only traveler that has problems with rolling carry-on luggage that should be small enough to fit on planes in the overhead compartments or under the seat. It's getting so that the only way you're going to be able to have luggage with you on your trip is to ship it ahead to your destination - and I've heard of people who've actually done that.

I think a large part of the problem is that air carriers are booking (and overbooking) flights to the fullest capacity they can. It used to be less of a pain to fly and more of a pleasure, and now it's the other way round.

Muddy Creeks, Muddy Rivers, Muddy Creek Falls

2010-01-18T10:00:00.009-05:00

I don't know why I'm attracted to waterfalls but since I've begun my photographic journey, I've often thought about what it would take logistically to photograph every waterfall in America. This said by a person who really doesn't swim all that well. I know that taking photos of waterfalls really shouldn't need me to actually be in the water, but you should have seen some of the people at Muddy Creek Falls when I was in Oakland, MD. If I remember correctly, there is a little shelf-like protrusion where you could (if you really wanted to and felt, oh, I don't know, particularly stupid that day!) walk to the top edge of the falls.

Have I mentioned that waterfalls, at least the ones I've shot recently, have a really long drop to the bottom? That's one of the things that makes the really dramatic ones all "waterfall-y".

I remember the shutter going off in my camera and me thinking, "I really don't want to take a picture of someone falling off this cliff; I really don't want to take a picture of someone..."

I guess sometimes there's beauty in danger and danger in beauty, to an extent.

Indiana Wants Me....

2010-01-17T10:00:00.006-05:00

....But I can't go back there. Well, not without having to drive one hell of a damn long way to get there.

I drove out to St. Louis in the Fall to do a family photo shot for a college friend. I've toyed with the idea of driving across America, maybe by taking Route 66 - I haven't really figured out how exactly I'd do that. It was a 17 hour+ trip out to the Midwest, and on my way back, I saw a sign for Cataract Falls as I traveled through Indiana. I made a note to stop there on my way back home, and actually remembered! YAY ME!

So of course the day I was in the area, it decided to rain. (Actually I brought the rain with me. It followed me from Missouri much like the cloud that follows Pig Pen.)

The thing with doing landscape photography is that you're pretty much at the mercy of Mother Nature. You have to protect yourself and your equipment from the elements. That really awesome shot can sometimes come about because you had to slog through mud up to your neck to get to it. But as I've said before, sometimes even though you can see the shot, it doesn't mean that you can actually get to it.

I also discovered white cheese Tex Mex in the Midwest. Yes, it is just as scary as it sounds.

Travel Light

2010-01-16T10:00:00.006-05:00

Oh, you have no idea how I have no idea how to do this! I'm learning as I go along, but every time I think I have a handle on the "sitch", they switch handles. I've had to fly a couple of places on photo shoots, and have really made an effort to travel as lightly as I can. I have my rolling camera bag - a bag which I researched into the wee small hours of the morning to make sure that it fit carry-on specs - and my carry-on .

Is it just me, or are they deliberately making planes smaller?!

I went to Pictage's Partnercon in New Orleans last November. Much to my dismay, two of my connecting flights were on planes that I swear were the size of toy models for giants. (Or maybe they were toy models - I don't know.) It was a fight to convince flight attendants that yes, the bag will fit on the plane and no, I will not and can not let you put my camera equipment and livelihood in the belly of the plane. I was able to keep my gear with me (thankfully!), but the whole experience gave me a screaming headache.

OK; it's 2010 now. When are we going to get the Star Trek technology to beam to wherever we need to go?

Landscapes

2010-01-15T10:00:00.005-05:00

If you had the chance to read my old blog or to read the original tag line, the focus of my blog is taking on widowhood and photography a click at a time. To rehash a bit, I began shooting pictures because I couldn't look at the world, and visualize what I saw. I could see to do things like drive, cook when I was able, and to get around, but I'd completely lost all sense of vision. I don't expect this to make sense to all of you reading this blog, but I suspect there will be those among you who walk the stretch of road that I do who will, unfortunately, completely understand. For some reason, I was driven to pick up a camera nineteen months after I lost my husband, and I relied very heavily on it to verify what I saw in the world. If I took a picture of, let's say, an apple, when I uploaded the image and looked it, I had tangible proof of what I saw in terms of the object, it's color, the light around it, and its place in the world.

Like I said, this may not make sense to you at all, but this is the only explanation I've got. Or it may make perfect sense. I'll have to leave that up to you, Gentle Reader.

I shoot landscapes for two reasons. The first is my husband. My husband was an environmental economist who dedicated his life and career to environmental causes, and did so while fighting kidney disease his whole life. I feel closest to him while I'm chasing the light in a beautiful location; I feel him with me. And I imagine he gets a kick out of seeing his wife slogging through the muck, brush, snow and mud - a wife who's idea of nature involved shopping at an outdoor mall rather than one indoors. (OK, I'm really not that shallow, but when I told a friend of mine that I'd bought a pair of hiking boots, I had to look for smelling salts.)

The second reason has to do with widowhood. It's easier to say to well meaning friends, "oh, I drove seven hours to X for a photo shoot" than, "I drove through the mountains at three am because I couldn't sleep and had a flight or flight response."

Again, I know there are those of you reading who unfortunately know exactly what I mean.

Blog Love/Hate/Love....

2010-01-14T10:32:00.009-05:00

There are times with my blog that I think it's the best thing since a PB&J sandwich on sliced bread. Then there are other times when I feel like Cinderella did just after her evil stepsisters got ahold of the dress she made to go to the ball, especially when I look at other people's blogs. (We all know she got a better dress via fairytale intervention, but I don't know if that's going to happen here.)

What makes a good blog? I'm still trying to answer that question for myself, especially since (I am told) I need it to direct traffic to my website and thus increase my business. Business has changed so much in the wake of new technologies and with the change of not only a new decade and century, but a new millennium. Back in the day, it was important to have a business card that grabbed your client's attention; now, not only do you have to have a business card, you need a website, a blog, a Twitter page and a Facebook page. As I've whined about on here before (yes, I went there!), it seems like I spend so much time on the computer that I have to remember when the hell I put the camera.

So hmmm.... How do I become the Bodisadvat of blogging? (Now we're up to two questions I have to answer!) I think, in an effort to answer those things for myself, I have to get to a place where blogging ceomes second nature to me. Like it is with any type of writing, you have to force yourself to do it every day. I have to look for things that not only interest me, but things that just may be an interest to others and the people who stumble upon my blog. It's like that with my photography. I need to do it as much as I can, and always ask the question, "what makes this photo interesting?" Plus there are the automated, technical functions that I can do to make my blogging tasks a little easier like writing as much as I can in advance, schedule my blogs and the time for writing them so that they appear when I'm out on a shoot or with a potential client.

So I'm working on it, and like everything in my life over the last thirty months, it's a constant change and a constant effort. My blog, like my life, is a work in progress. Hopefully both will be something that I can point to with some sense of pride and accomplishment someday.

One of THE Coolest Places on Earth!

2010-01-13T10:00:00.005-05:00

Over the Summer I went to visit college friends in Tennessee, and the youngest member of the family introduced me to one of the coolest places on earth. The Creative Discovery Museum in Chatanooga is geared towards kids, but I suspect it speaks to the kid in all of us. Let me tell you; museums weren't like this when I was growing up. (That would be shortly after dinosaurs but before the invention of the wheel.)

This is a place my husband would have loved. I hope he got to share it with me that day.

The World Is Not Flat....

2010-01-12T10:00:00.017-05:00

The last of the retro blogs means we're all caught up! YAY ME! Enjoy!

**************************************************************************

....And neither are my car door magnets. Well, at least not one of them.

I had door magnets made with the name of our business so I could drive and advertise at the same time. (I call it our business because I still think of my husband in the present tense. Just think of him as the ultimate silent partner.) I was quite pleased with myself; I spent twelve eye-bleeding hours (remember that whole "not sleeping" thing we widowed people do?) looking up and looking at corporate branding sites on the web. I found a logo that I was pleased with, and I even came up with a tag line. I spent another two eye-bleeding and stress inducing hours doing the layout for the door panels in Microsoft Paint. More than fourteen hours later, I downloaded everything onto a thumb drive and took it to be processed. Twenty-four hours later, et voila! I had two door magnets, perfect in every way.

Um, yeah; about that...

I proudly placed them on my car doors, making sure to follow all the instructions. The doors were clean. I didn't leave them on the car overnight. I tucked them in flat, just the way they like. I would have given them hot cocoa, but the stores were closed. We had a grand time traveling down the highways and byways, the wind blowing through our hair. (Well, maybe not the panels' hair because they weren't the least bit hirsute.)

Um, yeah... We should talk about the wind at some point...

We traveled down the last weekend to the Falls and the Shenandoah. We stopped for coffee. It was (dare I say it?!) good.

And then there was the trip to the grocery store. Yup.

I put my door magnets where they had ridden all weekend. They looked secure, but the driver's side one? I should have been more attentive. Should I have asked how it's day had been? Maybe even mentioned how fantastic it looked?

I drove the mile to the grocery store. When I got out of the car, it was gone. The half of the set, vanished.

I frantically drove back the way I came, searching for that other half. Twice. Without success.

Yet another loss.

I sadly made my way back to where I'd ordered the pair of door magnets, thumb drive in hand. I told the manager what had happened, and re-ordered a replacement. Like that was going to fix things. How was I going to replace something that had been a part of my life, even if just for a short while? No matter how long it had been, it wasn't long enough.

It was dark when I made my way back home. I re-traced the route one last time, hoping that maybe, just maybe...

My headlights picked up something shiny in the right hand turn lane, four lanes over. The shape was a perfect rectangle, so I knew it wasn't a square puddle. (It also hadn't rained and even if it had, puddles aren't rectangular.) I made a U-turn, parked my car, and ran across two lanes of traffic to get to what I saw.

It was my door panel. Remember the wind? It had picked up a corner of the magnet and ripped it off the car, but it landed face down on the other side of the road. And believe it or not, the front didn't have a scratch on it. It seems that the edges were curled a bit, but a visit back to the shop seems ot have fixed it, I hope.

So the pair of door magnets are back together, laying flat in the car, side by side, as they should be.

Well, at least it's happened for one of us.

Blackwater Falls

2010-01-11T10:00:00.014-05:00

One of the trips I made last year was to Blackwater Falls. Located in Davis, West Virginia, it's not very far from Oakland, MD where I'd gone on a shoot. I'm attracted to waterfalls in a lot of my landscape photography. I don't know why, but I'll share if I ever figure it out. When I was on the Oakland shoot, a fellow Nikon photographer told me about the falls, and also suggested I come back in the winter to get a picture of the Falls frozen over. I plan to do that, and hopefully I'll fare better than I did on my visit to Raymondkills Falls.

Sign, Signs

2010-01-10T10:00:00.006-05:00

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I spent some time last year in San Antonio and traveled to New Waverly/Old Waverly Texas. As I remember, New Waverly is called New Waverly because the town was split in two when the railroad came to town. While I was doing research on the town, I found that there was an old cemetery that probably had some interesting (if not historic) gravestones.

Well, you know me and cemeteries...

In the rental I jumped, having just finished my fashion photo shoot with the cows just up the road. Apparently the cemetery's a big Texas secret because I drove past it twice. I then realized that the only way I'd be able to get into the cemetery was to scale the fence.

(OK, let me stop laughing long enough to type. I'm barely five feet tall and the fence was about six feet high. That I even considered it means that I'd been out in the sun way too long without a hat.)

Extremely disappointed, I turned the car around to make my way back to the highway when I stumbled upon another smaller cemetery down a side dirt road. And this one looked accessible! I did go in, but the sign almost made me think twice:

Sometimes, the universe is not very subtle.

Busywork

2010-01-09T10:00:00.007-05:00

Yet another retro post, mainly because I'm blogging my little fingers to the bone! :-)

*************************************************************************

UGH!

Today is chore day. Not only do I have house cleaning to do, I have things I need to do connected to the business. I try to keep up with things and do a bit here and there in both, but I find you really need to have a day where everything gets done. If you don't you're looking at one hot mess later on.

When I began the business, I spent a lot of time trying to lay down a good foundation. Of course, I had to decide whether to be a Sole Proprietor, LLC (Limited Liability Corporation), or a corporation in general. I had to set up my website, Twitter, and Facebook. I had to begin a blog. And, oh yeah - there's the shopping for office supplies like accordion files for receipts, a calculator that figures out tax, file folders, etc. (Yes, I was the kid who loved shopping for school supplies. A nice, pink eraser and a box of a dozen number 2 Ticonderoga pencils just waiting to be sharpened made my nerdy little heart skip a beat at the start of each and every school year.)

I remember grumbling that the reason why I started my photography business was ta take photographs, and not to spend my day chained to the desk. UGH! Thankfully that looks like that's changing.

Except for today, when I need to itemize receipts and clean the house to keep the furbabies happy.

Stone Angels

2010-01-08T10:00:00.033-05:00

On the 24 month sadiversary of my husband's death, I went on a photo shoot to Savannah, GA. (I have, as of yet, not been able to be home once that date arrives. Whether that will change in the future, I don't know.) One of the places I where spent a large part of my time was Bonaventure Cemetery. Made famous by the book and movie, Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, the cemetery is also the site where the Bird Girl Statue was photographed for the cover of the book. I found out during my visit to Savannah that the statue has been removed for its protection and placed in the Telfair Museum of Art.

The cemetery has been in existence since 1846, and you can literally chronicle the history of the citizens buried there from that time to the present day. The tombstones that were most interesting to me were those of the Victorian era.

The time spent in Bonaventure Cemetery was a testament to me on how important it is to remember our dead. Something that, as a widow, I do on a daily basis.

The Plural of Moose

2010-01-07T12:59:00.010-05:00

(Trust me; you're gonna get a kick out of this when you find out!)

I've been to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, ME, twice now. (Hmm... Lobster Bisque for lunch sounds good right about now, but I digress.) I went on my first visit to Maine late last Spring shortly before I was scheduled for surgery. I'd never been, and if something happened on the operating table, I didn't want my last thought to be when my husband came to get me, "you know, I never made it up Maine." Believe me, not that that would have kept me from crossing over, but really - why have regrets?

I got the feeling that it had been a particularly long winter when I got up there. The people on the island were lovely and (very) friendly, but I did get the sense of , "THANK GOD IT'S SOMEBODY WHO DOESN'T LIVE ON THE ISLAND!!" I went off season and timed my trip so that I was there shortly before Memorial Day when the rates were cheaper.

I have to tell you, if Acadia National Park isn't on the list of place to see before you buy the farm, it should be. I can't tell you how beautiful it is, so I'm hoping my pictures will give you some idea:

Oh, and here's the payoff for the title of this post. The plural of moose is (wait for it!) MOOSE! I discovered this on my second visit in the Fall. (Yes, I already knew that!) There is a moose sightseeing tour in Bar Harbor that felt it was important for everybody to know that. That had me tickled for days.

Catching The Light

2010-01-06T14:03:00.003-05:00

Another retro-post, I first posted this one September 21, 2009. Enjoy!
*****************************************************************************

A friend of mine told me once that photography is all about capturing light. If you don't capture the light, you don't have a picture. Lighting is also important in Theatre; without proper lighting, nobody can see you or the set. Never a good thing; just trust me on this. One of the first things I learned about lighting and photography is that the best light (the "sweet light" as I've heard it called) is found early in the morning at sunrise to about ten a.m. and from mid-afternoon to sunset. As a result (another photographer told me), you are always either skipping breakfast or dinner and not getting anywhere near enough sleep.

Great! I do this already; have been since my husband died. This is perfect. People were already after me to be productive and "get over it" three minutes after we left the Crematorium, and now I can make them happy. She shoots, she scores !

I went this weekend on a spur-of-the-moment shoot to Great Falls National Park near McLean, VA and to Shenandoah National Park in Front Royal, VA. I had planned on leaving early in the morning and making it a day trip, but decided it would be better to drive down Friday night instead. I was able to catch a great deal on a hotel, so I packed my bags and equipment and hit the road.

So comes the dawn on Saturday.

I bolt out of bed and look at the clock. It's 7 am. OK; it's not sunrise, but that's OK because I can't get into the park until 7 am anyway; right? Right. I don't know! Is it 7 am, or could I have actually been therre at sunrise...?!

Never mind. 7:01 am; I'm loosing the light. Hurry up, hurry up, HURRY UP!

Take a shower - yes? No. Yes? No. OK. Maybe I better. Yes. Did I wash my face? WHy is my body wet, and my face dry?! Hurry up, hurry up, HURRY UP!

OK. OKOKOK. OK. Put on a clean shirt. Is it clean? I packed two clean shirts - why doesn't this smell clean?! I know I did laundry...

(Here's where I break for the following tip: if you find yourself wearing the same color all the time - say, Black, for example - it's a good idea to devise a method to determine and separate clean clothes from not-so-clean ones so you won't find yourself doing what I did next.)

...*SNIFF!*

UGH! But I pulled this out of the clean pile! What the..?!

OK. 7:30 am. I'm loosing the light! Hurry up, hurry up, HURRY UP! Extra deoderant!

OK. Grab equipment and car keys. Wait; where's the room key?! OK. Got it. Check check check check CHECK! Everything's here. Money, fanny pack, driver's license, keys, keys. Hurry up, Hurry up, HURRY UP!

Get in the elevator; go downstairs. Get in the elevator; go downstairs. Get in the... Whyisthistakingsolong?!

OK. GETTHESTUFFINTHECAR!!!! Put the magnetic door panels back on the doors - advertise, advertise, advertise! Car keys. WHERE ARE THE CAR KEYS?! OK. Pocket. Got 'em. OK. Getinthecargetinthecar GET IN THE CAR!!!

OK.

OK.

In the car, and on my way. Look for exit 44 and... There it is. O....K... Almost there.

*SIGH!*

Good.

*SIGH!*

Wait.

Did I take the Do Not Disturb door hanger off the door...?

*SIGH!!*

Call the hotel. Callthehotelcallthehotel CALL THE HOTEL!!!

"HellothisisMrsSHRImagesandPhotographyandI..."

"WHAT?!"

"Hello...This...Is Mrs. SHR Images and Photography... (LONG PAUSE)..."

(Once again, my husband was right. He'd always say, "Suzette, time is a constraint, not a variable," and I would reply, "yes it is; you just go faster!" I'm sure he was laughing his head off.)

OK. Yes, the room will be cleaned. Thank you. Good.

*SIGH!*

And here's the park. Good. Good.

Gettothefalsgettothefalls GET TO THE FALLS!

OK. I'm here.

*CLICK!*

And now I get to wait for the light to change....