Let It Snow

i do not miss the long and cold winters in connecticut, but i do miss a good snow sometimes. the flakes started falling here just as everyone was getting ready for school. the kids' fervent prayers for a delay or cancellation were unanswered...and sure enough, within a few hours the sun comes out. by mid-afternoon there will hardly be a trace. you have to enjoy it here while you can. doesn't everything look better with a fresh dusting though? including the pumpkin candle still on the porch from a holiday three months ago and the leaves, yet unraked, covering the back yard. why clean things up when you can photograph them instead? the husky dog in sandy clearly comes out when she discovers the white powder.

Rehearsal Networking

a client called this morning to thank us for the photos we had taken at his son's rehearsal dinner earlier this month (we don't do weddings, but we will do rehearsal dinners ;) there were the usual candids and group pictures, but we have the most fun trying to capture those moments others don't see. like this guest with her growing appetite grazing on a little pre-dinner snack. or the guy who is sleeping through the toasts (while how many others wish they were?)

anyway, it turns out that the guy who hired us owns a foundry here in town that provides art castings and other related services to sculptors in the southwest and across the united states. so we wrangled an invitation to come see his operation and try to get photos of a nighttime pour, when the colors are supposedly pretty cool. it sounds really interesting, so meeting him was an added bonus from that shoot.

Mary

a letter arrived from mary this week. mary is our 91-year-old former neighbor...humorous, fiesty, and fiercely independent. she lived alone, unless you count charles--her imaginary friend/intruder (depending on the day). i thought it was rather resourceful of a homebound widow to have someone to blame when her hearing aid had been misplaced or someone to converse with on solitary days. although i guess the police didn't share those sentiments after mary's 19th call requesting help to deal with charles's shenanigans.

mary was a protester. she protested doctor's advice, extra visits from the cleaning lady, friends who disbelieved charles's existence, and family members who expressed any concern about her living alone. she protested wearing teeth, observing holidays, or adhering to a regular schedule. hadn't she earned the right after all these years to do as she pleased? who ever sent up a big "hurrah" for family anyway?

but the day came when her protests went unheeded. when dropping by for a visit one day late last summer, we discovered that her daughter had flown into town without warning to pack up mary and move her to an assisted living center outside of houston. with no say and no better solution, we could only stand aside and watch our elderly friend unceremoniously swept from our lives--not to mention her own--overnight.

miriam & i returned later that day with the camera and to briefly discuss this sudden turn of events. mary began the conversation as the woman we knew--proud and strong, with a twinkle in her eye. but as she talked, the reality of the impending change increased and the shadows moved across her face. within the span of twenty minutes, her expressive features registered a wide range of emotion--from sassy to skeptical to fearful--and by the time we left, it seemed that her spirit had departed as well, escaping to another place before she could be torn from the house she loved (and had inhabited for 40+ years) and the life she knew.

with these shots, miriam documented the visible and disturbing transformation from a vibrant survivor to a vacant shell. we have them framed in our office...a stunning series and memorable tribute to our friend who is living out her days very differently than she would have preferred.

Donruss Day

due to the abundant generosity of a friend, zephyr gets to enjoy what he likes to call "a donruss day." when a fedex package arrives with his name on it, i pick him up from school during his lunch hour, and then he gets to open boxes of the latest and greatest sports collectible cards. for such a big fan and collector, it is a huge thrill and we can't thank his wonderful benefactor enough.

miriam has our good camera at the moment (a new canon 40D), and after shooting with that for a couple of months, i feel like i'm slumming when i use our old canon rebel...but it can definitely still take a decent picture. spitfire, the kitten, might be enjoying today's box break as much as z.

The High Cost of Low Price

i know, i know...we need to watch that documentary about wal-mart and come clean. on the way to do our weekly shopping there, this is how the tree outside the parking lot was adorned. beautiful, huh? at least we did purchase a whole set of "paper or plastic? neither" reusable bags to carry our groceries and hopefully avoid contributing to that sight.

on the way home, several guys with buckets were standing at the intersection hitting up those stalled at the lights for cash to "help feed hungry families." as miriam put it when dropping in a few dollars..."i have to feed my own hungry family too." philanthropy is great...especially when you can afford it.

Scattered Saturday

we were going in lots of different directions today. the early afternoon was spent at the pool, where henry swam well in the 200 yard im and 100 yard backstroke events and qualified for the regional meet in february. how cool is this straight-on shot with the nicely mirrored reflection?

josie (12, 7th grade) won a contest that allowed her to be "junior photographer" for today's texas tech lady raiders game. it's in the genes. she was provided a camera, courtside seats, and access to a suite...so miriam and mesa accompanied her, while i took zephyr (13, 7th grade) to his all-region band concert. he plays percussion (they stand in the back) and i was totally frustrated with the lack of photo ops. even with a sweet zoom, the lighting was poor, the angle was bad, and i couldn't get the white balance right. meanwhile, the girls had far more success. josie's photos should be published in the local paper later this week. and mesa (11, 6th grade) took this well-composed picture from her privileged vantage point high above the action.

Blog Newbies

while trying to distract myself from work this morning, i browsed a couple of the blogs that i have bookmarked. after e-mailing back and forth with one of my blogging friends about the process, i became increasingly inspired and decided miriam & i should join the blogging denizens. although we put our website up a couple months ago (www.lostartphotos.com), it is a little too static to satisfy our desire for ongoing creativity. so maybe this will give us a more regular outlet to share some of the photos we're taking. we love the online projects that post a portrait a day, but we're not that ambitious or disciplined...yet.

today miriam took the afternoon off and we went to watch henry (junior, 16) compete in the district swim meet.

we're still playing around with sports photography. capturing athletes in motion is a whole different thing than portrait photography. but using our new zoom lens is uber-fun (new prefix of the season with our middle-school kids).

now, only in texas would you see this shot at the pool, right? skin, skin, skin...and snake skin (or lizard...or ostrich...how would i know?)