Wedding Part 2

This is just a collage of a few more photographs that I took at the wedding the other night. The photos of the flower girl have been getting great reviews, I am humbled to say. Thank You.



BLUR

Music Playing = The Beatles

Anticipating Words

Okie dokie, folks, its time to get ready to start writing this article stuff. Just think, there are all kinds of magazines & online websites that need some good writing like I know I can do. I look forward to finding a little corner of the music world in which to pour out all these whimsical words that are floating all around me like rings of Saturn. Just got to grab them & paste them in all the right places.

I’ve been thinking who I could write about first. A favorite band? Or someone new? Someone just waiting to be discovered by the BIG BAD RECORD COMPANIES. I sure do know quite a few out there, busting their butts to be heard by someone who can spread their music from coast to coast to coasts far away. I’ve shot them at clubs or found them on MySpace or was turned in their direction by someone else. Doggone it, I love discovering new music. It’s just plain fabulous. Don’t you think?!!

Alright, I’m sitting here at this very moment, twiddling my thumbs. Who do I pick? So I mess around & hum & sing & listen to snippets of songs then finally go make some popcorn. I can’t decide yet. And I really-really want to. I have anticipation up the wazoo about writing again. All this energy flowing through my veins ready to pulse out. This is probably like having ADHD except it’s compartmentalized on music.

I eat some more popcorn & wait for the A-HA moment to come. Once I pick my topic I can start my research. Fun research on someone I like & admire & would love (or already have) photographed. I’m narrowing it down, Guys. I can feel it.

I check the clubs where I usually shoot to see who is playing this weekend. Hmmm …. I check my humble portfolio. Oh yea, I could do them. No-no-no, I want to do them first. But I want to do a whole segment on this band so not them yet. My dog needs to go potty so I get up to let him go frolic out in the backyard & I walk around & catch words & get giggly with excitement.

By the time I sit back down at the pc, I have an overabundance of ideas, but its time to cook supper. Jeez, supper can wait. I want to get this one figured out before I lose the buzz. The phone rings. Sorry dude, can’t talk to you about my obsession with Slash right now, I’m writing. What? You heard about a tour date? Oh my goodness gracious me. Now my mind is off on a tangent of long black curls & flaming hot guitar strings. Remind me the next time I see him to kick his ass. Total loss of concentration now. Might as well go cook some quesadillas while I’m trying to get back the vibe.

Phone rings again. My baby calling to tell me she ran this morning. She’s training for a half-marathon, in case you were wondering. She’s just an itty-bitty thing but she can now run 13.5 miles without huffing & puffing.

Stop-stop-stop!!!! I have to concentrate on getting this article started, my Dear. Call me back later.

Later turns into typing a few suggestions to look at the band names. As if that would help me any. A name is a name. I swirl the names around my tongue as if the article I am to write has sound. Man oh man. Maybe I should just put some names in a hat & whatever I pull out is who I shall write about. That’s how a reporter really works. They are GIVEN assignments to write. Ok, that sounds cool I can do that. Whoever I pull out of that hat is who I am going to write about.

Done deal. Oh man, now look at the time. I have to get up early & hit the gym & then go to my normal job. You know what this means, don’t you? More hours I have to wait until I can write this article.

Sure glad that these floodgates have opened. Otherwise what in the world would I do with all these words!!!

Maybe tomorrow the writing will begin. Did I tell you how excited I am about doing this again?

BLUR

Music Playing = Guns N Roses

Brides & Grooms & Photography - OH MY !!!

Weddings are fun, exciting & beautiful events. If you’re sitting in the audience taking in everything all 5 senses have to offer, then you feel privileged to be here. But if you’re a wedding photographer, especially a new one in the game, it can only mean one thing = STRESS !!!!!!

You did hear me SCREAM that last word at the top of my sweet southern lungs, didn’t you? And, gosh-darn-it, I meant every syllable of it.

I love weddings, I really do. But to be the main photographer on someone’s MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF THEIR LIFE, you have to capture EVERY LITTLE MOMENT. Every single one of them. To fail at this is to fail at the job you have been hired to do. Someone trusted you to catch the special smiles & moments while they were creating those special smiles & moments. You were hired to capture what they cannot see. Over there Grandpa is whispering in Grandma’s ear while the bride & groom dance their first dance, wrapped up totally in each other. And at that very same moment, across the room, the niece is hocking a loogie in her brother’s kool-aid glass while he is in turn sticking his tongue out at the cute little girl making squishy faces at him. And let’s not forget the best man standing in the corner nervously adjusting his tie before he does his BIG toast.

Wedding photography is not just about the bride & groom. It is about capturing the special little things that go on all around them as well. Special moments like what I mentioned above. So if you really-really think about this, it will make your hair turn grey before it’s supposed to turn grey.

I went the other night with a photographer friend to a wedding that she was the “official” photographer for. I had permission from the bride to tag along & practice all I wanted. So I felt none of the pressure of being THE wedding photographer. I sat around & observed & found special moments that I recorded on my beloved Nikon’s memory card, without having to play hydra to EVERYTHING around me. I was relaxed & jovial & made little suggestions to my friend every now & then of something going on behind her that would make a good photo memory. It was fun. No pressure.

I have been THE wedding photographer on several occasions since I started back with my photography. And even though they were very satisfied & happy with the end results, I felt disappointed that the pictures weren’t better.

So seriously, is this something I REALLY want to do?

I don’t know for sure yet. Wedding photography is a photographer’s bread & butter. It’s where the money is & therefore will allow you to quit a humdrum job & open your dream studio wherever your heart desires. Once you have a few weddings under your belt then word of mouth will propel you into this longed-for career as a SERIOUS photographer.

But here is my thing: stress, & I repeat stress, is a big part of this job until it becomes second nature, which may take awhile. I am very kind-natured (that’s what they tell me. Ugh, why can’t I be a bitch without feeling guilty when I’m being a bitch) so I want to photograph everything perfect & wonderful & beautiful for them. I want them to be happy. There is no – STOP THE KISS!!!! I need to redo the shot. No no no no no. You need to get it right the one & only time you have to get it right.

You have to be able to instantly readjust settings for any lighting situation, have eyes in the back of your head, feet skills so you don’t go tripping over the aisle runner & most importantly you have to have an instinct for wedding photography.

I love portraits. I love being one-on-one with people, finding & capturing their personality. I love shooting concerts & inhaling that passion that falls from a guitar string & then actually seeing that on film. That is what I love to do. Honestly.

So am I ready to be a wedding photographer? Do I even WANT to be a wedding photographer?

BLUR


This is one of the photographs that I took at the wedding. Its ok. Not one of those take-your-breath-away photos that you see in magazines. Not by far. Just a father & daughter preparing for one of those BIG MOMENTS in life.

Music Playing = Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Fresh Air

The other night I went out of my element & attended a performance by a violinist. Yes, you read that right. A violinist. But this was not your ordinary classical music oboe swelling event. This was David Garrett. A twenty-something rock & roll string virtuoso on a theatre stage performing in blue jeans, with a ponytail & a rockin’ back up band. He just happened to be rocking a Stradivarius.

He was quite remarkable & his rendering of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” blew me away. I kid you not, this guy was out of this world. He did Queen’s “Who Wants To Live Forever”, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”, Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”, a breathtaking “Kashmir” & “Flight Of The Bumblebee” interspersed with snippets of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. Ahhhh, a man after my own heart.

I was seated amongst a cornucopia of people: young, old, rich, ordinary, nerdy, fashionable & even a few young girls who were swooning over David like they were swooning over someone from “Twilight”. And they all enjoyed the music.

I do have to say that its fun to step outside of your comfortable ipod playlist to discover new music. If we don’t take that chance every once in awhile how boring it would be. I mean, you’re looking at a rock & roll chick here, but boy do I love ole Wille Nelson. I love all music that carries within its soul, the blues. Good ole delta blues with the guitar sound that slips inside your soul & squirms around until you are almost euphoric. It’s a feeling, peeps. It’s a passion.

I’m glad I went to see this young German kid with the rock & roll heart & Paganini soul. He brings life to a genre that needs some punctuation to attract more young hearts as well as intrigue the older ones who look at him with a sideways glance of suspicion yet with fingers ready to pinch his cheek.


A breath of fresh air is ALWAYS a good thing. Think about it next time you’ve heard that same old song for the ten-thousandth time. Think about it when someone asks you to do something you’ve never tried before. And especially think about it when you have dreams you want to pursue but have squidgens of doubt that are holding you back from giving it your all.

See Ya Again Soon,
BLUR

Music Playing = David Garrett

Writing ... Seriously

When you haven’t written anything “professional” in quite awhile you wonder if you can ever return to it. You sit at the pc & stare at the blank screen & think of those first few words that will set everything back in motion. That will open the jets of inspiration & melodic word flow & you will be back in business again. And you sit. And you stare. And you type fruitless words that end up meaning absolutely nothing.

I feel like there is something in my brain that is blocking that used-to-be writer inside of me. Not writer’s block by any means as I can sit here & compose at will a whole story or just a ramble. No, its more like I have to find a hole in the wall where I can grab that old creative “professional” writing back out again, which is just behind that doggone wall. I can feel it back there. I can glimpse hints of it. I have words & phrases jumping out at me like there is an article just waiting for me to put down on paper. I just can’t quite reach it with my fingertips yet.

Maybe I’m trying too hard. Maybe I’m putting too much pressure on myself. It was told to me that not only do I have some talent at photography but I have some talent at writing. It would be good for my photography to also write to go along with my photographs. It could open up a whole new world. A world that I had enjoyed very much, come to think of it, way back when.

I was only writing for little underground newspapers & magazines but it was enjoyable to me. And I had the time … at the time. Words flowed out of me sooooo dang easily it was almost pathetic. I wrote album (when they were actually albums) reviews & mini-articles about music. Then I started moving into doing mini-interviews where I could submit like 5 questions for musicians to answer. To me, that was very cool. Its what a “nobody” in the music journalism business could get since we weren’t a “somebody”. Hey, I got to “interview” John Densmore of The Doors, James Young of Styx, Marc Ferrari, someone who had played with Janis Joplin but whose name now escapes me, Shawn Sahm & numerous no-name bands that remained no-name bands.

So now that I am taking my photography more seriously I need to take my writing more seriously. Try to get back what is lurking there underneath not a wall or a stone or even that cute little mushroom. Nope, its just under the skin of my fingertips. If I could prick my finger & let the word-blood flow out onto these keys, I would.

So I have to practice. I have to contrive an article about a band. Find those long ago words from my past that will form an intriguing piece of journalism that will inspire me to put pen to paper again, or rather finger to key, & do something that I have not done in years. An article that will once again cause tears to well up in Gregg Allman’s eyes because my words touched him. And yes, that is a true story; have the hand-written letter from him to prove it.

Can I really, you know, do this again?

BLUR

Music Playing = Muddy Waters

Getting Started ....

I have always had a camera in my hand. Since as far back as I can remember I have been running around snapping pictures of my family, my friends & especially my animals. My love for photography has never wavered. I wanted to go to USC to study photojournalism but I got married instead. Then I had a baby. Then I started to write for little underground music papers & that was so much fun. Then the baby was in school & life got really busy. Divorce, work, school plays, football games, concerts. Then I got married again; divorced again (thank goodness!!!) & here I am … again. Back to what I love: taking photos everywhere, going to concerts & writing. Hmmm, funny how life can do that to a person.

I can honestly start my life pretty much anew. The baby is grown & a thriving adult & sooooo beautiful. I still work. I still go to concerts. But I haven’t done much writing. A photographer buddy suggested I do a blog to document my “adventures in photography”. It started out as a joke then turned into “on second thought…”. I have been convinced that my “adventures” might help other young photographers out there that are just beginning to hump the clubs or crawl around yards in search of GREAT photographs that will jumpstart a lifelong career.

I doubt you, whoever is sweet enough to read this all the way through, will be inspired enough to become a photographer (or help me become a better photographer) via my adventures but you might get a laugh at a few of my silly shenanigans that I seem to get myself into or at least mumble a good ole southern “bless her heart”.

I get aggravated by how some of my pictures come out. I get aggravated because I sometimes can’t remember AT THE VERY MOMENT I NEED IT which aperature to set the darn camera to in order to get a GREAT photo that is only a moment in the making (then gone forever). But I am trying & I am learning with every photo that I take.

I hope with this blog to share with you pieces of my photography, my adventures in photography, my life, my concerts, my quests for goals. Maybe even turn you on to a new band … or two. Or a few old ones that never fail to rock my boat. And maybe just maybe you will find a picture or a story that you like.

Advice is more than welcome.

See Ya Again Soon
BLUR


This is one of the first photos that I ever took. I was all of 4 years old & this was our neighbor's dog. Not bad for a little kid in the early 1970's *hahaha*

Music Playing = Devon Allman’s Honeytribe