A family thread.

A little while ago, my cousin posted a photo of our grandmother on Facebook and when I saw it, I was stunned. There, looking back at me was my grandmother with a camera looking so much like me! I wanted that photo, or at the very least a copy of it. She has been on my mind lately and the photo seemed to be her speaking to me from the dust. The last time I saw her was when my mom and I had the good fortune to travel back to Sweden together for my cousin's wedding in the summer of 1999.

(At the wedding)

A few days before my mom and I left Sweden we visited Langgarn, a small island that is part of Stockholm's archipelago. My grandmother's family had 3 cabins on the island that have eventually been passed down to my Uncles who live in Sweden. For fun, I was mowing the lawn at the middle cabin with a push mower while my grandmother sat and watched me, but pretty soon it felt like it was more than just watching me. She was memorizing me, absorbing me.

Finally, I stopped, went over to her and sat down beside her and said,

"I know what you're doing."

"What?"

"You are soaking me in because I'm leaving."

"Yes. You know that there are nine of you over there now."

She was referring to my family of six at the time and my parents and younger brother who all live here, in the United States. I realized then how much time she spent thinking about her family that lived an ocean away. 

An hour or so later my mom and I walked down to the dock so my uncle to take us back to the mainland. My grandmother sat in a chair at the top of the pathway leading to the dock with another uncle standing at her side as she watched us walk away. She looked like a grand dame, sitting there watching me go. She was my last living grandparent, the matriarch of my father's side of the family. I am so grateful for such a clear memory of our last visit together. She passed away 3 months later. Our conversation became more poignant knowing it was our last one in this life. 

My Aunt was nice enough to send a copy of the photo so here it is:

I love it! And this is also why I love photography. Photos enrich our memories and preserve them for future generations. What a treasure.

My friend, Jo.

One of the ways photography has blessed my life has been the friends I have made. I met Jo only last year (it seems like it was a lot longer than that) and we became fast friends. There are no age barriers with photography. I feel like Jo's peer, and yet on paper, I could technically be her mother. O.k..., a really young mom! :-) I'm so impressed with Jo. She's so ambitious about photography. She's computer savvy. She's a great mom. I don't know how she does it all with an active pre-toddler. I also know I can email her at 1 a.m. and she's probably up working on photos. She's the one who showed me how to widen my blog among other things. She's great to work with. She has 2nd shot weddings with me and I can always count on her to fill in the cracks for me. So, here's the sad part: Jo and her husband, Jeremy moved with Emmalee to Idaho 2 weeks ago to start a new adventure at BYU-Idaho. Jo, I just want you to know that I forgive you...but I will still miss you. I went over to say good-bye the night before she left and thought she might like some photos, so I brought my camera. Thanks for all you've taught me and for being such a good friend, Jo. I love your passion and can't wait to see what you do!

Jo isn't the only one leaving friends behind.

Thanks, friend. Keep in touch!

Miyuki + Kawana= TLA

We had a dog in our home for a short time while I was growing up. I say "in our home" because it was more of a co-existence rather than a relationship. It didn't work out and my mom had the painful task of taking him to the Humane Society. She didn't know what else to do. She cried all the way home. I must not have been too attached because I don't remember crying at all.  Now I know why my mom cried. She was the one who took care of this little dog and so I can only imagine how attached she got even though he wasn't quite what we had expected. 

Our youngest, Emma, 8, is a complete animal lover. She cried and cried when our little hamster, Henry, died. He "mysteriously" disappeared from his Postmortem Crayola Box Home in the freezer to some undisclosed location in an attempt to give him a proper burial (which translates to: we needed to get him out of the freezer). Emma made him a little headstone and R.I.P. out of mud and put it symbolically in our flower bed. I happened upon it a couple of weeks ago. She was still thinking of him.

A few years ago, out of the blue, I got puppy hungry. I could count on Emma to be on the same page. I investigated different breeds to find the right fit for our family and finally settled on a Shih Tzu. They're small, they don't shed, they don't bark, they're mellow and pretty low maintenance. I found a local breeder who called us when our little dog was old enough to leave home. That was nearly 4 years ago. We named her Annie and she has exceeded our expectations. She loves us and it's humbling to think how little she asks of us and how much she gives  in return. Annie was the beginning of my journey to becoming a dog person. I believe in the power of a pooch. Because of that I was so touched by Miyuki and Kawana.

Miyuki & Kawana

Miyuki is my neighbor and she has been training Kawana, a beautiful Golden Retriever, to be an Assistance Dog through the Power Paws organization. They have been together for 18 months. When I learned a couple of weeks ago that it was time for Kawana to go to his new home and new owner, I could feel how sad Miyuki was to see him go. She had done a good job training him and their bond was strong. Kawana will be placed with a person who's life will be greatly blessed by having him around.He is lovable and smart. He can go to the refrigerator and get a water bottle, he can push the handicap button to open doors among other things. I wanted Miyuki to have more than a snapshot to remember him by, so we did a little photo shoot with the two of them the afternoon of his departure. Here are some of my faves:

I know Miyuki will always remember what it felt like to love Kawana, now she can remember what it looks like.

Photography 101- Fun!

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera."

--Dorothea Lange

I did a Photography Workshop at my house last night for the women in my church. A signup went around and I thought, maybe 7-8 women would sign up and we would sit around my computer and talk about photography stuff. Apparently it's a popular subject matter as the final count on the list was 26! With that number we weren't going to be able to sit around my computer. With benches and other available seating we were able to fit in my living room. (Sorry about the bench seating, gals.) It was fun to have such a great turnout. Thank you to everyone who came and made it such a great evening. I gave out the assignment (hint, hint to anyone who was there!) to make their own personal owner's manual using a packet that I myself had filled out for my camera in one of my classes. If you know your camera, you can really start to enjoy it. Even point and shoot digital camera's are capable of more than we give them credit for. I wanted people leave excited about using their cameras and trying some new things.

In preparing for the workshop I went through some old photos and combined them with some more recent ones as an informal display. The photos were from different times in my life and it reinforced to me how important photos are in helping us remember. Along with that, I had collected some quotes by famous photographers that I like:

"If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough."

--Robert Capa

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."

--Ansel Adams

"If I could tell the story in words. I wouldn't need to lug around around a camera."

--Lewis Hine

"You know, so often it's just sticking around and being there, remaining there, not swooping out in a cloud of dust: sitting down on the ground with people, letting children look at your camera with their dirty, grimy little hands, and putting their fingers on the lens, and you just let them, because you know that if you will behave in a generous manner, you are apt to receive it, you know?"

--Dorothea Lange

David De Dios at AZPPA

     The AZPPA (Arizona Professional Photographers Association) meets on the first Tuesday of every month at the Airport Hilton. I decided to check it out this month. Their program featured  David De Dios- "The Art of Wedding Photography". Check out his website here. I'm so glad that I went. I have learned more about networking within the photography community than anywhere else. People are very generous with their knowledge and talent. Brian is amazed that photographers are will to share so much information with each other. We are competing with each other, after all, but I have found it to be a very giving community, whether it's here locally or other photographers I've found online.   

David De Dios

David brought a couple of models to do a demo  of some Bride/Groom poses.

     One of the biggest pieces of information I came away with was his simple lighting technique for night photography and indoor portraits. He uses a flashlight!  I love that! A Brinkman Dual Xenon flashlight.  That was very exciting to me! Here are some shots from his demo.  It was a very enlightening evening. David was very personable and I can see why couples would hire him. I have really enjoyed meeting and getting to know other photographers. I've made some great new friends in the process.

        

So glad I went!

N.I.L.M.D.T.S.

     On the 26th of January, I attended a training workshop for  NILMDTS, a wonderful organization that was founded by two women who were brought together by a tragic event.  Please check out the website here. After I learned about it last year, I felt like it was something that I wanted to do. I like how our trainer put it, that it's her "heart work".  I went together with my friends, Lynn and Jo. We learned that there are about 6000 photographers volunteering  for NILMDTS worldwide. Of course they need more volunteers. There are many ways to volunteer other than actually doing the photography. If you'd like more information, I'd be happy to give it to you.

Just to remind us we were in AZ, this little Roadrunner kept staring at his reflection in the window behind our trainer, Deb Wat, and was quite the little distraction. I suppose I was a little distracting, too, by trying to take his photo in the middle of the presentation. Sorry about that, Deb. She did a great job with the all day workshop. She shared some personal experiences with the her photo sessions for the organization and the only words I can think of to describe them are "sacred" and "tender".

This is Lynn. I can't imagine her without a smile. She is fun to be around. Her grown-up kids call her Cosmic Mama. They got that right!

Here we are (Jo, me & Lynn). I grabbed seasoned photographer, Michele Celentano to take a picture of the three of us after the session. I got the giggles when she asked us to lean together and lean forward. I loved her take charge attitude. Thanks, Michelle. I finally got a grip.

It was a good day. Google NILMDTS for more information. Grab a kleenex when you do.