– BEFORE I BEGIN –

I want to mention something very quickly. I’m adding this after I wrote the blog, so that’s why it’s a bit out of place.

My close, close friend and amazingly talented photographer Heidi, from Heidi J Photography, was robbed of her livelihood today. Her photography bag, with all her camera gear, and her MacBook Pro, about $20k all in all, not to mention pictures she’d taken for clients that were on her Mac, were stolen today…

This comes at an already difficult and painful time in her life. Please go visit her blog and leave her a comment, lend her a hand, do what you can so she can get through this.

Heidi, you’re smart, talented and hardworking. Add persistence and determination to the mix, both of which you have in spades, and I’m convinced you’ll get through this.

I’ll leave you with a quote:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men of talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
- Calvin Coolidge

Back to the blog as I wrote it before getting the news from Heidi…

———-

I noticed I accidentally skipped a day, but the overall day numbering is still right. So I’ll pretend nothing happened.

Here we go.

Day 279/365

Ray & Crystal. These guys were a ton of fun to shoot with and I’m really happy with how some of those shots turned out. Thanks for letting me tag along again Heidi!

Also, I just have to tell you the coolest thing Crystal said after wrapping the shoot.

We’re outside this abandoned house. It’s dark. I’m packing up my gear, Heidi and her assistant Kaity are helping me do so and Crystal is standing around making small talk with us.

And then Crystal says, “Can I just say something weird?” At this point, I’m still looking down, packing my gear, so I just kind of assumed she was going to say something to Heidi, Kaity and me. Just, you know, to the group.

“I really like your nose.”

And still not looking up, I remember my first thought being “That’s true, Heidi does have a nice nose.”

But then everyone went silent. I look up and everyone’s looking at me…

“Whu– Who me???????” They all laughed at my surprise. I couldn’t believe it! She was talking about ME????

That was, without question, the most flattering, even uplifting thing I’d ever heard about myself! I’m still giddy just thinking about it! Keep in mind, that compliment came from someone whose hair is naturally that curly. Yeah. Go back up and check out their pictures. She was made fun of in school for her hair like I was made fun of for my nose.

“They’re just jealous”, she said. “They don’t have anything that distinctive about themselves.”

And that knocked me out too. I came out of my past experiences with a negative image of myself because of my nose. She came out of hers with a magnificently positive attitude.

I love that. I think we can all learn from her.

So Crystal, if you’re reading this, thank you thank you thank you!!! Not only for your compliment, but for displaying such a positive spirit. It’s contagious. And I hope everyone whose life you touch gets infected with it.

Day 280/365

My alarm system might someday turn against me… (iPhone photo)

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” — HAL 9000

Day 281/365

Books that have been sitting on my desk… (iPhone photo)

Day 282/365

Wandering around the neighborhood with my camera and long lens, trying to see the same old things with a fresh perspective.

Day 283/365

Anthony & Rose’s formals. I just realized something. These types of shoots are basically bridals with the groom thrown in. So in the past I’ve jokingly called them groomials. But some people call them formals.

So I have an idea… How about froomials? Anybody? Anyone?

Froomials it is.

Here’s Anthony and Rose’s froomials:

And here’s a quick shot I grabbed on my way home from said froomials (iPhone photo)

Day 284/365

Ok, so earlier this year I shot this really beautiful muslim wedding. I’m at the reception and one of the bride’s maids walks right up to me with one of those and pins it on my chest. Someone objects, “Hey these are only for friends and family.” The bride’s maid responds:

“He’s our friend now!”

I love shooting weddings (iPhone photo)

Day 285/365

On my way to the store, I look over and notice the colors of the clouds. In a rare vocal display, “Wow” slips right out of me. I pull over and snap this.

It doesn’t even remotely do it justice (iPhone photo)

Day 286/365

The first day of snow came down hard this year! (iPhone photo)

Day 287/365

These are the 4×6 postcards I send out to future brides. A lot of times, they come back to me. Maybe the bride forgot to include her apartment number, maybe there’s no forwarding address, who knows. But they bounce back to me.

So instead of chucking them, I usually blot out the names and addresses and slip the cards inside bridal magazines at the Walmart on 5600 West and 6200 South (just in case any of my readers live nearby and go to that Walmart too – in which case, HI!!).

I figure hey, if you’re looking at bridal magazines, you’re probably getting married. Here’s a postcard (iPhone photo)