This is Katie, of course. This was one of my warm-up photos in the bridal shoot we did. There's nothing about this that says "bride" but I like the portrait anyway.The lighting here is very simple - she is sitting in the opening of the doorway leading to our deck, which, in the late afternoon, is in shadow but which is open to perfect, soft ambient skylight. One of my many assistants was holding a white reflector below the frame of this photo. (I don't actually have many assistants but Katie had a retinue, including a sister, a cousin and her mother.)The light was beautiful and so was Katie.
Family
Saturday School
In the school I teach at, Saturday School was a form of punishment to students who had misbehaved. But at KIPP Minnesota, where my son Brian teaches, things are different. Once and a while, if the 9 hour weekdays in school aren't enough, they work on Saturday.
It's not about punishment; it's about excellence. What a concept . . . .
What I See When I See You
Of course, when I look at my wife, I see more than the Caribbean, white sand and the inviting shade of a palapa. I see much of my past, my present and my future. But in this photo I see the Caribbean, white sand and a palapa.(Confession: I created this post in part so I could say nice things about my wife. And I wanted to be able to use the word "palapa.")
More of My Favorite People
I have pictured others in my "inner circle" on this blog and suggested they were favorite people of mine. How can I not show these three and not say the same? My MIL, my youngest son and my wife on a visit to see Jon in Alaska a couple years ago. As I've said before, I'm a lucky guy.
Four Amigos
Here's my stream of consciousness: foot prints in frost (yesterday's post) makes me think of foot prints in the sand. Foot prints in the sand make me think of Mexico. Mexico makes me think of family trips. Family trips reminds me of photo I took of the Four Cousins in Mexico a few years ago: Matt, Brian, Jon and Derek. So where do I go from here in the stream? Check back tomorrow.
Brian & Katie In Mexico
Here are two of my favorite people in one of my favorite places. I'm a lucky guy to have the opportunities I have!
The Snowy Dog
People are crazy about their pets and I was certainly guilty of being crazy about our Springer Spaniel, Polly. She seemed to love life and everyone she met. Polly is long-gone now but I come across photos of her every once and a while - I had forgotten I had this one.
Flesh and Blood
My oldest son, Brian, is pictured in this blog more often than Jon is. And, because Jon sent me a flattering email about my blog photos earlier today, I thought I would reward him by posting a photo I took of him 10 years ago somewhere in Italy. He has a better sense of style than I do and he gets his looks from his mother, fortunately. He's a pretty good photographer, though. Maybe he got that from me?
The Journalist
When Deb and I travel to Europe, I generally create the itinerary and take care of all the details before we leave: plane and train tickets, hotels and auto rentals. Once there, when we aren't on a train or plane, I drive.So "What does Deb do?" you ask. Aside from giving me constant advice and helping me keep track of lenses, chargers and ipods, she participates in our "travel democracy." Nobody leads and nobody follows. Instead we jointly decide what we will see and do on any given day. It works well.Beyond, that, I would say that Deb is the left brain and I'm the right. She writes about our travels and I picture them. This photo, of course, is evidence of our symbiosis.For those who might wonder, in this shot, we are on a train going from Berlin to Dresden, Germany. I am taking a picture of Deb writing in her journal while a blurry women in the background reads a book.Why did I convert the photo to black and white? It looks more "journalistic."
Mom & Dad
My dad died 10 years ago today and while I have posted a couple photos of my mom on this blog, I have yet to do so with Dad.I think that this is the last photo I took of my Mom and Dad together and it was taken a few years before my dad died. It is probably just me, but I think my mother is almost radiant in this photo. Later in her life, it was very difficult to get a decent photo of her because she came to dislike the camera. I don't know why.On the day that my dad died, I was sailing in a good wind on a hot day on Lake Oahe. When a boat motored close to me and the owner of the place where I kept my boat yelled to me that I needed to call home, I knew it was about my dad. He passed away comfortably sitting in his favorite chair at the age of 83.I miss them both very much right now.
The Orange Sailor
in Family, people, South Dakota
It is a rare event that I have the pleasure of sailing with one of my sons. I would also imagine that it is a rare thing that anyone sails on Lake Oahe with the official FIFA World Cup colors of the Netherlands football team. But both were true yesterday as my son Brian and I headed back to the Spring Creek marina after a night in Mission Creek."Sailing" isn't exactly what we are doing here, since the wind was unreliable. But it was a beautiful morning with the sky just beginning to clear. And I suspect that Brian's bright orange shirt made us visible to both fish and fishermen.Canon 5DII 1/250s f/11.0 ISO200 17mm
06-01-10 Reprise: Helping Hand
I am enjoying a short hiatus from my "Photo A Day" blog and am showing you a few of my favorite posts from the last year and a half. I'll be back on the job with new photos from London and Portugal in a couple weeks.