Poke Buddies….

Sometimes ya just need a good poke! When you do, ya gotta have a good poke buddy on stand by… Someone you can call when the urge hits you! My poke buddy is in Florida!

When I got to Tampa, I did my usual check-in on Facebook at the airport. Cheryl Ogle and I have been friends on Facebook for a while and when I “checked in” I saw she had done the same at some point previously. I had forgotten she was down there! Within the next day or two, I posted on my status about Tampa and she commented. Well, we quickly made plans to hook up on my last day. By that time I was in need of some R&R and a good poke! Get your mind out of the gutter. We poke on Facebook.

So, Cheryl and her daughter Skylar showed me around Tarpon Springs and we did mini shoots of each other. It was a lot of fun!

We wound up back at her house then went out for lunch as the local place wasn’t open yet.

From lunch we went to Clearwater for a little bit.

After, we went back to her house for coffee, met her son and hubby, who had been out all day looking for a boat. Then, it was off to the airport for my return trip home.

Here are some images from our shoot!

I had so much fun hanging with Cheryl for the day! Looking forward to doing it again in January!

Alston

Alston is a beautiful young dancer from Savannah, Georgia. I was friends with her and her mom on Facebook for a while. I took notice when I saw she was attending the Rock School for Dance Education. Her mom mentioned that Alston was interested in getting her pics done by me.

We worked it out that she came in to see me just as she was leaving Rock for the summer. She will be attending SAB for the summer! Alston was such a joy to work with! She was very disciplined and so sweet. We did a nice mix of settings between the backdrop and wall area. I was so so happy when I was editing her pics. I am thankful that she came in. Thankful that she chose me for her images!

Here are some of the images from our session!

Tiffany Hedman

Tiffand and I have been friends on Facebook for a while. Through that and me working with some of the dancers from Boston Ballet, she became more familiar with my work and apparently liked it. I had always admired her and especially her presence. So when she one day indicated she would like to work with me, I was elated.

It is often tough working through schedules with dancers, especially in a major company and if they are higher ranked. Eventually, we were able to get things worked out on a trip I was planning for Boston to work on some other things. I remember this entire weekend, almost, we were being bounced from studio to studio, trying to find one open. Finally, we did and we were able to get some work in. Tiffany was a true joy work with and such a sweet person. Here are some of the images from our session!

Baring my soul ~ In book form

For years now, I have wanted to do a book. I want a collection of my work on people’s coffee tables, etc. But til now, and even now, I have not been sold on what this book will look like. What will be the theme. Will it be a mere compilation ~ a greatest hits of sorts? I have been back and forth on this and still am torn. So, to help me through my own process, I have decided to blog about my dilemma.

I have often found that by talking through things, talking through a process or roadblock, you get it out on the table and can possibly see it more clearly. Perhaps by opening up, you can see past roadblocks or think more openly about it. So… here we go!

One thing I am most certain of is that I do NOT want a greatest hits type book. You can go online to see that. I don’t have to spend time assembling it in book form, just go to Facebook. But for a while, I felt it may need a journalistic side – tell a story. However, this morning, I am thinking that perhaps I can accomplish this through my images. Duh…

One more thing I am quite certain of is that this “book” needs to be more than just beautiful images. I don’t want a collection of just pretty pictures, etc. This book needs to really hit people in their gut. I want them to feel it in their guts. I want them to leave decisively moved. We are not talking tears here. We are talking being in a different place then when they first picked it up. I want the person who is looking at it to feel this book at their core. They need to be struck.

But, before you are struck, I must be and I must be in that same way I want you to be. This is why it can not be just another pretty picture. Trust me, a lot of my “every day” images move me. I am at times, brought to tears with images I have been a part of. This book needs to be more. For this reason, I need to step out of my “every day.”

I feel for this book, I must travel abroad to tap into uncharted territories. I need to escape my normal element to really be able to dig deep into my soul and create this work that I want to showcase. There needs to be a sense of vulnerability and newness to really challenge myself.

Up til this morning, I was heading in one direction with the book and theme, but I came across an album of images that really moved me and caused me to rethink this.

You see, this uncertainty, this indecisiveness, is why I have not done a book yet and also a reason why it has taken me 4 years to revamp my site. So perhaps, this rant will help me through my own process. Or maybe this is just a load of crap and I am just running my mouth.

Thanks for reading!!