It's been a while...

Saturday, March 20, 2010

I talked about my car problems. Well, that set us back a pretty penny and the tax return hadn't been deposited yet AND, to top it ALL off, I had just spent virtually all of my business account on this backpacker's studio that I fell in love with from my http://www.lightenupandshoot.com/ and http://www.lastminutephotostudio.com/ shoot-together. Who expects to end up with $750 worth of work on a car with less than 45,000 miles on it just from hitting a curb?!
So...to borrow those well-worn words of uselessness "it is what it is".
I took a few days to mourn (and worry about!) the car expenditures while guiltily (is that a word?) excited about the arrival of my backpacker's studio. Piece by piece it arrived with the FINAL piece being my 'new' (because it's used, but it's new to ME!) speedlight (a.k.a. FLASH!). After UPS saying it was delivered, when it wasn't and stressing and REALLY actually shedding a tear about it...I decided to GOMA and head to St. Augustine. I borrowed this from Zach Arias blog that I read yesterday. Just changed it to fit my needs. I called my friend Kim and asked her to spend some time in St. Augustine to do some street shooting.
I'm not really a SHY person AT ALL. But when it comes to walking up to strangers and just asking to take their photo? Well, guess what? I did it and it worked. A few of them asked for a cigarette. I threw a few quarters in bins for others. It was fun. It was crazy. I'll send one of them a photo or two. I have a soft spot for Vets and he said he has problems downloading photos to his computer. It was really outside of my normal realm of things I do (since I am good at being in my "cave" as my daughter affectionately calls my office). But wow! The photos I got. I don't know how comfortable Kim was as she often walked down the street as I started up the casual conversation and just started shooting. I had a blast and she genuinely seemed impressed with all of it (maybe a little embarassed but I understand!) and hoped that next time we could do this for longer. I hope she'll pull out her camera too next time!

Here's just 1 shot from today.
Asked this gentleman what the heck happened to his Gators this year...with their upset to BYU in the NCAA tournament still fresh in the minds of their fans. We laughed over it a moment and then I asked if he'd mind if I took a photo. He only seemed concerned about the cigarette but I think this photo really says what I can bring to my customers within a few moments of knowing them...he was laughing when I took this. Maybe, with the insecurities I have, I use moments like this to remember, there's a lot more to being a photographer than just pressing the shutter button.
By the way, in true Mommy form, the stroller patrol was behind me. A few with double strollers and said something to the effect of "You must be a professional photographer. We were wondering if you would mind taking a photo of use with OUR camera." Sweet Nikon Point and Shoot. I think it's called a coolpix or something. I KNOW my daughter wants one. Anyway, took their photos, made the baby laugh and confidently handed them my business card. I sure hope they call!
AND, my speedlight arrived while I was in St. Augustine YEAH!!! And I realize now that I referred to this as today, when, as I type this it was actually yesterday! See what happens when you get caught up in the  instruction manuals and all of that good stuff?
Bis Morgen Alles! oder?

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