I have been shooting A LOT the past two weeks. Normally my work has a rhythmic quality: photographing clients, meeting with potential clients, accounting, answering emails and calls, editing, designing books, photographing clients again, and so forth. But lately, my time has been completely absorbed in shooting. I very much appreciate all of you who have patiently waited for me to return calls and emails.
Here's a brief summary of the past seven days: I photographed Elizabeth and Alex's beachside wedding and adored being surrounded by their amazing loving family. The next day I photographed beautiful Allison and David from New York City on Fort George Island during their visit to finalize wedding plans for next October. I photographed three interesting and resilient teenagers for the One in Three project and I traveled to beautiful Ocala to photograph Srujani's grandparents, who were about to return to India after a month long visit. After photographing Srujani cooking delicious sweets with her grandmother, and her grandfather playing an Indian board game with his great grandchildren, they fed me the most delicious lunch. On Friday morning, I photographed artist and Next Gallery owner Sharla Valeski in a very cool fashion oriented shoot downtown and on Friday afternoon, I photographed Rachel, Ryan and their two year old daughter as they await the arrival of their second baby. Yesterday morning I photographed Bruce (on the eve of his 70th birthday) and his lively family, and yesterday afternoon, walked on the beach with Connor and Jamie and photographed them as they told the story of how they met and fell in love on the very same beach.
Today, as I pack to photograph Julie and Brian in St. Augustine, and I prepare to photograph a brand new baby tomorrow, I am struck by the astonishing beauty of human love. It is a powerful experience to be asked by families to come into their world and photograph what is most meaningful to them--it is sacred to me.
I am memorizing "Messenger", by Mary Oliver right now (she has captivated my attention lately), and it feels like it expresses so much better my feelings than I am able to.
Messenger, by Mary Oliver
My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,
which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
~ Mary Oliver
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