Paul Lester Photo

Every once in a while I come across a post by a fellow blogger that really hits home. Actually, it’s probably frequently. I was reading this post by Gordon McGregor, talking about the 5 stages of development for a photographer. I highly suggest that you read it, if you haven’t already.

Gordon related that he felt that he is between stages 3 and 4. I feel that I am mostly, in stage 4, but occasionally, I really want to jump into stage 5, telling stories, or having something to say photographically. I could really see putting together a book of some type of photography that spanned some number of years, perhaps. It seems natural that at this time of of year, end of one, beginning of another, thoughts turn that way.

During the holidays I thought of a few such stories:

• Exploring Scobey, Mississippi – Who’s ever heard of that? Well, that is where my father was born back in 1928. I’ve never been there. He and his father never got along at all, so we never visited. It sounds like a little Podunk town and I am curious about where he grew up.
• Close to the nest: I thought of this yesterday. Tony, my wife, and I were sitting around talking. Tony occupied his favorite place to sit, on the stairs, clutching his favorite object, his basketball. When Tony is around, the house is very lively, also known as, noisy! He sings, talks, dribbles his basketball. Sometimes it seems annoying, but then, when he’s not around, the house seems very empty. I thought to keep my camera around with the 50mm lens on and photograph this last 18 months, before the nest goes empty.
• Life around the holidays: This one I should have done, but didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the games. We played a lot of Uno during the holidays. It’s one of our favorite games. As both Tony and I like to talk a lot of trash (huge amounts of bragging about how good we are), the laughs rarely stop around the table. The four of us were playing and I thought that it would be cool to focus the camera in on the table, use the interval mode and have the camera snap a photo every 30 seconds or 1 minute during the game and see what came out of it. I was thinking to move the camera to a different position every couple of rounds.
• A day at the zoo: Perhaps I’ll save this one for SoFoBoMo. I love going to the zoo, always have. When I go, I not only like to look at the animals on the other side of the fence, but to look at those on my side, too! I especially like to look at the parent-child interactions as the parents explain things to the kids, or as the kids squeal in delight at seeing, for example, an elephant for the first time.
• Life with the Chicken Hat: A social experiment: My good friend Richard reminded me in this comment about my Chicken Hat, which I wore while in Savannah, Georgia. I still have it. It was a great ice breaker and people had no trouble approaching me and talking to me. Nearly everyone approached with a smile on their face, a few afraid to laugh outright for fear of offending me. I encouraged them to laugh because it was funny! It would be interesting to capture those faces as they approached or as they tried to move on up the street trying to avoid eye contact. I saw both.

Those are a few of the ideas. Maybe 3 of 4 of these have significance outside of my own family, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that they have the potential to be fun and rewarding.

Anyone else thinking of projects or excited about this year’s round of SoFoBoMo?

Welcome back, ya’ll. It’s 2009 and some of you are probably nursing hangovers for a night of over indulgence! I hope not! Last night was certainly uneventful for us. My wife and fell asleep on the couch while we waited for midnight. The guys were upstairs watching reruns of Scrubs. Around about 11:55 PM, we heard people shooting firecrackers. She woke up, woke me up, we called the boys to come downstairs. My wife, Pedro, and I each had a glass of Asti Spumanti, a sweet, sparkling wine. Tony had a couple of glasses of sparkling apple cider, then my wife and I went to bed about 12:10. Party over!

I awoke this morning thinking that it’s time to get out and get some pictures for ’09. Yeah baby! However, I stepped into my ‘headquarters’, saw the disarray and started straightening up. Then, I thought that I hadn’t done my calendar yet and I need a new one! Crud! Next, I pulled up Lightroom, intending to put final touches on my photos, and thought that I need to close out this catalog and start a 2009 one. But wait, I’ve not profiled my monitor in a while. Better do that! Ok, I’m back. Monitor is profiled!

Oh, bother! As Pooh, one of my all-time favorite characters, would say!

So, 2009 starts with a bit of housekeeping and preparations for whatever 2009 will bring. My shutter finger is still a bit itchy though. More than likely, I’ll go out and shoot some today. Perhaps I’ll borrow Earl’s, et al, idea and give Google Earth a look-see and see what’s around my area that I’ve not explored! I’m sure that there is plenty!