If I was any kind of true photographer, I would have had a camera with me to document a few of these things.  But I’m a lazy kind of photographer who doesn’t carry a camera with me at all times.  A few things really stand out about my day today I wanted to share them with you.

This blog post from Gloria Baker-Feinstein My sentiments, exactly. She beat me to the post.

While doing my usual routine for a Wednesday at Sven’s Kafe & Gallery (we call it ‘Sven’sday’ instead of Wednesday), I was asked if I was a film maker. The town is full of them right now due to the True/False Film Festival I’m not sure if I looked like one (what does a film maker look like?) or why I was asked that.

I called Sparky’s Ice cream while the boys were at school to make sure they were open. We had planned to go to celebrate Joseph’s completion of his graphic novel for EEE (the gifted education program). It has been a grueling few weeks of writing and drawing and giving up much time on the Wii to complete the book. The answering machine at Sparky’s said they were open again until it was cold next year. (I thought that was kinda funny since it was about 20 degrees outside at the time) When we got there, they were closed. Not to fear, there are many locally owned yummy treat establishments within a block of Sparky’s. I offered cookies at Main Squeeze or Lakota. Joseph wanted Lakota but upon hearing the words, “Main Squeeze”, Isaac squealed with delight at the prospect of eating his favorite dish: tofu with sesame/ginger sauce over brown rice. I explained we were getting a cookie, not dinner but he continued undaunted. “I would really like a snack, though. That would be a good snack. I could have that instead of a cookie.” I realized I was standing there trying to convince my 5 year old to have a cookie instead of a pile of tofu on brown rice. Silly mom. We headed to Main Squeeze where Joseph remembered pretty quickly that he loves their mint/chocolate/espresso cookie, and I had what was probably the very best brownie of my lifetime. The mexican hot chocolate brownie… go get one while you can, there’s only two left!

When I was almost home I won the phone call lottery by receiving a lucky phone call from my good friend, Elaine, who moved to Washington, D.C. this summer. She explained she had two walking blocks to talk to someone and I was the lucky winner of the day! Gosh, in two blocks what can you really get into? Well, we talked about her commute which is actually really interesting to me since I used to live there. I am a big fan of ninja phone calls and this one really made my day. Now, the true test will come if Elaine comments on this post since the only other thing we talked about was whether or not she had read my blog. I think I said something like, ‘geez, I spend so much time writing it, you just hope there are a few people out there reading it every now and then.’

There’s my day in a nutshell. I sure am a lucky gal.

I have been very remiss in letting everyone know about several group exhibitions my work is a part of. I hope you have an opportunity to stop in to some of these or possibly come to the receptions.

It was a real honor to be asked by Byron Smith to be a part of the black history month exhibition at the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center on the MU campus at 813 Virginia Ave. He asked me to show some of my older work featuring a young black male model I worked with 5 years ago. I’m excited to give these pieces another chance to shine! They represent my very first experiences in a studio setting. The exhibition is up for one more week and the gallery is open Mon-Thur 8 a.m. - 9 p.m., Friday 8-5 and noon -6 Saturday and Sunday. A closing reception is scheduled for Sunday, February 28th from 1:30-4:30. Read a really nice article about the exhibition here.

If you follow me on facebook, you’ll remember recently I spoke of my anxiety around drilling some of my photographs. You can now see the product of that experiment at ‘The Art of Dance II’, a new exhibition at Sven’s Kafe and Gallery (right next door to Orr Street Studios). The exhibition is a benefit for the Missouri Contemporary Ballet with a portion of all sales going to support their work. Be sure to stop in and check out the entire show. You can also vote for your favorite artist! The top 3 vote getters will go before the Missouri Contemporary Ballet’s board and one will be chosen to create the poster for their fall program! I’m pretty excited about the possibility of getting to do that, so I hope you all come out and vote! I’m thrilled with how my three pieces turned out–very urban and edgy. I’ll post some images after the reception.

Art of Dance II reception is Friday, March 5, 6-8 p.m. The show is on display through April 16, 2010

The new show on display at the Columbia Art League is their annual homage to the True/False Film Festival and this year is titled, “Tall Stories”. From the postcard announcing the show, “an artistic exploration of the border zone between reality and make believe, where the viewer is invited to explore each artist’s visual narrative and ask: what is true here?” I had a lot of fun thinking about what to enter into this one and ultimately I decided on “The Birthday Tree” and another piece which my son Isaac helped me name, “the two headed zebra monster”. The Birthday Tree was juried into the show, but the zebra monster didn’t make it in. It’s such a fun piece, the director asked to display it in the sales gallery, so I hope you can stop in to see it there!

Tall Stories is on display until April 17, 2010 and the opening reception is this Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 from 6-8 p.m. at the Columbia Art League, in downtown Columbia-connected to the Missouri Theatre on 9th and Elm St.

Saving the best for last, I am super duper excited to announce I had one piece juried into an exhibition at the RoHo Gallery in Cincinnati, OH. The exhibition is called, “Point of View” and had entries from all over the United States, Norway, Germany and Malaysia. Twenty Five pieces were selected to be shown in the physical gallery and more will be included in the online gallery. There will also be a book published in May 2010 with the selected images from the physical and online galleries included. I’m excited to have the opportunity to show my work in other markets and I’m also pleased that I will be able to attend the opening reception in Cincinnati this Friday evening from 6-9 p.m.

It’s that time of year again, Girl Scout cookie time.  This year, like the last 10 or so, I resisted the temptation to order cookies through friends peddling for their daughters through facebook or on the playground.  I don’t even have any nieces pitching to me this year.  No, this year I thought I was going to be cookieless in the end.  Yesterday afternoon, they got me again at the grocery store, like they have for the past few years.  I actually walked past them and said, “no thanks” to their request and ultimately turned around, re-entered the store and picked out two boxes with my sons’ help.

Why did I do this? Why did they have to power to make me turn around and come back for the cookies? Because they were older Girl Scouts. A trio of girls in their mid teens. As every year, I felt compelled to tell them why I came back and why I was buying from them versus a table full of cute 8 year olds. “You see,” I said as I launched into my tale. “I was a Girl Scout. When I was in high school, I sold more cookies than anyone in the Dogwood Trails Girl Scout Council. I sold door to door in my neighborhoods, in the college dormitories of my home town, to all the fraternities and sororities and my parents took the gamble to order extra boxes and I set up a table like yours to sell at the dining halls on campus.” Next I tend to ask them what they are planning to do with the credit they are earning by selling the cookies. Their eyes glazed over and the mom sitting with them took on the conversation from here on out. They just didn’t seem to interested in all my stories of cookie sales from the olden days. They thought maybe they’d be using the money to go to camp this summer. “Oh, that’s great!” I replied. “I used my sales credits to pay my way to go on a ‘wider opportunity’ about photography at the Girl Scout’s National Center West in Ten Sleep Wyoming. In fact,” I continued unwaivered by their lack of interest, “I pursued a career in photography in some part due to my experiences at that camp. And, believe it or not,” (we’re in the home stretch now) “I am still friends with one of the girls I met there 24 years ago.”

*yawn*

By this time my boys are about to break into the box of cookies themselves. I say my thank you’s, good lucks and good byes and head home feeling a little let down. I do this every year. Every year I support some older girls selling cookies. Every year I tell them stories of my selling past and my adventures with camp. Every year I eat my cookies and wonder why they’re not as excited, focused and driven as I was when I sold cookies. Every year I think about becoming a Girl Scout Leader even though I have no daughters.

In writing this blog, I realized as I was looking for links that what used to be known as a ‘wider opportunity’ is now called ‘Studio 2B: destinations’ Maybe that’s why they always look at me with a lost look in their eyes.

Ah well, enough nostalgia for one day. Patty Jiminez, I hope you are reading this. Here’s some photos from our time together on top of the mountain. I’m so glad we are still friends. That’s me on the right opening the can of Spam.

I just received the nicest, most thoughtful thank you/testimonial letter ever.  I have probably read it a dozen times already and I’m going to print it out and put it on my wall to read on days when I’m feeling blue.  It comes from clients I just worked with last Saturday.  They were so much fun to be with in the studio.  I was thinking about writing about the session even before receiving this email from them.  Somewhere along the way, one of them was told she doesn’t photograph well.  I can’t tell you how many people come to me with that apology.  It makes me crazy and so mad that someone would actually say that to another person!  Everyone has a beauty about them, no matter what their physical characteristics are!  My job as a photographer is to find that and bring it to the front.  I love people, so maybe that helps.

Here’s the letter followed by one of my favorite images from the session.

Stacie,

You surely have an idea of the gift you possess. For me it was a combination of that rare quality that puts people at ease, that assures them that they not only are okay just the way they are, but that they are precious, unique, and interesting. Somehow you see the sparks and the sparkles that make people interesting, powerful, and endearing. You captured the best in us as individuals and as a couple. Your special blend of qualities, skill and talent made this potentially excruciating time into a playful and joyous one. The photographic images and the service you provide are a treasure beyond words. For that I wish to offer my heartfelt thanks, my encouragement to you along your path, and for sure lots and lots of referrals.

All my best,

Toni

So most of you who follow this blog know how much I love my job. Today made it extra especially lovable. My best guy friend and his wife had a baby last night! I wasn’t at the birth, but I was invited to come in today while they were still in the hospital and make images. I was excited, happy beyond words, actually, for my friends. And getting to get in there and hold her early on… well, that’s just a bonus of my job! She had just finished eating when I arrived, which usually means one sleepy baby. Not Brooklyn! She was alert and active the entire hour I was there photographing. She is sweet and calm and just plain beautiful. Congratulations, Jordan and Julie!!! We truly could not be happier for the THREE of you! I’m looking forward to summers at the pool together!

She’s already a Mizzou fan. There’s some punk Jayhawk baby down the hall, so we had to put her MU gear on!

I just received word that this image from a previous post was awarded honorable mention in the Lensbaby “get published” competition! There were nearly 2000 entries; 13 will be published in a book and 144 were given honorable mention. See the honorable mention gallery here. My image is on page 4. Woot!

Today my boys and I spent about 3 hours on a mountain of dirt. There’s a construction site near our house where a new subdivision has been built over the past year and a half. At the entrance to the subdivision, there is the big mountain of dirt that seems to come with all new subdivisions. Behind the mountain of dirt, is the place where they wash off all of the cement mixers. It’s an amazing place. The cement mixer washing area is sort of like walking on the moon– or at least that’s what we pretend. There are small hills of concrete surrounded by smooth surfaces that look like wet flows of concrete. Once when we walked there, it was actually wet and Isaac and I wrote our names in the surface to claim the space as our own. The past two trips to the site, we have focused our attentions on the big mountain of dirt. Climbing it, attacking it, throwing dirt clods at it or down it. There is a big puddle close to the base and it’s fun to see if you can get throw a clod far enough to land in it.

Today when we arrived, the boys went to the top of one section and I sat off at a distance on another part. It felt like the kind of place where I should be invisible and they should get to do anything they want, imagine anything they want without me being there to interfere. I was bummed because I had forgotten my camera on this excursion. So instead of taking pictures, I watched and listened. I absorbed the experience and tried to understand it at its core… so that when I did have a camera with me next time, I might be able to tell the story in one frame.

As luck would have it, it was a warm day today and we were getting hot and the boys wished they had brought along their shovel. We agreed to walk back home, get camera, water, shovel and change into short sleeves and drive back. What followed was 2 full hours of dirt digging, throwing, attacking, imagination fun. They worked hard. I did my best to capture it.

I love it when I get to work with a family year after year.  We build a relationship over time that makes the sessions more and more meaningful. I’ve shared a lot of special moments and experiences with this particular family including the birth of their third child and the baptisms of all three children.  This year we accomplished quite a lot within one short hour!  One cool thing about Orr Street Studios is there is so much space.  I was able to set out a tub of legos and giant coloring paper with a box of crayons and stickers to keep everyone occupied while we did individual images of everyone.  Every year we do our headstands to get everyone to smile, but invariably, it’s the serious images that I come back to over and over.

It’s not every day I get to hold an actual-honest-to-goodness EMMY Award. In fact, I’ve never held one before today. Every Wednesday, my friend, Kim Wade, (1/2 of the fabulous Silverbox Photographers duo. If you or someone you like even a little bit is getting married, you really must have them photograph your wedding. I insist) and I process and edit images together at Sven’s Kafe. (Oh dear, Sven’s doesn’t have a website??!! If you’re downtown and looking for simply the yummiest food - breakfast, lunch, treat - you must come over to Orr St. and give Sven’s a try) Okay, I’m obviously very distractible this evening! Anyway, every Wednesday morning and often into the afternoon, you can find Kim and I huddled together at a table with our computers going, sharing power cords and photoshop techniques. We even call it - get this, we’re so clever - ‘Sven’sday’.

Today, Kim was meeting her friend and my aquaintence, Beth Pike, for lunch. Before Beth arrived, Kim told me that she had recently won an EMMY Award (yes, a real EMMY) for her documentary about the 200 year history of newspapers in Missouri. Immediately I asked her to have Beth bring it along. Kim called, Beth obliged and within a few hours there I was holding an EMMY. It was shiny and heavy and just oozed cool. Beth was amazingly patient with my multiple announcements of — ‘hey, she just won an EMMY’ and happily came up to my studio after having lunch with Kim so I could photograph her with the statuette. I could not be happier for Beth. Congratulations! You and EMMY look fabulous together! (Read a little bit more about Beth here.)

Every fall I look forward to chasing the O’brien family around someplace lovely. It’s fun to see how the girls grow and change every year. This year, Archer is sporting a jack-o-lantern smile just in time for Halloween.

The weather has been so up and down this early fall, it’s hard to know what you might get from one weekend to the next. As you will see, these guys were ready for cool fall…. what we got was hot summer! It was nearly 90 degrees outside as I drove to Stephen’s Lake Park last Sunday evening. The best part about that? We got to play in the fountain after the shoot! I just love girls in dresses splashing through the sprayground!

And in the course of our adventure, we got some great family photos and even a few of mom and dad.

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