CHG
Williamsburg, VA
August, 2010
Mount Trashmore
Virginia Beach, Virginia
August 3, 2010
Provence, France
In my head, I’m a world traveler the likes of which rivals Carmen Sandiego. In truth, I’ve crossed a few state lines in my 30 plus years, but when I think about where I’ve been in these United States hasn’t been too far from my own backyard. When it comes to international travel, I could count on one hand how many times I’ve had my passport stamped in the past 10 years.
Often times when we plan a trip, our itinerary is slam packed with things to do, people to visit and places to see. DH and I are at a place in our lives when we’d rather do off the beaten path type of trips rather than the traditional mega city whirlwinds. I’m ready to just pack my toothbrush and leave the Fodor’s at home on the shelf.
Imagine waking up in a cozy room, overlooking the quaint cobblestoned streets of a village of Luberon. I can totally see myself sipping a cafe au lait and doing some serious people watching in Gordes before heading off to haggle at the market. The vielles dames will coo and cluck like sweet hens over the girls, pinching their cheeks and chucking their chins. We’ll get a baguette, some grapes or cherries, and snack in the village square. “Let’s get some bikes and lost in Lacoste”, DH will say. The sun will set in lush colors of ochre and lavender as he and I sip wine on the outdoor patio of any of the abundant vineyards. We’ll leave dusty red footprints from our walk of the Colorado de Rustrel in Roussillon.
It used to be, with every trip, I’d stuff ticket stubs, photographs, and travel brochures in my journal. Now I see, experience is the best souvenir.
An appropriate choice for the first picture, I think. Even though my hair was a little Justin Beiber-ish, I’m really digging how I look here.
I’ve come quite a way since that first shoot. My camera is no longer an expensive piece of electronic equipment I leave on automatic. I’m changing settings because I know what I’m trying to capture and what I need to do to get there. I enjoy talking to other shutter-bugs about F-stops, apertures and lenses because I’m getting it. I get that you have to have a low F-stop to get that nice, dreamy quality in the background. I get that you have to dial down your shutter-speed to give the illusion of emptiness in a busy place. I can look at photos now and puzzle out what settings they used, if they used a flash or not. I’m not saying I know it all, but I know more than I did yesterday and I’m going to know more tomorrow.
Before that shoot, my experience behind the camera had been limited to a point and shoot. Candids from birthday parties, girls’ night out, and vacations, that was my portfolio. This was different. There was a story to tell through the lip balm and the clothes. I worked closely with DH to create a storyboard. As the models got ready that day, DH and I rigged lights, dressed the set, and set up craft services (we keeps it professional). I had yet to even put the lens on the camera and I started to doubt myself. My experiences with modeling were from the other side of the camera. All I knew was head tilts, shoulder leans, and broken doll. Could I duplicate what we had discussed? Would I be able to re-tell this boy-meets-girl love story using angles and light?
I look at myself in that photograph now and see apprehension on my face. Just below it, though, is some confidence, some anticipation. I look at that photograph and I can see the story behind it. Before, I would have captioned that photograph “Aspiring Photographer Testing Equipment” (real eloquent, right?). Now, “Photographer, Self Portrait”, is more fitting.