10 Years From Now

I have an interesting and sad story to tell. Recently I was approached by a woman who has a friend with a terminal illness. This lady who is sick--we will call her Helen, just because--is in her late 30's, and has a pretty depressing diagnosis. I'm not going to spin it all out here with medical jargon and time frames, but every day is extremely precious to her. She has little kids. She is a very physically beautiful woman, as you can tell from her photograph. She uses visualization as part of her self-care and treatment, and she wants to be able to visualize herself as a woman 10 years older than she is now. 10 years would be quite a victory for her. But no matter what she does, she can't see herself in the future, with the slight changes in her skin, new folds and creases, and, of course with happiness at being alive radiating from her face.

So, it was requested of me that I use my time and talents to create an age-progression painting or drawing of this lady, to be sent on to her so she could see herself 10 years from now. Unfortunately, she doesn't live close enough to do a photography session with me so that I can capture her with my lighting and composition to aid me in the illustration process. But I was able to get a few headshots emailed to me, and I decided that traditional drawing and art techniques would be too time-consuming. It was impressed upon me from the beginning that time was of the essence.

I decided digital techniques, photo enhancement, and then, digital painting on top of the photo itself would be the least time intensive of my creative choices, so, I set out to age this attractive person.

I'm not going to go into each step of the process here.  Suffice it to say, I literally painted age on her face, using my Wacom pen and tablet.  Then I altered the background with various brushstrokes, and brush stroked her hair, skin and features so they felt painted more than photographed.  I changed her hair, and her garment.  I spent time considering the color tonalities of the nearly-finished piece.  I wanted her to glow, to look like she was elegant, mature, and living fully.

This morning, I emailed the final result to the woman who approached me.  It will be forwarded along to Helen, and I hope it helps her.  I hope she looks at her older self with love.  I hope she can feel the wind in her hair from that beach, and smell the ocean crashing on the sand.

And, as I clicked "send", I thought about how I am growing older too, and someday will be 10 years older than I am now.  If I am lucky.  I think about how many things can happen in 10 years--careers rise and fall, families are built, homes are moved into and sold....I thought of how I complain about how I look now, and the changes that are going on in my own face.  I am small.  All of us, who are focused on the little creases and folds and laugh lines to the exclusion of loving ourselves and the reality that we are alive---we are small and misguided.

Here is to the next 10 years.

Tony--Senior 2014

Tony is just awesome.  He is a Senior from  Clarinda, a nearby town, and he has very diverse interests and a completely relaxed attitude about having his portrait made.  He went along with whatever I or his Mom suggested, and brought some great props that truly represent his interests.  We ended up working in the Studio for about an hour and a half, then heading out to steaming Waubonsie for some great shots climbing trees, down by the small pond there, and up in the tall grass during sunset.  He even agreed to wear his leather jacket in a pile of brown, crispy leaves, although we were all dripping sweat.  A science fiction and horror fan, Tony was able to chat with me about Star Trek, Star Wars (sorry, Lucas, although I really enjoy your movies, Trek wins for me), The Evil Dead, and various other topics, as well as life in marching band (I was a band geek, too).  We had a great time, and, Tony, don't forget to watch the original Star Trek series episode Space Seed, then follow up with a look at the Star Trek movie The Wrath Of Khan to get the Kan Noonian Singh history...

The Nelson Family

Had a busy weekend (are they ever quiet?) and made some wonderful images along the way!  This first set is from the Nelson Family Portrait Session.  They chose Waubonsie State Park, and we were able to work during the Golden Hour (sunset) to capture all the activity a family with two small children can generate.  Wonderful formal, posed shots, and priceless candids were the result, all with some help from Mother Nature.  Waubonsie is gorgeous.  It was a little warm and buggy, but everyone held up well.  Enjoy!

Fascinating Saturday Part 2

So, this is Part 2 of my Fascinating Saturday tale, and we left off after I had taken pictures at a very loving 50th Anniversary Party.  The hubs and I drove an hour home, discussing what we had just experienced, and also talking a bit about the weather.  The morning shoot had been overcast, and while it had been humid and stuffy, the sun hadn't beat down on us.  It was a fortunate thing, because when I photograph in wide open spaces, bright sun can be a real enemy for good exposure and pleasant expressions.  And there were no areas of open shade at the lake house where the party had been held, so the cloudy skies gave me much more freedom to position the large groups of people without having to worry about them squinting in the sun.

As we made the drive north back to Sidney, we could see the weather was changing, however.  

Hard, bright blue skies revealed themselves, and we went from cloudy-humid to sunny in a matter of 60 miles.  It wasn't burning hot (yet).  The second task of the day was a Mommy-To-Be, and I really wanted to do some outdoor work.  I had chatted with the Mom earlier in the week, and we had decided to stay indoors initially, and then maybe zip out to Waubonsie State Park for a few shots at the end. We messaged and made the call to head out to the Park first, simply because it wasn't nearly as warm as it had been the past week (yet!) and the Mom was on somewhat of a time crunch.  We had a couple hours at most, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity for outdoor work if Mom got tired, as folks who have been gestating for 35 weeks or so tend to do.  

So, we met and did some outdoor work with a literally GLOWING Mom, Daddy-To-Be, and cute but not extremely enthusiastic Soon-To-Be big brother.  The photographs are beautiful.  Just what I had envisioned when we booked the Session.  Location, location, location is so huge.  And in the meantime, as we shot, it got warmer.

Sweat trickled down my rib cage as I worked, and even the shady spots we found were stuffy, buggy caves of dimness, not cool oases as I had hoped.  Consequently, I worked fast.  The Studio was waiting for us as soon as we got what we needed, and I didn't want to keep Mom hot and uncomfortable any longer than I had to.  Big Brother wasn't incredibly pleased with the day's activities either, but he did throw us a few bones.  

Then Brother headed off with Aunt to the family swimming pool (lucky kid!) and Mom, Dad, Mike and I took off for the relative cool of the Studio to finish up.   And when we got there, we did our thing again, this time without the perspiration, and made some more memories for this family.  During, we made small talk about our recent vacation to Colorado (I want to live there SO BADLY) and other things.  And then they were off to their evening's activities and I began to download and back-up files with a big glass of ice water in my hand.  

On the back of my piano in my living room, I have an 8x10 photograph of me, pregnant with my last child.  If you didn't know it was me, well, it could be anyone, because it is just a belly with my hands and a tulip, done up in black and white with a little tinting.  I was a few days away from delivery, and I set up the Studio for my husband to make a few shots, JUST OF THE BELLY, mind you.  I remember not even having my hair done for those shots.  I was enormous, gigantic.  I was a planet, with my own massive gravitational field.  I remember feeling heavy, lumbering, cumbersome, and clumsy.  I remember not being able to sleep for longer than about 2 consecutive hours during the last couple months.  I remember eating everything in sight (ah, so being hugely pregnant DOES have its compensations!)  I remember my 3 other children, small then, the youngest barely 3 and just out of diapers, circling me for attention and for reassurance that they would still be loved after the new one came.  And I remember thinking, a little crazily "Here we go again!".  It turns out that it was the last time.  I was 34 when my baby, Sailor,was born.

As I edit these images of this little family, getting ready to add another to their circle, all those crazy days come back.  The hospital, the births, the diapers and the feedings.  Getting NO SLEEP for days or weeks or months and I can't remember because from the time I was 26 til the time I was 34 I had 4 kids and unless I wrote it down, it was a blur, let me tell you.  And holding the baby afterwards, smelling of that baby lotion that comes in the pink bottle---when I smell it now, I am transported utterly back to baby bath-time.  

And that is where the entire day all came together for me.  Those two people who were celebrating their 50th Anniversary had started out just like the little family I had just photographed, and they had started out just like me.  They had lived through it all, baby years, teen years (where I am now), college, grand babies, fire, feast, famine, pestilence, and all the slings and arrows every marriage and family takes as they ride the gauntlet together.  And look what they did.  In this world of EASY buttons, of NOW, of ME, of MINE, they had navigated successfully.  

My Mom-To-Be---I used to be her, with a belly full of hopes and dreams and feet swollen so badly it hurt to walk down the hall.  And my Anniversary couple and their family---with a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work, I just MIGHT have that to look forward to.  That COULD BE me!  Someday.  

I love my job.

Fall Family Photography Special 2013

We have never sold files from Creative Sessions before, so this is a big step for us.  However, I am really wanting to do more and more artistic work---canvases, mosaic frames, hand-tinting, book-making, writing, stock photography--just to name a few types of things I'd like to focus on.  And as much as I'd like to think I can work 24/7 with no breaks and no family time, I simply can't. And I don't want to become "cookie-cutter"--meaning I drop all the really creative stuff I'm doing in favor of the simple portrait packages.  Now, don't get me wrong--there will always be Portrait Packages and Traditional Sessions for sale here at my shop for folks who appreciate my fine art print work and want to do business in that manner.   But by offering digital files as Packages,  some clients will hire me for that very cool specialty stuff that I am absolutely craving the time to do, and then they will have their wallets printed elsewhere, or do it themselves on a desktop printer.

Don't get me wrong---there is a huge difference between fine art giclee' printing that lasts 150 years and most desktop printing or consumer print labs as far as quality and longevity goes.  But for some folks, that isn't what is important, and I respect that.  Everyone has priorities.  I do as well.

 So, this is my FIRST Special to focus completely on Digital Files.  It is a Mini-Session Special, going on the entire month of October.  For those of you interested in this type of work, there will be other offerings, and even Print/Canvas/Digital File Packages coming soon.  For those of you that might wonder what we can do in 20 minutes, have no fear.  20 great images in 20 minutes happens every day at our Studio.  So, to book your Fall Family Photography Special (how many "f" sounds could I pack in there, right?) just email me at imagesbytracylovett@gmail .com, Facebook me, or call 712/374-6133 or 712/520-4772 to get on the books.

A Fascinating Saturday, PART 1

I had a fascinating day last Saturday.  I was able to photograph a family as they celebrated the 50th Wedding Anniversary of Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa.  I have had the privilege of working with this group before as I did Wedding Portraiture for two of the granddaughters a couple years ago (YIKES for their parents--two weddings in something like 4 or 5 months!).

 We traveled an hour south to do this gathering, which was a complete surprise for the honored couple, and did a bunch of Family Photography before they got there. 

When they arrived, they were totally surprised and incredibly struck at how much stealthy work had gone into this gathering.  There were enlargements surreptitiously made from their Wedding Album, a cake with their portrait on it, a banner, 50 Memories From 50 Years that had been written, compiled and printed, then strung up as an incredibly long banner across the porch of the lake house where the party was held. 

We even had them re-enact the photograph of the bride feeding the groom cake just as it was captured 50 years ago.

We photographed EVERYONE together.

 And there was a very beautiful video slideshow of the history of their lives together in pictures.  My husband always goes with me on these shoots, and I found great inspiration and gratitude in being able to see this big family as they celebrated their history together with him.  I hope that one day, he and I will be able to revel in a family such as theirs.  Coming up at the end of this month, we have 16 years in.  Still a long ways to go.  What is it they say?  "Do not regret growing older.  It is a privilege denied to many."  And I totally agree.  After seeing these folks all together, from the tiniest baby up through the generations to the happy couple themselves, it is very profound to experience the cycles and rhythms of life at all stages.

Thank you, Falk Family, for letting me not only express myself through my camera, but for allowing me into this very personal, joyous time. 

And this was my FIRST job of the day....the second one, which I will write about tomorrow, is just as interesting, especially when considered in light of the Anniversary I had just photographed.  Later!