Story Imager

This is one of the first photos I ever took with a 35mm camera. Up until I bought this camera I had only used point-and-shoot – Kodak Instamatics and the like. I’d never used a camera that allowed for the immense creativity of focus, aperture and shutter settings. I had no idea what I was doing. I was just sitting on grandmother’s porch taking photos of my nephew, Jeremy, playing with soap bubbles. It may be the best photo I’ve ever taken. I still have lots more to take so the jury is still out on that.

I bought a 35mm camera to take on a trip to Hawaii with my grandmother in 1982. We had a wonderful time and I have lots of great photos of that trip, including some special photos of her and me together. 

For some reason I’ve always thought that the soap bubble photo was the beginning of my love affair with photography. As I started writing this blog I realized it started way before that. My grandfather (on my mom’s side) was always taking home movies and my parents were always taking Polaroid photos of me and my sister when we were kids. This was when you had to manually pull the film out of the big, bulky Polaroid camera, wait for it to develop, peel it off the backing paper and then swipe it with this chemical stick (that was our job) so the photo wouldn’t fade. Home movies were on 8mm film that had to be sent out to be processed and then played on a projector. A far cry from the instant gratification of photography and video now.

I think it was our grandfather who gave us our first cameras. He was always into “gadgets” and Kodak started mass marketing easy to load 125mm and 110mm cameras with cartridges that made it, more or less, foolproof for anyone to take photos. We were probably about 7 years old at the time. When we spent weekends at their house we would do chores– raking leaves (they had a huge magnolia tree in their front yard. I hated those leaves) and doing dishes to earn money to pay for the film and developing the pictures. We documented our trips with them, Arizona, Mesa Verde, Marineland. Cameras then (for us) were only for special occasions, like vacations. I probably still have those cameras packed away somewhere in my sister’s garage.

As I got older I became the the person who documents family events. I took photos at family gatherings and special events. I was the photographer at both of my sister’s weddings – the first one at home, the second one in a church.

I probably missed some of the traditional photos you’re supposed to do at a wedding (because I didn’t know any better) but it was my gift to my sister and her husband. I took behind-the-scenes photos at friends’ weddings – the stuff the professional photographer misses because they’re doing the “official” stuff. When I was in my 20s I drove my mom up to Petaluma for the wedding of her best friend’s son. In one of the photos I got during the wedding the bride had her hand on the groom’s butt. His parents LOVED that photo.

In the 80s my grandfather wanted to learn photography so we took a class together at Valley College. I thought it would give us something in common and bridge a divide that had grown between us. It didn’t. That was when I learned to love the Dark Room. I loved putting on my headphones, cranking up the music, developing film and printing photos. Funny thing, our instructor, a wedding photographer, HATED darkroom work. He enjoyed taking the photos and had an assistant for the boring (to him) work. I think that was when I started taking more photos of things, rather than people. I captured the play of light and shadow, of texture and line. I had a Disneyland Annual Passport at the time and would frequently go there just to spend the day taking photos of the plants and architecture. 

I’ve also chronicled the growing up stages of my sister’s kids. Around the time the boys became teenagers they pretty much left the room if I had a camera in hand. They indulge me now from time to time. 

For some reason people give me cameras. I don’t know where they got the idea that I COLLECT cameras, but I have the beginnings of quite a collection now.  

 There are several cameras missing from this photo – my Instamatic cameras that are packed away, two cameras that were stolen from my apartment back in the 80s and I was given a 60s Polariod Land Camera that isn't in the photo.

When digital cameras came along it was a revolution. I was FREE! Free to shoot whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and didn’t have to wait until I had the money to buy or develop the film. I was free to experiment and if it didn’t work out I could just delete the photo - no wasted paper, film or chemicals! I was able to blog my unexpected, strange and fun trip to New York in 2010 (check the blog archives for more photos).

I could shoot all the funny, quirky things I saw as well as document my adventure in The Big Apple. In the evenings I would come back to the house I was staying in and post my photos, chronicling my day’s adventures.

For years now I’ve been shooting photos at events at work, at events for non-profit organizations of which I am a part – PPLA, The Hollywood Arts Council, The Burbank Chorale. Often the photos make their way onto Social Media, company/organization brochures and newsletters. Photography is as much a part of what sustains my life now as breathing is.

Earlier this year, I shared my adventures in Ireland with my family and friends back home (see May/June 2018 archives for more photos). I captured my generous host, Jane, without whom the adventure would not have even been possible plus beautiful vistas and cute shops and shared my days with people who were far away. I have wonderful memories of that brief time in an enchanted land.

Recently I started The Well of Images, a personal brand photography business. So far I’ve worked with an herbalist, a Hollywood Psychic, and a composer. I am thoroughly enjoying shooting personalized photos for people to use on social media and their websites that reflects their specific business, brand and personality. In so many cases small businesses are in a niche market that Stock Photography doesn’t serve well and these people love having a folder of images that are specific to what they’re blogging or writing about right at their fingertips and they don’t have to search the web for something that will “do” just so they can have an image to go with their post.They also love the ability to edit the photos (make memes, add text, crop, etc.).

I’m building this new venture into a business that will support me after I’m forced to retire or if circumstances require that I leave California for a while. It will be portable so I can do it from any base of operation. I never guessed that my hobby would become a business that I love. I never imagined that my witnessing of my family’s journey through life was training me for this.

I’m a Story Imager. I am a witness.

They Grow Up Fast

Easter 1996. It seems like only yesterday...that these kids were playing in the trains at Travel Town and in a fountain on Glenoaks Boulevard. These are my nephews and my niece.

Michael, the one on the left has a family of his own now. Among his many other talents, he makes chain mail jewelry. Ana will be 17 years old next month and is a wonderful artist. Jeremy plays video games for a living and is my computer guru when things go kaput!. What interesting paths their lives have taken over the past 15 years.

My sister had all the kids (and pets). I had all the art supplies and cool stuff to play with (and the quiet refuge when kids and pets were too much). I always stayed close to my sister's kids in case they needed a safe place to go if things got too unpleasant at home (parents and teenagers often go through trying times - if you're a parent, or a teen, you know this). I always let them know my door was open to them and that I would take them in but I would also tell my sister where they were. None of them ever took me up on the offer. Guess their lives at home were more bearable than some.

Not having any kids of my own I have to admit I'm not the most "kid friendly" person, but I must have done something right by all of them as they were growing up because they still tell me "I love you Auntie" when we talk (and so do Michael's kids - my great nieces and nephew).

The Things We Never Know

This is my great aunt, my maternal grandmother's sister. She was what people call a "formidable" woman. I was always very intimidated by her. She was one of those people who had an immaculate house and plastic covers on the arms of her couch and chairs. It wasn't that she was mean to us, she wasn't, she just wasn't a warm, fuzzy person.

So imagine my surprise when I saw this photo when I was going through my grandmother's possessions after she passed. I know nothing about what she or my grandmother were like when they were teenagers. I believe they were both in their early 20s when they got married and started their families. This photo says so much and also brings a lot of questions - first and foremost - What in the world is she doing in a wheelbarrow?
It's obvious from the photo that she had a playful streak and a sense of humor. This is a side of her I didn't know anything about. My grandmother used to organize trips for seniors and this was one of their fall trips to a pumpkin farm I believe.

I really like this photo (I didn't take the photo, I think my grandmother did). To me it says volumes about who this woman was.

Happy Times

Just spent the evening with my niece at Disneyland. We went twice on Tower of Terror and twice on the California Screamin'. We watched the fireworks from the top level of the parking lot (accompanied by the sound track of car alarms). Then went back to Disneyland and waited a long time to go on Space Mountain, which has been temporarily altered for the Halloween season. The changes are ok, but nothing special. It's still a ride I think is best experienced with eyes closed and just listen to the music, feel the wind rushing past you and tune into the physical sensations of the ride. They've got this light show going on on the outside of space mountain that's pretty awesome to watch while you're waiting in line though.

She's 15 and she thinks I'm funny ("laugh with me" funny, but also, "your so weird" funny). She has two (much) older brothers whom I wasn't around much when they were growing up. They lived out of state when they were little and when they came back to California I was having my 20 something messed up life crisis and wasn't much interested in associating with my family. We (the boys and I) have bonded over the years, but not as much, I think, as I have with Ana. I don't know, maybe it's a "girl thing". I love them all, but Ana and I seem to do more stuff together.

I always made sure they all knew I was there for them while they were growing up. Some times kids just can't talk about stuff with their parents and they know they can talk to me about anything. I won't always give them the answers they want to hear, but I will listen. They know that my place is a "safe house" for them if they needed it. The boys are old enough they don't need that now, still the offer is always there for her.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun at Disneyland tonight playing around, having fun and just being goofy.

The photo is an architectural detail on a hotel in Santa Monica I saw last weekend. I thought it was cool.