This is a reminder of what it means to be a “photographer.”

This, also, could be a dastardly business move.

However, I am going to reveal my dark secret.  I feel a bit like Eve; I’ve taken a bite out of the fruit of professional photography and looked down to see that my camera bag is naked.  Now, this isn’t a flawless metaphor, because I really have known all along about this nakedness.  How could I miss it?  Somewhere, on the stately websites of most professional photographers is a list.  You may have seen such lists.  They usually begin with one of the two most sacred of photographic words, Nikon or Canon.  From that point on the list boasts of high quality, name brand, premium glass, and so on and so on.

Do I sound jealous?  Yes.  Because sometimes I really am jealous of all that bling. It has taken me years to gather the items in my bag and a peak at my current list of gear would give anyone who knows a thing or two about technology cause to doubt my tech choices. Here is what’s in my bag:

Canon 40D

Canon 50mm f1.4

Canon 17-40mm f1.4

Canon 24-85mm f3.5-4.5

That’s it.  No frills.  I have some great gear, but not quite what the tech savvy would deem necessary for the task (that Canon 40D sticks out like a sore thumb).  But I know that gear by heart.  I care about all the details and strive, with every click of the shutter, to make the most beautiful photograph I can… learning all the while how to become better skilled with what I have (which usually happens through the humbling task of receiving critique from both myself and others, something I always want to be good at).

So, as Canon keeps rolling out bigger/better gear, I feel the intense recruitment from two photographic camps.  One camp has all the latest “weaponry” and one has all the “skill.”  And in reality, I don’t want to belong to either.  Yes, I am going to upgrade as needed and as I am able… it would be just plain silly not to… but I am also going to repeat the mantra, “My camera doesn’t take pictures, I do.”

So, in an attempt to reclaim what I have lost, I am posting an old poem and the image that inspired it.  I hope this will rekindle my passion and help me once again begin to put words, not just photos and images, onto paper.

Ahem…

(Few artist have had such a lasting impact on me like VanGogh.  Everyone knows Starry Night… it is unmistakable, but I find myself drawn to his more unknown works and especially to his writting in Dear Theo.)

I followed the happy family around the market like I was the paparazzi and as generally happens in the center of a small town on a slow Saturday morning, we ran into a few friends… and of course the kids giggled and screamed like it was a long lost reunion (when in fact, most of them had been in preschool together just the day before).

You would think that those last SLOW waiting moments of pregnancy would be our warning that slower times are ahead for us, but we still get anxious, pack and repack our hospital bag (usually just tossing more items in that might come in handy) and try to do things like can peaches to make us forget that we are a week overdue.

I’ve had this photo session editted for quite a few weeks now, but wanted to wait patiently for little Ryker to be born before posting.  Angie and Jr. became good mama and daddy from the get go, waiting for Ryker to ready himself for the wide world.  We are exstatic that he has joined us and I can’t wait to see how his lovely parents will begin to shape him – hopefully he’ll be just full of laughter.