“Life here feels physical, tangible, dirt-beneath-your-feet real. Putting myself behind the lens has a way of taking me out of the moment, and I usually don’t want to do that.”
It is wild how much daily life in our little family has changed over the past two months. Moving will do that.
My office used to be within twenty feet of every room in the house. Now I walk up a steep hill to reach the little cabin where I work. My second night here I came face to face with a skunk, yesterday I saw a fox.
I used to bike to most of my photo sessions. Now I leave the house two hours early to account for traffic into the city. But I’ve got an abundance of new locations to explore, just minutes from my door.
Time with my daughter used to mean indoors more often than not. It was just too much of a hurdle to get in the car and drive to the beach or the park. Now we spend the bulk of our days barefoot and outside. We’re so damn lucky.
We used to eat a lot of takeout. Hook Fish, mostly. The closest town is now thirty minutes roundtrip. We’re doing a lot more cooking – our daughter often tries to help and it’s both hilarious and a little exhausting too.
We used to notice every single bird sound we heard from the house. There weren’t many of them in the Outer Sunset. We are now buy-birdseed-in-bulk kinda people.
I miss the ocean, but am soaking up the sunshine.
The thing is, I want to show you photos of all these things, not just talk about them. But I find myself unwilling to pull out the camera a lot of the time. Life here feels physical, tangible, dirt-beneath-your-feet real. Putting myself behind the lens has a way of taking me out of the moment, and I usually don’t want to do that.
You can relate, I’m certain. And it’s maybe even harder if your main camera is a smartphone, because your smartphone also likely represents work and maybe some of your social life too. Breaking it out when everyone is having a good time and connecting with each other can feel wrong.
What we need is a photographer. Someone to follow us around for the day and take pictures. I guess being a photographer is like being a dentist or a masseuse or a therapist – I can’t really do the work on myself.
Anyway, while I might need to hire someone else, you could hire me :). If you can relate to this email you might be interested in documentary sessions. Long-winded and completely casual, I follow you around for a half or whole day and bring an artistic eye to the everyday.
My Fall is nearly booked out, but these types of sessions are perfect for winter. Slower, quieter, more thoughtful.
If you’re interested, get in touch and we’ll schedule a convenient time to chat.
More from The Other Side of the Lens
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