Ever Think About…

This past Sunday morning I was cruising along State Road 529 just outside of Orlando.   I was taking the family to see our good friends that live out that way.  I came up on a green Kia SUV doing under the speed limit, who would have thought right?  As I passed them I noticed something small, white and pinched between the passenger’s fingers.  I didn’t give it much thought as some people do still roll cigarettes.  After passing them, then slowing down to let them catch up I saw the look on his face.  That look told me those were no ordinary cigarettes, this guy was “pre gaming” 4/20/10.  I pulled away and didn’t give it much more thought.

Eventually they caught back up to us and I looked over again, now I noticed the driver had that same blank stare.  Now I have nothing against the “wacky weed” I just know that you shouldn’t drive and smoke.  So I started thinking about what they must be thinking.  I could just imagine their conversation going something like this “Dude, is that grey truck following us” he says to the driver, “No way.  Wait a second, I think it is.” She replies back.  ”Do you think its a cop?” He asks.  ”I don’t know, but here he comes again, dude just look normal and put that thing out.” He promptly throws what’s left of the doobie out of the window.  Now of coarse if I had been a cop I would have pulled them over for littering, wrote them a ticket and asked for a hit “Super Trooper” style.  Have a great 4/20 guys!

I recently read an anecdote from another photographer, sorry I forget his name, basically he said that when he picked up a camera for the first time he had his first real spiritual experience.  Now, I am not a very spiritual person, but I feel exactly what he is talking about.  When I pick up a camera and look through that viewfinder its like entering a whole new world.  It’s a world half way between reality and imagination.  Its a place where anything can be real and at the same time not real.  Its a way to share the things that you come across with others.  It could be as simple as a child’s face or it could be as odd as a lipstick kiss someone left on a wall.  Taking a photograph can be whatever you want it to be, it can be an extremely complicated shot or it could be just a click of the shutter release on a beautiful day.   You never know what you might find after you hit that little button.

Four in the morning and he lays awake in bed.  The clock blinks at him as the seconds slowly march ahead.  He has so much on his mind about the upcoming day.  What time does the sun rise?  What time will he need to get up?  How much travel time will he need?  Hell, does he even have time for breakfast?  He looks at the clock again, only three minutes since the last time he looked.  This is killing him.  As he goes over things in his mind he can feel a headache coming on.  Always happens at the worst times he thinks to himself.  His camera is packed, the tripod is always under the back seat of his truck.  All he really needs to do is get up, get ready and leave.  The only problem is that its still four in the morning and over three hours from sunrise.  So, for now he lays awake in the dark.  Waiting as the seconds mock him with each slow blink.

A lot of things have happened this year, some good, some bad.  For me, Christmas is a time to look back on the year and reflect a little.   To put your life into perspective and to plan on the upcoming year.   I won’t bore you with the ups and downs and the utter roller coaster I have rode for the last year.  Just know that I am going into next year with high hopes that 2010 will be filled with life, love and many photographs.  Here is to wishing you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2010.

Marisa’s fingers feel like fire, the pain radiates up her hands.  Years of rolling the tobacco have taken their toll, her fingers curl and are stained brown from the leaves.   Bent because of the pain, the arthritis that creeps from the joints in her fingers.  It will be over soon, today’s shift that is.  Her hands have begun to ache also from the rolling, nearly ten hours today.   This is what she knows.  Hour after hour, day after day, she rolls the tobacco filler into the binder leaves.  Back and forth, rolling the tobacco into the long familiar shapes.  She trims off the excess and slides each cigar into a mold.  She starts again until the mold is filled, then starts a new mold.  This is what she does.  This is what she has done for countless years.  This is what she will do until god willing it is all over.