today's Photo Tip Of The Day

Engineer 1, FPD

Engineer 1, FPD, originally uploaded by pr9000.

There's a pretty cool little boy who lives a few doors down from me ... His name is Cooper, and he's battling cancer right now at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. I had the honor of photographing his family in mid-November, and Cooper was a running, jumping bundle of energy ... He and his brother, Blake, wore me out, frankly – it's amazing to me the amount of energy little boys bring to whatever they do.

A few weeks later, Cooper fell ill and after many tests and procedures, he was diagnosed with cancer. He went through surgery a few weeks ago, and while it was successful, he still has a long road ahead. His family decided that St. Jude's was the perfect place for him to continue his treatments, and our neighborhood hosted a little party for him on Monday.

the crowd at Cooper's celebration, originally uploaded by pr9000.

I say "little" but that's an understatement – Cooper's dad, Scott, said that he stopped counting at 150 people. Cooper's a lucky boy, because the outpouring of love for him was overwhelming. Not to mention the fact that he got a police escort into the neighborhood, and a good chunk of the Franklin Fire Department was there to greet him! He got to ride in the back of a huge fire truck as the rest of the crowd followed in a parade. And I got to go up in the bucket of the truck to take a picture, which I must admit was a lifelong dream come true ...

the bucket!, originally uploaded by pr9000.

Cooper has a pretty awesome support structure, which includes his brother, Blake, and his stepbrother and stepsister, Michael and Danielle (he's hugging her in the photo below). Plus his friends, their friends, and a huge group of people who are following his story on his CaringBridge site.

hugging Danielle, originally uploaded by pr9000.

To see the full gallery, go to my website, click on "Clients" in the lower right corner, and enter "cooper" (no quotes) as the password. Make sure your speakers are on, and enjoy the highlights of what turned out to be an amazing, life-affirming afternoon celebration for Cooper and his family. And if you're so inclined, why not consider donating to the cause? St. Jude's does wonderful work for its patients – most especially, for Cooper.

Our prayers are with you ...

cheekwood in the springtime ...

I've done sessions at Cheekwood in the past, but last Saturday was my first spring Cheekwood experience. It did not disappoint – spring has most definitely sprung in Middle Tennessee.

Mark and his children, Taijana and Taren, were excited to get for the session – as was I, because aligning schedules had been quite a challenge. Both children are very active in sports, and that means most weekends are spent shuttling between soccer fields and basketball courts. Honestly, I'm not sure how most parents do it. Trotter wears me out, and he's just a dog. :)

Taren was really, really excited to be in front of a lens. Without question, he is the most camera-friendly young man I've had the honor of photographing. Need a pose? No problem! In fact, don't need a pose but want to see one anyway? Taren's the man!



Taijana is a freshman this year and is a pretty accomplished basketball player. I wonder if Pat Summitt reads this blog? If she does – and I'm not saying she does, but maybe – I hope she remembers this post, and calls me when "Tay" is on her Final Four team in a few years. After all, I like press passes for sporting events. :)



We had a fun afternoon by all accounts, and I think Mark and the kids are thrilled with their photos. And we ended the session with my patented "Make Everyone Jump Off A Wall" maneuver ... it never fails to entertain!

Puppies and Bubbles

Two of my favorite subjects: puppies and children.



Westhaven held a "Bubbles on the Great Lawn" event recently, where toddlers and their parents were invited to enjoy a nice, spring morning blowing bubbles outside the Residents' Center. I think the kids had more fun running around and burning energy, while the moms were enjoying the bubble soap and generally happy to see their kids tire themselves out. :)



Good friends, great weather and license to run around – can you imagine a better morning?



The only thing that would trump it – a nine-week-old Goldendoodle puppy!



You may have heard that I have a doodle myself; I don't talk about him much. (Ha ha) A neighbor fell in love with Trotter, and called me last week to say that they took the plunge, and brought home little Obie. We took Trotter down to Chess Park to meet him, and it was quite the scene ... Obie's obviously learning about how to deal with other dogs, and it's got to be a tough lesson when everyone is bigger than you:



Trotter's a big boy, and I think Obie was more than a little intimidated. Amina had to put Obie on top of Trotter, and once that happened, they got along well. Obie smelled like puppy breath, which I think should be bottled and sold as a cologne or an Airwick air freshener scent.

His teeth were puppy sharp and he always rolled over on his back – he knows he's not the boss of anyone yet. He looks just like Trotter did when he was a pup, and I almost – almost – did a straight-up trade. :)

Winston!

With a smile like that, no wonder Winston was the big hit of my recent photoshoot!

My neighbors Terry and Trina asked me to photography their son, Lance, and his girlfriend, Katherine, over Spring Break ... but the real star of the shoot was Winston, their year-old basset hound. Winston's a drool machine, a deep barker and three times as long as he is tall. His ears drag on the ground and when he's done walking, he'll just up and stop, however far you are from home, and refuse to continue unless he's carried the rest of the way.

Needless to say, he's a charmer. :)



We had a great time, and our neighborhood – like the rest of middle Tennessee – is just on the edge of full-fledged spring bloom. We hit a few of our favorite Westhaven spots, and of course ended up by the fountain, where Winston was just about finished ... it's funny – kids and dogs all seem to have about a 45-minute limit to how cute they'll be on command.

I think Lance, Katherine, Terry and Trina all were happy with the results. And Winston? It was the most Beggin' Strips he'd ever eaten in one afternoon.

Booker the boxer

booker, originally uploaded by pr9000.

Amina and I were in New Orleans for a few days last week, and of course I've always got my camera with me. You never know when you're going to see the perfect shot, and without a camera it's just a memory that you'll chase forever ...

I saw the perfect shot on our first night there, as we walked down Bourbon Street, and went back the next night to get it, but it didn't present itself. I did the same thing in Hawaii a few years ago -- on my first evening there, I saw the prototypical "surfer girl" shot at sunset on Ka'anapali ... and I didn't have my camera. I still haven't managed to find that shot, and I probably won't be happy until I get it.

But ... to the handsome young man above: There's a dog park near (I think) Avenger Park, along the river, that we passed as we explored the Garden District. We pulled over because we were missing Trotter, which is as pathetic as it sounds ... and that's where I met Booker.

On first glance, I felt very sad for him -- obviously, how could you not? -- but after seeing him prance around the park and play with the other dogs, I gained a lot of respect for him. I'm sure he "knows" he only has one eye, but animals tend to overcome such minor things. I've seen three-legged dogs run faster than I can, and I saw Booker barreling through the park with that familiar "puppy spring" in his stem.

He was happy because he was loved, he had friends around and (I'm sure) at the end of the day he'll be in his home, well fed and rested and loved by his owner.

When I find myself feeling down about things around me, I try to remember Booker. He knows something that I don't; I just hope I'm smart enough to learn it.

Get Your Whites Their Whitest ...

I'm not a big fan of doing laundry -- just ask Amina. Sure, I can cook, I like to clean my house and mowing the grass can be fun. But laundry?

Sorry. Too many rules, too many things to think about: can I wash this with that? Is this a delicate or just a tattered old t-shirt? Can I mix whites and colors? Well, on that last question, I know the answer: throw a red t-shirt in a load of white towels and the whites don't look white any more.

There's a photography lesson in here, believe it or not.

What Color is "White?"
The brain is an amazing computer. It processes millions of bits of information per second and somehow manages to make logical, life-affirming decisions out of the data (unless a wine tasting is involved). One of the things the brain tells us is color, which can be pretty important -- "Should I eat that green bread?" is an important question because, well, most bread isn't green. Knowing what "green" is helps make the more important decision of whether green is good to eat. In this case it probably isn't, though when I was a bachelor I might have made a different decision ...

Think of white as the constant color -- we can argue all day about what shade of blue or green a paint chip shows, or whether the "Midnight Blue" color of your car is actually closer to a purple. White is white, and if that's a constant, then we can judge all other colors around it. (This paragraph deliberately ignores color theory, because it's a huge ball of wax and tends to start fistfights among color nerds.)

Most digital SLRs -- meaning, "a camera where the lens comes off" -- have what's called a white balance setting, and it's critical to taking a good photograph. Why?

White in natural sunlight looks different than, say, white in your living room at 9 p.m. with reading lamps, or white at 9 p.m. in your living room with lamps and the built-in flash firing ... When you set the white balance, you're telling the camera how to compensate for the light surrounding your subject.

Consider this photo; I took it with afternoon sun streaming into my dining room, so I set my white balance for "sunlight" and fired away. My camera decided "white" for that scene, and adjusted the other colors accordingly.



Now, consider this:



Same photo, but a different white balance. In this case, I told my photo editing software to automatically figure out the white balance. Looks cooler, doesn't it? And by "cooler" I mean "a less warm color" -- this version adds much more blue to the background.

Which one is right? I'd say the first one is a more accurate representation of what my eye saw. It's warmer, which gives a greater sense of time and place -- 3 p.m. afternoon sun on a gorgeous January afternoon. But the second one seems to show more of the delicacy of the tulip bulb; it hints at the inevitable demise of the cut flower as it droops closer to the ground, and shows a better range of colors with the tulip in the background.

There isn't a "right" answer -- it's art, fer cryin' out loud! -- and that's what makes photography fun. Understanding white balance does allow you to control the shot, which is critical to getting the photo you saw in your mind's eye.