Cameras

I've had so many comments and questions about the photo I created using my old cameras so I thought I'd tell you a little bit about each of them. Starting left to right leads you first to my Brownie. I don't think it was bought FOR me so my father must have bought it for some other reason though I don't think he ever used it professionally. I, however, dragged it to summer camp and 4-H meetings and school events for years and I'm betting that it still works great. The second camera is the Crown Graphic -- a monstrously big camera that shot 4x5 sheet film. All of the old B&W photos I've been posting on FB lately were probably taken with this camera and it's also the camera I used at the first wedding I photographed. I always envied my father and brother at weddings back then because they wore suits with pockets large enough to hold film holders and flashbulbs. My dresses didn't have pockets but I got to be pretty adept at shooting and holding a box of flashbulbs under my arm at the same time. The third camera is a twin lens reflex camera and I actually cheated a bit here. I shot with a twin lens camera for years but mine was a Yashica. This camera in the photo was an older model of my father's and I thought it looked better in the photo than my old Yashica. The fourth camera is my Minolta 35mm that saw me through all my years working at the high school. I probably shot hundreds of rolls of B&W film working at Northampton of ball games, clubs, student activities, etc. It was a great little camera and I can't imagine selling it though I haven't used it for a while. The fifth camera is a Hasselblad -- a beautiful single lens camera that I used for weddings and location photos for probably 20 years. I actually used several different single lens cameras during that time -- mostly Bronica and Rollei -- but I pulled out the Hasselblad for this photo. The final camera is one of the Canon digital cameras I use now. I have several digital cameras but I stick with the Canon brand because all of my lenses are compatible. This is probably my favorite lens -- an 85mm, f 1.2 -- just a beautiful, sharp piece of glass. Hope that explains a few of the questions you've asked. The one thing it should definitely explain is the pain in my neck and shoulders from carrying some of these around all these years. Remember to add a flash to most of these and they can get quite heavy. It's why I keep the ibuprofen in my car so I can pop one on the way home after a long wedding.

Degrees of Separation

I feel a little bit like I've been cheating on my blog lately by spending too much time with my Facebook page. What does that say about the state of things anyway?!?

At any rate, it's been a long time since I've posted on my blog but I had something I wanted to share and I knew that I'd never be able to fit it into FB. Facebook forces you into a marvelous economy with words that sometimes doesn't mesh with my Hedspeth talk-iness. Anyone who remembers my father or my Uncle James know that a Hedspeth can talk the hind legs off a billy goat and I know I'm often guilty of that. And, if you know my cousin Jim, you know that this talking thing did NOT skip a generation!

I've always been fascinated by the idea of "Six Degrees of Separation." I'm not sure I completely buy it but I DO believe in what I consider the Southern version of that which is if you put two Southerners in a room together and give them ten minutes, they will find 3 people they know in common. Try it sometimes; it works.

I had a most serendipitous encounter while reading a book by the wonderful North Carolina writer, Marianne Gingher. It's called "A Girl's Life" and is basically about her childhood and growing up in Greensboro. I love her book and was really enjoying this one as I read it because she wrote of so many universal experiences in a young girl's life. As I was reading along and starting a new chapter, my mouth literally dropped open. I don't have the book here with me right now so I can't quote it directly but she starts out by saying that one of the highlights she remembered from her pre-teen years was being asked to be a junior bridesmaid in her distant cousin Billy Jenkins' wedding to Autry Brown in Potecasi, NC. All the locals here in Northampton county know why I was stunned since we probably all know Billy and Autry Jenkins and have driven through the sleepy patch of road that is Potecasi hundreds of times in our lives. My next thunderbolt was in realizing that my father photographed this wedding which means that I have the negatives. A quick tour through the dusty ledger books delivered the precious envelope to me, and I've printed out a few photos from this wedding that show a young girl who I assume is Marianne Gingher. I absolutely love looking at old wedding photographs. Look at all the details that place it in time -- the bridesmaids' hats, the men in white dinner jackets,the tablecloth -- it's all wonderful. Thought some of you might enjoy seeing it, too. And, it was too long to put on Facebook.

Linley

I had so much fun with Linley Johnson when I did her bridal session at NC State. I had never even been to State's arboretum and it was beautiful with lots of places to take photos. But, we really had fun when we hit the Free Expression tunnel on campus. We didn't even try and avoid the pedestrians and skateboarders; we just used them in the shots as they whizzed by. Thankfully, Linley was not obsessed with keeping her dress spotless so we had a great time challenging each other with what we could do next. The composite photo from the tunnel is mine for the studio and Linely has a gorgeous portrait from the arboretum for her wall. All those tunnel shots were just screaming out to me for a video so it's included here.

Tradition

A lot of what is done in photography is related to a tradition in one form or another. Weddings, other celebrations, coming of age photos whether it's one year old or 18 years old. It used to make my father so happy to be able to connect the branches of a family's tree through his photos and, as I get older, I find that I get a great deal of satisfaction from doing the same. I just finished some photos for Jessica Pope Henderson of her baby in the family christening gown which goes back several generations. I was also working on restoring some old photos that my father took of Jessica, her twin sister and her brother in the same christening gown some 20+ years ago. While I was searching the old negatives and the old files to print all the photos they wanted, I thought it would be nice to share some of this family through the years. It's a privilege to be trusted to take photos for anyone; it is a compliment to have families come back over and over again through the years.

Senior Season

It's hard to believe but we're back at that time of the year when we start senior portrait sessions for the Class of 2011. We actually have had our first two sessions within the past week so I thought it was time that I got some information out there. We've kept some of our sessions the same as we've been doing for years and have changed a couple of others. It you want complete details on the sessions and a copy of our price list, send me an email to conwayphoto@mchsi.com and I'll be happy to reply. I'll also be posting some samples from the three types of sessions to my Facebook page over the next couple of days. We look forward to getting to know the newest high school seniors.

Meagan & Patrick

Northeast Seniors

Hard to believe but graduation will be here before you know it and we need to tie up some loose ends. If you want to buy a copy of the senior class photo that was taken at Deberry's Mill, see Ms. Davis at school before April 30 with $5.00 for your copy. This is a special price that is only available until April 30; after that date, an 8x10 will be the regular $15 price. Call us if you have any questions.