film fridays: a personal project where I put down my digital camera and share images created on film.

 

Today’s Film Friday shout-out goes out to my son, Asa, who will be turning 7 next week. As usual, I’m filled with a mix of pride and nostalgia at birthday time. I long, so deeply, to keep him young. He’s so sweet right now. I can still hold his hand in public; He still wants to be tucked in at night followed with a goodnight kiss; He still hugs me hard and tells me he loves me; I can still tickle him out of a bad mood. I hate that this will be replaced one day with sullen glares and “whateeever” attitudes. That period in every child’s life where hormones are king and parents, in a sense, lose them. Never to return to the way things once were. Ok, how depressing is that? Please tell me I’m not the only Mom that has these thoughts?

On the complete flip side though, we are our children’s #1 fan. We push and champion progress and independence. We proudly boast about this or that accomplishment. We truly want to see them succeed at every milestone. So, what is with the mixed-bag-o-nuts emotions when it comes to growing up?

Anyway, enough of my neurosis. Another year means another birthday photo shoot! Actually, these are two separate photo shoots. One of the (many) lessons I have learned photographing my children is I HAVE to keep it short. I just can’t push them beyond 30-45 minutes or anarchy ensues.

And on that note, could a face get any sweeter than this?

Even though I have to keep our sessions short, I dare say he enjoyed himself. Looks like I have finally broken this wildling.

Asa said on the bottom left photo  “oh, man. A skateboard would have made it SO much better.” I agreed. Which is why I got him a skateboard for his birthday. shhh… ;)

I am especially fond of the next set of photos as these were all shot in and around my neighborhood in Highland Village. Highland Village started out as a vacation spot for Parkies (Highland Park) in the 50s and 60s around Lake Lewisville and no two homes were built alike. So each street has a lot of character.

I spied the little red sports car in a driveway and knocked on the door to ask if it was ok to take pictures around it. The owner, a very kind woman, said of course we could! She seemed tickled that we were interested and hung around watching us. Not in an I-don’t-trust-you kind of way she genuinely seemed friendly and curious. She noticed I was shooting with a film camera and we talked about that. She told us a little about the car and how she had lived in Highland Village since the 70’s and raised her family in this very house. She was especially enamored with Asa. I could see the twinkle in her eye as she talked to him. He was eating it up. Older people and children just seem to have a secret understanding of each other, don’t you think? She told him “if you like this car, wait till you see what I have in the garage.”

I heard the classic rumble of an old car starting and out came this beautiful, candy-apple-red (actually the same red as the other car) Corvair. She told us that her late husband had restored both cars and let us take pictures in and around it too. She even got Asa phone books to sit on in the drivers seat. After we were done she asked if we wanted to go for a ride in the Corvair. Heck yes! We hopped in and she took us for a spin. Asa pointed out a house where one of his friends lived and she let him honk the horn as we passed by it. They both got a kick out of that.

This is just one of the many reasons why I love photography. What other reason would I have had to go knock on her door and have her trust us enough to give us a ride? Photography gets you out there exploring and meeting people. And the best part is, I shared this adventure with my son. One of my favorite quotes from Annie Leibovitz’s book is, “The camera gives you a license to go out alone into the world with a purpose.” So true. No matter if you are shooting film or digital, get out there and go have an adventure!

All taken with Mamiya ProTL Fuji 400H and TriX 400