Tag Archives: black and white

Natalie, Greg, and their kids are regulars.  I have been visiting them every few months for over two years.  Usually on a Sunday.  Each visit starts around 9am with a pancake breakfast, prepared lovingly by Greg while I break out my gear and start shooting….whatever.   Between shutter presses, I hear about what’s new with them.  I catch them up on whats new with me.  Occasionally my girlfriend comes along to hang out, have some pancakes, and assist me.  Sometimes, like this Sunday, we take a field trip.   And I just keep shooting.  It turns out to be kind of a Day in the Life of their family (completed in 2 hours).  And its just a LOT of fun.  After photographing them so often, we’ve entered the realm when it just gets really good: the children know me and are always ready and willing to play, I spend almost no time thinking about my gear, I already know where the best light can be found.  There are no nerves in the entire home.  I can be creative.  And they can be their beautiful selves.  I hope that it shows.

…and a visual shout out to the very capable assistant!

add a comment
  • Demet

    They already have a baby girl with teeth! Wow! I don’t know them but I feel like I do. And Serene is always so dang stylish, even in her casual assistant clothes. Love the gloves.

I was able to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday and had a chance to see a bunch of family.   My niece Jordan, who I thought was actually shy…is NOT!  She never got tired of posing for the camera, losing to me at thumb wrestling, or being the only clue-giver in charades.  It was great to see my uncle Kenneth, who is 60 but looks all of 45.  And my grandparents reminded me that they met when they were just weeks old (they were neighbors).   I think they can count the time that they’ve been apart in their entire lives in months.  I also finally built in some extra time during the drive to my mom’s house to photograph some of the great scenery along the way.  As sleepy as the town of Deale, MD is, it can also be absolutely beautiful.

Mom’s

Uncle Kenneth & Jordan

Jordan struggled to keep the camera/grip/flash steady and got a pretty nice shot in the process.

Granddad, still as sharp as a tack.  We can always count on him to stay out on the porch until we turn the corner onto Gwynns Falls.  I love that he has all the signs of a grandfather: belt + suspenders, zip-up sweater, eyeglasses in the shirt pocket (and a cell phone).

add a comment
  • Big Rob

    I love this man….

  • Georgette Varner-Haynes

    Awesome, Dana. Love this!

I should have known when I was greeted at the door by two little boys who immediately introduced themselves (with their full names)…and then grabbed my hand to lead me on a tour of  their home…that Sunday morning was going to be great.  We played Memory, built a home inside the home with couch cushions, went deer-watching, dressed up for Halloween, and danced in a deluge (ok, they danced while I took pictures).  Even the pouring rain was just another play thing for these two beautiful kids.  Very special thanks to Jon and Dayna for inviting me into their home to capture some images of their boys.

add a comment

I’ve been going to the U. S. Open for about 13 years. It’s my favorite sporting event, and each year seems to outdo each of the previous ones. Lots of handy tips about how to make attending more enjoyable have come my way: which tickets to buy, which sessions are likely to produce the best tennis, which bags are prohibited, the best seats on the Grandstand…they all leap to mind. But one of my favorite frequent-spectator tips is Gate D of Louis Armstrong court. The stadium is mostly first-come, first-served seating. Instead of standing in Space Mountain-esque lines of fans waiting for a changeover, those in the know climb the stairs just inside Gate D, emerge at the top of the stadium and drop into a free seat during play. On the way up the first staircase, you’ll pass some folding tables. At first, I assumed they were just left there; but year after year, they’ve reappeared in the same spot.   Along with a plotter.  I’ve been wondering about these tables for years.  As evidence of my curiosity, here is a shot I took from the staircase last year (who knows who that dude is):

This year, when we passed the tables, people were there.  Working.  A chance to solve the mystery!  In a few seconds we were talking to Frank.  It turns out that this location, in the bowels of Armstrong stadium, is the U.S. Open scoreboard management center.  Frank, pictured below, described the 12-hour days he puts in, climbing the scoreboard again and again to paste the stenciled names and scores on the board (within 10 minutes of the end of each match!).  It sounds insane, but it obviously gets easier later in the tournament.

Frank was great, even waving hello to us when we saw him the next day (we were kinda yelling his name from the ground at the time).  I was nearly tempted to ask him how I could become a harnessed-scoreboard-stenciler-paster-guy, too.  But I’d probably rather wait in a line snaking through Armstrong stadium.

add a comment
  • Dave M.

    Great story, Dana! One of these years I will see you at the US Open. Hopefully in 2011. :)

Last weekend, during a trip to Boston, we got a chance to drive out to Reading, MA to spend an afternoon with Caren and her family.  Caren is a good friend from business school, and I had never met her husband, Evan, or her children.   They were as fantastic as Caren, and I documented the good times with a few images.  Naturally.

add a comment