I have to admit that for years I hated the Tulip festival in Mt. Vernon. Why you ask? I thought it was a joke. Photographers and amateur photographers flocked up there and thought they took the best most stunning pictures and people bought it. I mean come on, seen one, seen them all. So in rebellion,I never went. Last year though, James and I went. Not sure why we went but we had a blast. I took the cliche pictures, with my crappy cell phone and loved them! Not because I thought they were some of my best work but for the memories they invoked. We were freshly pregnant and had no clue. I found two bulbs that had been cast aside in the dirt and I took them. FYI, I am a clepto. We had oyster shooters. We just hung out together.
This year I insisted on going again. I had a better cell phone camera and we had our boy. James had seen a picture by someone he works with, an amateur photographer. He thought the picture was awesome and he wanted to take me to that exact location so I could take a similar shot. We went to the location and there it was in all its glory. Fabulous tulips everywhere and photographers, everywhere. I actually loved walking around snapping pictures with my camera phone and getting glances from people with mega cameras looking at me like I was a joke. If they only knew. What exactly are they going to do with their tulip pictures? Make bank? Doubt it. They have these high quality pictures that are going to sit on a storage space and rot. While mine are going into family calendars, photo albums, slideshows, maybe make some cards out of them and then they will rot. I don't need high res images, I am not doing anything spectacular with them. I love them for their beautiful imagery and low quality.
While James and I were walking around we encountered a couple having engagement pictures done. I was a little stung, I was supposed to photograph Spike and Grace this month for their engagement pics in the tulip fields. As we walked by I heard the photographer tell the man that he looked like a fish. She told him he was making fish faces. She says out loud " What is that? You look like a fish. You're making fish faces!" Then she tells the woman " What is he doing? He is seriously making fish faces! Hahaha!" The woman laughed nervously, the man cast his eyes down. I felt so bad for this guy. Never, Ever, Never make fun of your clients. Ever. Coach them instead on what faces you are looking for. They are paying you to photograph them, not make fun of them. I was so horrified as I walked by. My husband was too. We couldn't believe what we had just witnessed. That adorable couple should have gone with a pro, like me!
I did something the other night I have not done in years. I stayed up late and shot a band. Yes, it was glorious. I photographed Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supremes at the LoFi. It was a huge band on a tiny stage. The band was fun, the crowd was fun, the shots were fun. Lady Gravy did a rendition of Sweet Child of Mine, it was truly epic. My favorite song now. It was so nice to get back in the swing of things and to run around a bar with authority. When you have a massive camera at a bar, people don't question, they pose. You have every right to be in front of the stage. The crowd lets you move. People aren't hostile when you are trying to navigate through the mass. They figure you have a job to do and your not trying to be rude by getting that killer vantage point. I also love going to secret places of a bar that only people with the band are allowed to go. My stuff has a safe place and I have a place to go that isn't jam packed with drunk sweaty dancers. Also, people come up to me and talk to me. Normally I am not an approachable person, my husband says its because I don't smile. Fine by me. But when I am at a bar taking pictures, people are comfortable enough to approach me and ask for copies of the images. For instance, Eldridge Gravy was wearing a sweet hat. A gal in the audience also wearing a sweet hat that would have made the entire royal wedding jealous, came up to me and asked if I got a good picture of the hat. I told her I did. She told me she made the hat and had no pro pics of it. I took her name and will be sending that pic along. Network, network, network. Hire me to shoot your band.
