Viola Crowder

July 28, 2008 | Filed Under Personal, Portraits | 6 Comments 

Many of my childhood memories revolve around visits to my grandfather’s farm in North Carolina. Boots, a pocket knife, and camouflage were what defined me. We spent all kinds of time out in the woods, fishing, or just carving on sticks. My grandfather is a physician and my grandmother a nurse. They always had to go down to the office and see their patients, which left me and my brother Josh with plenty of free time to explore, build forts, and tromp around.

On occasion my parents would leave us for a longer visit. When this happened, and the grandparents were at work, we were left with the maid, Viola Crowder. She was pretty much the nicest lady we had ever met. I was quite young at this time and many of my earliest memories involve “Vi-Lola” as I called her. I couldn’t say “Viola.” (It should be noted that the “i” is long in Viola, unlike the instrument with the same spelling. If you can say this name quickly, you’re saying wrong. When pronounced correctly it kind of rolls out of your mouth in its own time.)

Nine months ago I had a daughter. We named her Viola Grace. We call her Lola.

Last week, we got the chance to visit Miss Crowder in her home in rural North Carolina. She never married and lived her life with her brother who also never married. The home they lived in is now falling down so she has purchased a mobile home which sits next to the old house.

She’s 87 years old now and lives alone on Crowder Lane.

Below are twelve images from our brief visit. She was really thrilled to hear I had name my daughter Viola. My Lola was a bit tentative at first, but soon warmed up to this dear old lady. This was a special time for us.

Gracen & Michael

July 23, 2008 | Filed Under Weddings | 9 Comments 

This past Friday my one and only sister got married. I come from a family of six children, but there were five boys and only one girl. I was asked to shoot the wedding. I did my best. I can’t say it was all that easy given I was feeling all the emotions from my sister being married, but at the same time trying to capture the moments as they went by. When my Dad took her down the aisle I almost couldn’t take it. It was rough.

Before the wedding, the wedding party and I took a trip to a friends house on Lake Keowee. It was a beautiful place to get some shots outside the formal chapel where the wedding was held. It was a bit of a trip with four cars, but we had a blast and it worked out perfectly. Thanks Barry!

By the way, fasten your seatbelts. This is going to be long. Hey, it’s my sister. Congratulations Gracen & Michael. All the very best.

Since they saw each other before the ceremony, I set up a way to capture their first look.

This is probably one of my favorites from the day. Each child is doing something so unique from the others, I just thought it was nice.

Gracen and her flower girls, Gwen and Chloe.

Here are the parents before the big march.

After a little encouragement, the ring bearer made a dash down the aisle. I also liked this shot of my Dad checking to see if my Mom was doing alright.

This is the point when I almost lost it.

Another favorite of mine. Each person feeling a completely different emotion.

It was great that Mimi (my grandmother) was able to make it. She was quite emotional in the receiving line.

Of course I had to include a shot of my one and only. I think about our wedding each time I shoot one.

The day offered a couple opportunities to shoot a few portraits of my brother Joshua.

Wall-E

July 2, 2008 | Filed Under Personal, Point+Shoot | 2 Comments 

The family went to see Wall-E last Saturday afternoon. A rare treat for us. Only on rare occasion do we venture into “The Big Movie,” as the boys call it. It is fun to see the Pixar films on a huge screen though. We all enjoyed it, and came home with new ideas. I had to grab my Point+Shoot when Henry came up with this. He’s got it down to the details. He only used three fingers on each hand for the rest of the day.

Hmmm…

July 2, 2008 | Filed Under General, Personal | Leave a Comment 

From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

-From an Actual High School Essay