Day Ten: Coming Full Circle

This past Wednesday I began teaching guitar at Musicology, 241 State St., Watertown NY. Private guitar lessons. I had two students. A young woman from Korea and a young man from Guatemala. They each have electric guitars. That's ok. They are both beginners, both appear to be eager and determined. That's the type of student I like. I used to teach a lot at Black River Music in Watertown. That was 25 plus years ago. In those days I was a guitar teacher first and a photographer second. I photographed weddings and began freelancing for the Post-Standard. The Post gradually used me more & more until they offered me a paid internship. I accepted. When that expired I went back to freelancing for them. Eventually they offered me a part time staff position which I almost didn't accept. But I did. Over the years it grew into a 36 hour a week job. (They just never gave me that full time status). Well, the years turned into 25. Then a year ago January the paper was feeling financial pressure. They cut my hours to 24 a week. February first 2009 my hours were cut to 16 a week. Ouch! That hurt. But at least I was and still am in the game. The problem I faced (and still face) is trying to make up that lost income. The paper had kept me so busy that I long ago stopped teaching guitar and did only occassional weddings. Black River Music went out of business long ago. The remaining stores in my area allready had guitar teachers. Teaching at home wasn't a viable option. Well, a couple of weeks ago two fellows I know opened a new music store and asked me if I would like to teach there. And so I have come full circle, the Post-Standard is part time and the guitar tecahing and wedding photgraphy has begun. For most of twenty five years I put all my eggs in the newspaper basket. The past year has been a challenge, but I do think God has supplied me with a couple of new baskets for my eggs.


About the above photo. It was taken with a Konica Minolta Dimage Xg digital camera. It is only 3.2 megapixels and was the first pocket digital camera I bought. I love it for it's small size. It is quite a camera considering the time in which it was manufactured. I've had it at least five years. It's great for using as a photographic notebook. That is, should I happen upon a scene that I think would be interesting to photograph but the light isn't right, I snap it as a reminder to go back there at a different time of day. Sometimes I see things such as recipes in magazines and rather than buy or borrow the mag I just snap a digital photo of it. Sometimes it's just fun to play around with.

Anyway, I had taken my mother to her doctors office and was waiting for her. There was an older couple holding hands as they were about to exit the office. I saw the woman at right smile at them. Now here is the kicker: I didn't want to be seen snapping the photo, so I just held the camera close to my lap and pointed it roughly in their direction. The shutter is virtually silent. I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. The image is a bit blurry, but I have no problem with that. I converted it to black and white which I find to be agreeable with candid people pictures. Photos made "from the hip" or overhead without looking through the viewfinder or at the screen are known as Hail Mary shots among photojournalists. With practice one can get pretty good at it. It's like anything else, you must know your equipment, it's limitations and practice, practice, practice. Practice doing it. The guitar is the same way: Practice, practice, practice. Eventually you get good at it.