County Clare

Camp week has finished.  A wonderful time, and stories for another day.

Sunday, I found myself back in Galway with the American camp counselors and Darren the Dubliner.  The afternoon was spent mostly wandering looking for somewhere to eat, and then an adventure at a castle near Oughterard before a very late dinner at the excellent Powers Thatched Pub. Eat here.  The food is incredible.

Monday, we awoke and headed into Galway town.  The other Americans had not seen it, so a tour of the Latin Quarter, Eyre Square, and the Claddagh commenced.

Never a lack of amazing street entertainment!

A road trip next, through County Clare.  Narrow country roads fenced by hedges and stone walls, stretching on for miles as the landscape bends with the Atlantic ocean.  Laughter as the other Americans decide Darren and I should star in a bank heist movie together.  Then, we pass an alpaca farm, and Darren slams on the brakes. "Alpacas!  I've never seen them in real life!"  We stop and spend twenty minutes with the herd.  A Frenchman and his two children, Charles and Marguerite, join us.  Little Marguerite, undaunted, runs to the alpacas and attempts to feed them.  They remain cautiously curious.

Alpacas do not like oat cakes, it would seem.

Onwards we go, to the Cliffs of Moher.  Our resident Dubliner chides us for incorrectly pronouncing the Cliffs as More.  "It's Mo-HER, lads!"

An unusually sunny yet predictably windy day greets us at the top of the cliffs.  Grateful for the sunshine and powerful winds, we wander slowly along the cliffs, stopping to lay in the grass or photograph another amazing perspective, different enough from the one provided just a few hundred feet before.

Too soon, we must be on our way.  Our journey ends at the bus station in Ennis, from which I head south to begin my next journey in County Kerry.  A heartfelt farewell, complete with car horn honking and excited waving out passenger windows, pushes my fellow travelers back to Galway and then to Dublin for their final two days in this wonderful country.

The adventure continues, and God gives abundant gifts.

All Creation shall sing

Pokédemic?

It had been eight days since Patient Zero.

Eight days since Pokémon Go was unleashed upon the world and some sort of social transformation happened nearly overnight....

I find myself on the way to Folky Fridays in Old Ellicott City, looking to relax with some friends and perhaps have a bit of adventure.  Having been released from the somewhat insular world of the Nine-to-Five, I am taken aback by the sudden change in my surroundings.  As I drive up Main Street, I see groups of two or three or six, mostly high school and college age, all glued to their phones.  Some with backpacks wield extra battery packs, wires spewing forth.  Never have I seen the sidewalks as crowded on any other given Friday evening.

Finally caught my Zubat.

I snag a parking space near the central stoplight and start off to Tonge Row.  More people are milling about here, index fingers swiping furiously on touch screens.  I run into Dan, a summer theatre friend.  We chat a while as he captures a Zubat on the thirtieth try.  "I've used all my Pokéballs," he moans.  Middle schoolers ask us which team we are on - I learn that there are three teams and opponents can battle one another at local gyms, which might be a church or some random building.  All around us, on grassy hills and any available seating, are phone-wielding Pokémon trainers.  Two port-a-johns are set up in the parking lot so these crowds might find some relief.

Stephanie arrives, followed shortly by Justin and Nathan.  We move to a nearby table, straddling two distinct worlds of Americana music lovers on one side and pocket monster collectors on the other.  We talk, observing the crowd of nearly forty people staring at their phones.  A group of young men attempt to sell water from their tailgate cooler.  A dating couple sits nearby, independently catching Pokémon together.

We are joined by Rachel, just finishing her shift at work.  She is intrigued by the fact that we are having a real conversation amongst ourselves, phones securely out of sight.  So she joins us and becomes a friend.

Emotions are Running High.

I have my camera out, as does Justin.  Nikki notices and steps away from her cadre of Pokémaniacs and comes to ask us about them before pitching a videographer job at the Otakon Animé convention.  Justin, intrigued, gives her his contact info.  She joins us awhile, and then her posse drifts on to the next Pokéstop.

Nighttime falls.  We are surrounded by the orange glow of street lamps and the blue glow of mobile devices.

It's like Fourth of July Fireworks without the explosions or cheering!

It's time for second dinner at Cacao Lane, so we begin the walk down the hill.  On the sidewalk are messages in chalk:

10% for Pokémon Go players!

Look up! Real Artwork Right Here!

I spy another summer theatre friend, hunched over his phone while seated on a storefront stoop, and call him by name as I pass him by.  He hears nothing.  Our group of five surrounds him.  "Situational Awareness, man!" we say, laughing.  After a brief catch-up, we continue on our way.

Dinner at Cacao Lane is an enjoyable experience, but now it's time to head on home.  We enter again the mysterious world of Pokémon Go.  Larger groups now wander, five or seven clustered together searching for prey.  Two girls wander into the middle of the street, intent on capture, automobiles be scorned.

The Teeming Hordes bring blessings upon local businesses

I remain astounded at this sudden change to the local economy and the average per capita level of exercise our town is now seeing.  A new medium of interaction with our surroundings and with each other.  What shall come of it?

We place bets as to the date of the first #PokémonGoWedding, say our goodbyes, and head home.

#Pokémarriage ?

Introducing Night Portraits

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The game, as they say, is on.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The rain had subsided; some final rivulets were arduously making their way through the gutters, sewers, waterways.  Asphalt, still warm from the vanished sun, sighed steam.  Detective Thompson saw none of it, heard none of it, brown eyes focused on a door across a busy street, waiting for a sign that she had hit her mark.

***

What's the use?  We've searched countless times and nothing's come of it.  Had he asked the rocks and briars for their advice, they would have told him to wait just a bit longer.  They had seen much in their time (especially the rocks!) and this particular adventure had yet some time to go before it would run its course.

***

Bad coffee helps you think.  Even though you may be thinking about an antacid and a toothbrush, you're still thinking.  And right now, Adam needed to think, needed to wander the cobblestone streets, needed the comfort of silence.  He had one week to come up with a briefcase full of monopoly money, one week to appease forces that had quite unkindly invaded his once-mediocre desk jockey life.

***

I've starting practicing nighttime shots as a fun exercise in seeing and creating interesting light, shadows, and stories.  And I offer to you the possibility of your own portraits - unique senior portraits, engagement photos, Sam Spade cosplay, or whatever else may be up one's sleeves.

Are you working on a mystery that needs some complementary imagery?  (Gosh, that's fun to say) I'd love to help you make that happen.

2013 Seniors - Rachel

Three years ago, I did senior portraits for Rachel's older sister, Becky.  It's been fun to do portraits for Rachel as well and see again how different (yet similar!) the two are.​

Rachel joins her sister as a cross-country star at Mount Hebron, so we got several great photos at the school track.  We then headed off to the Daniels area of Patapsco State Park​ for some more images.

You can see a few of my favorites in the slideshow below.  Here's to Rachel and a fantastic senior year.​