Life Changing Moments

Every now and then there are moments in our lives that if we are paying attention they will change us forever. Some of them are great joyous moments others are wrapped in a great tragedy. For me I had one of those moments a year ago today. I unexpectedly found myself in one of the largest most profound support groups I had ever been a part of. As a photographer there was great opportunity for me to capture these moments, but little did I know that they would have the impact on me that they have.

SFC Brian Woods was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan in August of 2009. They brought him home to Cedar Hill MO on August 26th 2009. There had been announcements of his arrival on the radio and television stations requesting people come out to the sides of the highways and show their support. Brian's body was being escorted by local law enforcement and the Patriot Guard from the airport to Cedar Hill.

I had the honor of personally knowing Brian from high school, even though I had not seen him in over a decade the memory he left was still firm in my mind. Brian left behind a wife and two very young daughters. Brian's wife had stayed home in North Carolina where they had conducted a small private ceremony for Brian earlier that week. She decided not to come to St Louis for his burial here. Being Brian's friend and a photographer I felt obligated to capture these events for them so they could remember forever the welcoming he received as a hero in our community. And what a welcoming it was.

At 6pm August 26th 2009 a valley over a mile long was full of people lining the highway as far as the eye could see. We all patiently waited with flags, signs and hearts full of support. One lone police cruiser crested the hill and blared a siren alert, the valley went silent. An eery silent that only those there could explain the misery it stirred in their soul. Well over 500 people watched silently as Brian's hearse passed them by on it's way to the funeral home. The rumble of all the motorcycles from the patriot guard shook my inner core in a way I can still feel it's effects a year later.

I had the privilege of standing next to a young man Marine Sergeant Ross Kaeding during the procession. Sergeant Kaeding firm in his respect for Brian, and his service, stood strong as Brian passed by us. Snapping the below picture changed my life. I had never taken a photo that I now know has had such impact on others. As a photographer it is a sour triumph to successfully capture a tragic moment. I can't imagine the emotion that war photographers go through that spend time in the line of duty with these brave men and women.

The emotion from that day and the following days as Brian's memorial service was conducted are too great to capture in a blog post. They are enough to fill books if everyone accounted the impact these moments had on our lives. The one impact that should be accounted on this day however is that of profound respect. For the thousands that were a part of Brian's memorial and the thousands more that were impacted by his life August of every year has a different feel to it that it did before 2009. Brian's memory lives on in all of our lives and the change his life and sacrifice made on the world will be continually felt.

We miss you Brian!

(the full gallery can be found here In Memory of SFC Brian Woods )

Image © 2009 Charles Eaton

Beware of the Dip

So I read a lot of RSS feeds on various topics. One of them being audio. Every once in a while you read something online that is worth sharing because it applies to a larger audience. Chris Huff the creator of Behind the Mixer posted a blog recently about what he warns as the audio dip link here . His post is a take on the book "The Dip" written by Seth Godin. Chris' article got me thinking about how the dip applies to photography.

The concept applies to anyone who has started a new project, hobby, job... In the beginning everything is exciting. You are seeing lots of results for your effort. You're learning new things, seeing mountains of results and getting positive feedback from everywhere. Everyday seems to be another day for a Photoshop epiphany. (oh wow that's what clipping masks are used for) But eventually you stop learning new things everyday and your effort seems to produce less results, or the results aren't the leaps and bounds you have grown so accustomed to. That's the beginning of the dip. The dip for photographers can be a make or break moment. It is inevitable that you will face the dip whether photography for you is just a hobby or more. What is encouraging is that according to Seth Godin if you can continue to work on your effort through the dip you will eventually see a rapid increase in results.

What I like about Chris' article is he takes three quick approaches to dealing with the dip. Which I am going to touch on in a second.
1. Quit
2. Information overload
3. Focus

Seth Godin talks a lot about people knowing when to quit. When to realize they've walked down a dead end and to turn around and walk the other way.  10 Questions with Seth is a good read if you are interested in reading more about Seth's approach.

OK, back to photography. So how to deal with the dip as a photographer.
1. Quit - Sometimes what ever it is your getting stuck on you should walk away. That doesn't mean photography entirely but maybe take a break from Photoshop filters or trying to master focus stacking for macro photography. Maybe you take really good pictures of flowers but not so much with people. That doesn't mean you shouldn't work harder at taking pictures of people but you have to answer that question. Maybe, just maybe, if it is a dead end street you should turn around and stop trying to be a photographer your not. The flower world is missing you.

2. Information Overload - From personal experience I can say this is a daunting task, often riddled with turmoil. Being a married father of three spending hours at the computer or behind my camera doesn't have positive effects on my family life. I remember when took the plunge to digital from film. I read book after book, blog after blog and became a member of like 6 photo forums. I was facebooking, myspacing, forum adding and more. I would go through two or three tutorials a day. After a while I was just burnt and realized I didn't like digital at all. Too much work. Till I stumbled upon approach #3.

3. Focus - My mother always used to tell me "One thing at a time son". Her words were wiser than I cared to mention then. Pick one thing to focus on when you are in the dip. Don't think that because you are seeing little results it means you have to learn everything there is to know about Photoshop or that you have to take 10 photography courses by the top photographers in your area. Slow down and take on a small but focused project. Like photographing skin. If you are wanting to become a better people photographer then learn how to photograph people's skin. How is skin prepared for a photo? How do you light and expose skin for digital? How does skin behave with different types of light? Once you learn that then move to expression. What is expression? What expressions make a photo interesting? How do you time capturing expression? Patiently walk through the dip but don't stop giving effort. Who knows, on the other side you may just be the next photojournalist for your town's newspaper or one day find yourself working for National Geographic.