Sailing the British Virgin Islands: April 12-23
Sam and I just returned from the most amazing trip we have ever taken. Along with two other couples, we chartered a 45 foot sloop named Cassandra and hit the waters of the British Virgin Islands for an incredible exploration of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Jost Van Dyke and various smaller islands.
Before anyone gets too impressed, I have never been sailing before this trip but I am picking up the vocabulary like shiny pebbles. With words like "yawl", "schooner", "jib" and my personal favorite, "boom vang", I am fairly certain that a committee formed to review all terminology relating to sailing just to make sure the words were cool enough. Large, curvy, frontal sail? Hmmmm... what do you guys think of "spinnaker"? This same group of people moved to Sweden and started naming furniture for Ikea.
I digress. There were six of us, three couples total, who christened ourselves "Team Ramrod" and set sail from Pussers where we met in Soper's Hole. Meet the crew:
This is my sister-in-law and our skipper, Cap'n Michela, and her not so "little buddy" Brian. Together they are capable of more than a three hour tour:
This is Dan and Erin, our neighbors and pals:
And of course you know these two clowns:
This is all of us taking the dinghy to shore for a night out:
It was Erin's birthday while we were at sea so we tried to sneak a frozen cake on board from a provision store, unfortunately it defrosted upside down. So it wasn't the prettiest cake but we ate it with gusto and she smeared chocolate frosting on her face because she said it was tradition. Like festive war paint.
We also celebrated Easter on board by reading aloud an essay by David Sedaris and Erin found a package from the Easter Bunny. I added a peep to my mojito to make a peepito:
You can't mistake this experience for a cruise though, its more like very sophisticated camping. And sailing itself is hard work. We raised the sails just as much as the wind would allow.
As a neophyte, I tried my best to help out where I could and learn how things worked. Erin and I called ourselves "deck fluff". But I did steer the boat for a good hour on our way back from Anegada. It was actually on my shift that a school of dolphins approached the boat and started playing in the wake of our bow. It all happened too fast to get a clear picture but its the kind of thing you would much rather live than photograph anyway.
The snorkeling was amazing, everywhere you sailed you could put on a mask, look down in the water and see something more incredible than the last time you looked down. Sam and I watched a sea turtle rise from the bottom of the ocean floor to the surface of the water. The way he was backlit, he looked like an odd, fat angel ascending to the heavens. Sea turtles followed our boat a lot, we named them all Steve. He's a big Steve but small in the pic, look in the lower left...
This trip was humbling to me as a photographer. I tend to think of myself as someone who can translate an experience visually, someone with a trained eye for the subtlety of a moment. But I completely failed here, I just couldn't communicate what sailing feels like. Prior to this, I had never moved over an ocean without the sound of a motor corrupting the experience. When you sail you hear nothing but wind whipping the sails, the boat cutting the water, the rhythmic clinking of lines. While I know its impossible to image a sound, it seemed just as impossible to communicate what its like to keel toward the water as the wind takes you faster or the excitement of rocking over a huge swell. All of this in the glint of the sun with the most beautiful natural surroundings. And you are so alone in it, other boats are present only in the distance. I loved it, it was glorious. These pictures are the closest I came.
I think it was Dan that picked up our camera and took this picture of Sam and I while we were just sitting on the port side of the bow. I know you can't really see our expressions here but trust me, we are smiling, just listening to the wind filling the jib.
To see a slideshow of our adventure, click
HERE.
The Process of Packing on April 12, 2006
This is the current state of the bed in our guest room... Sam's bags are packed, zipped up, ready to go and have even been weighed on our bathroom scale to make certain no weight restrictions have been exceeded (coming in at 47 lbs, he's under by a hair). My stuff, however, is still slowly accumulating on a bed awaiting some organization. I hate packing, which is probably why I am here blogging instead.
We are closing up shop until we return from our sailing trip to the British Virgin Islands on Sunday, April 24th. I wonder if I will be able to be unplugged for so long!
We promise to share vacation pictures when we return.... If we return... Maybe we'll just give up this photography thing and become career pirates.... AAaarRRhhhh....
Whoa - just realized my passport isn't on the pile - gotta go!
Mel
Leah's Bridal Portraits on Friday, April 7, 2006
I'm not so sure that southerers are really so superstitious... I suspect that keeping the dress out of public view is more about guarding a good surprise than the threat of bad luck. I have to admit that its killing me to blog about today's shoot without sharing my favorite pictures but I must refrain: only a select few can be privy to the shots we took of Leah today... Until she marries Jon in May, of course!
For those of you unfamiliar with the southern tradition of the bridal portrait, its a portrait taken of the bride in full wedding regalia before the wedding which will be displayed (occassionally formally unveiled) at the wedding reception. Now Sam and I grew up in the DC area so when we first began shooting weddings, we had no clue what this was all about.
Brides who come out with us for bridal portraits are the adventurous types - they don't mind going outdoors for a more interesting picture, even if it means risking the pristine condition of their dresses as we arrange their trains in the green grass. All I can say is that Leah chose 2 fantastic spots to have her portraits taken, both of which have significance to her upcoming marriage.
Leah was also a great sport: as the day transformed from a rainy morning into an unusually warm and sunny afternoon, Leah had to contend with high winds. Keep in mind that a breeze is a blessing when it comes to veils... but 30 mph winds are just plain difficult! Leah was getting whipped around every which way and at one point the veil flew right out of her head. Unfortunately I was too busy trying to catch it in mid air before it hit the ground to take that shot!
But we did get some awesome shots despite mother nature's challenges. Again, I sure wish I could share more but good things come to those who wait!
May 15th:
Now that Leah and Jon were married last Saturday, I have updated this post with some of our favorites.... The photo at the top of the post is the one she had enlarged for the reception. We went to both the Carillon where Leah and Jon married as well as Pony Pasture to get a beautiful river view. Enjoy!
Blair and Chip's Wedding on Saturday, April 1 2006
Holy crap, we're blogging!
And what a great way to start: Blair and Chip were married April 1st - you heard me right - April Fool's Day! And in line with the annual tradition of jokes and spoofs, their wedding program proclaimed that Blair would be exchanging rings with Brad Pitt...
The ceremony took place at Jim and Steve's house in Church Hill and included special guests: the couple's pups Oscar, Obi-Wan and Kevin. This is Steve with Oscar...
The statuary in the backyard was adorned with stylish pink kitsch and had a "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil" meets hip wedding kind of feel:
Meet Kevin, the ring bearer. Kevin really hated having his picture taken and growled at the camera but he's ironically quite photogenic.
This is Chip in the right hand corner, we thought it was quite appropriate that the couple has such a love of Star Wars since the wedding party's bus had an oddly galactic look:
When I found Blair upstairs, I was expecting her to be in a wheelchair due to a recent soccer accident but she was determined to walk down that aisle - despite the pain she was probably experiencing, she was absolutley stunning:
...she never lost her sense of humor...
And she even managed to dance through most of the night- this is to E.U's classic, "Doin' the Butt"... The pole was helping out all the way around!
My favorite shot of the day is a portrait I took of Blair, Chip and the dogs at Libby Park just following the ceremony. The light was absolutely amazing and I love the dogs' individual expressions: Obi seems contemplative, Kevin's licking his chops and while he blends into Chip's suit, you can kind of make out Oscar sniffing Blair's bouquet.
Blair and Chip's sense of humor gave us the opportunity for some fun and quirky shots:
That last pic is their cardboard cut outs looking in on their first dance. Yup, they had cardboard cut outs of themselves made for guests to take pictures with. But you'll have to check out their pictures online to see what people actually did with them, we can't give away all the good stuff here!
The reception was held at Art Works, a co-op gallery and studio space in Manchester. The gallery was full of lanterns and centerpieces made of peonies and branches that reminded me of the Japanese plum tree in our backyard growing up that rained pink petals. Campaign buttons that read "Blair and Chip 4-1-06" were scattered over the tables for guests to sport on their lapels.
A confectionary table was set up for guests to take home bags of candy and cookies as favors - it was a sweet tooth's dream come true and a dentist's nightmare.
It was good to see
Will Rollins spinning the party and we were also pleasantly surprised to see
Whitney and Tom Parfit, whose wedding I shot many moons ago and have since started a family catering business. There are only about 2 degrees of separation here in Richmond!
Check out this
slideshow I put together with my favs from the event. To see the full version of their wedding pictures, click on their names in the proofing section of our
website and you'll be automatically notified by email. The pictures will be released to Chip and Blair by April 11th... Rumor has it that Pictage will be running another 2-4-1 deal on prints, yippeee!
We can't wait to share more of their wedding!
