Just not November yet

You would not believe it was the last day of October. Not by the sun and the leaves and the fun ... we had in the Arboretum this afternoon. I had totally forgotten how wonderful the Arnold Arboretum is ... and the kids were there for the first time. Finding a big garter snake certainly added to the adventure.



A day later (It is November now)...
... I am still thinking about the fun we had:

• The cattail-fluff was everywhere, and I am sure I swallowed some. The light in the cattails was unbeatable for photos.


• The snake left quite an impression too. The biggest Garter snake I had seen so far. And the way it snuggled with Tristan was so cute. It pressed every bit of its body against his warm hands and started to sneak up his sleeve at some point.

Just found a piece of twig in my hair this morning while shampooing. I think that says it all. What a great day yesterday!
Will get to work on the book asap.

Strings

On Sunday I visited the Southend Open Studios for some major inspiration. I stopped at the studio building at 551 Tremont Street only to get stuck at the first open door, where Roosevelt Pires repairs all kinds of string instruments in a creative mess. Everywhere pieces of ukuleles, guitars, cellos and violins peak out of shelves, boxes, wraps like curious little creatures trying to catch a glimpse of the world.

It is not every day that someone plays the cello for you in the stairways of a an old brownstone. And as long as Agustin played the instrument that Roosevelt had made for him some years ago, I could not bare parting.

Memories

It was a busy weekend. On Saturday I covered a Phi Beta Alpha fraternity reunion for Northeastern University, which reminded me again of why I like photographing people: These guys were delighted to see each other again after who knows how many years.

Looking forward to ...

... an entire Saturday "shooting Anna". We're gonna have fun, fun, fun ...

I must have been crazy …

… to fly to the Netherlands for just one day to photograph a wedding. But what a wedding, what a trip it was! Due to volcanic activity it was a miracle that I made it there ... and back almost on schedule. Eyjafjallajokull seemed to have some kind of personal grunge against me as it made me almost miss the wedding due to its ash cloud and subsequent flight cancellations. It then behaved well all Saturday and sent another cloud to Schiphol Airport on Sunday. The airport was closed shortly after I had left on the plane back to Boston.



It turned out to be a wonderful day for everybody involved. The sun was shining a little bit ... not too much to spoil the perfect soft light for the outdoor photos. And just enough to supply light through the huge church windows in Deventer. The venue, the majestic pocket palace "Huis De Voorst", built in 1695 as a replica of the royal Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn, and completely renovated in 2005, was the perfect backdrop for this romantic day.

Anke and Mike, I am so happy for you. I wish you all the best for the future and tons of fun on your honeymoon.