Open: A Photographic Art Show & Silent Auction Benefit

So I have been working on this little side project for a bit now and thought it was about time that I shared details here on the blog (considering the project is taking place this coming weekend.) What started out as a bud of an idea has now formed into a full fledged benefit art show featuring a bit of the photography of, yours truly. Kinda scary and cool all at once.

The show this weekend marks the beginning of a crazy cool busy summer for me ending up with a missions trip back to La Mision, Baja California, Mexico with the BFC and Be2Live gang. Last time I went on this trip I ended up filling an empty spot at the last minute and being as I was at that time living out of the state I literally didn't go to one meeting or attend one group fundraiser or meet up with one person that was going on the trip beforehand. Big. Time. Slacker. I know. I literally showed up the day we were hopping on the plane saying, "nice to meet you" to about everyone I saw, besides my cousin Bianca and a handful of old time BFCers I already knew. But this time around, two years later, it is a different story. I actually signed up when everyone else did, put some hours in at group fundraisers, attended a few meetings and met just about everyone of the 40+ people going on the trip. There is something pretty awesome about pulling together as a group to work towards a goal. Friendships form and deepen and the anticipation of event heightens all along the way. I can't wait to see how this missions trip shapes up for us all.

I know that people always say that you get more out of the experience missions trip than you give. So I won't repeat it again. But what I will say is that you can't help but be moved by such experiences, that pull you out of your little comfy life and force your senses into overload. Suddenly your eyes widen, your ears perk up, you bounce along in the back seat of a bumpy van going wherever they take you to do whatever they tell you to do. You build a house, you play soccer in a mountain rimmed field, you deliver boxes of supplies and watermelons to families all around town and you go inside to hear their story, you serve lunch to a hundred or so happy kids and you cuddle orphaned babies in your arms. Your heart opens

And upon returning to your home, back to comfy-ness, you can't help but carry a little bit of that openness back with. This was my prayer and my heart upon returning from La Mision two years ago, that my heart would be open to the world around me, right here, right now, everyday, the broken and the beautiful. It is certainly a process that I have not always been successful at but in the journey myself and others from the trip have begun to open doors and form friendships and serve right here in our own community, one step at a time.

Openness is a philosophy I share within my approach to photography. My senses are on overload to the world around me. I'm not a landscape photographer, or an aerial photographer, or a livestock photographer (and if you are one of these things and you happen to come to the show this weekend, don't expect any brilliance here.) But what you can expect to see is a view into a bit of the gloriousness God has brought along my path on the periphery that I simply marveled at then scrambled to capture in the best way possible with open eyes and an open heart.

Come out to the show. Come support our cause. And leave with an open heart.



And here are the details:

Open: A Photographic Art Show is taking place at Brewsters, a local coffee shop, and feels like it is shaping up to be a bit more like a festival than just a show. Along with the actual art there is a combination of caricature artists, hors d'oeuvres, spoken word presentations and music by some awesome local artists including Justus Martin, Zachary Heston, Kirsten Nickisch, Rachel Patterson, Luke Brady and Harrison Havery. A silent auction will include photography artwork valued at $30-$500 with all proceeds to benefit the 2012 Bible Fellowship Church Mexico Missions Team in our journeys & local Mexico outreach missions including...

Open Arms Childcare Ministries.
www.openarmsmexico.org

This no-cost daycare is doing awesome things for this community. #1 They are providing childcare to the families who need it most at no-cost. Keeping kids safe during the day as their parents work to support them as well as keeping families together and kids at home with their family instead of an orphanage. #2 They are changing the lives of the children and their families and the community with the message of Jesus Christ. #3 They are growing, growing, growing. Even bringing kids out of orphanages and back home with their families.

Door of Faith Orphanage.
www.dofo.org

This place is like nothing I imagined. I would seriously love to live here. The orphanage is like a little community in itself with a collection of homes that house 6-8 girls or boys of the same age with one house parent or couple. There are meandering sidewalks through the playground and laundry building and fellowship hall and dinning room where all the kids eat each meal together. These are some pretty happy kids in this place. (as you may have been able to tell from my pictures from the last trip.)

I can't wait to get back to this little valley on the Pacific and to see some familiar faces again.

"Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17

The Post with No Picture

I am a strong advocator for capturing memories, of course. And pictures certainly play a vital role in preserving them, because well, our memories oftentimes fail us. I have found several super cool people that I follow now on instagram and love their barrage of snapshots from their days. One of my favs is Denise Bovee who captures her world (sometimes 10+ pics a day) so, so beautifully... all with an iPhone! I never get tired of her flow of images, because #1 she has such an eye for beauty and composition in the everyday and #2 her two little girls have the cutest wildly curly hair I've ever encountered and they populate 99% of her photos. Just yesterday she posted in a caption for an image taken on her back porch at the end of the day,

"I document a lot through photos..I'm super thankful for photography because I have the worst memory of all time.. when I look at pics it helps me remember. I remember details about a day I would've otherwise forgotten. I also forget how blessed I am ...but these little pics help me remember."

Pictures help us remember, the broken and the beautiful, the story of our lives. But while the picture may be beautifully executed, with light to die for and worth a thousand words it is the memory that is the true treasure.

And sometimes, yes sometimes a camera just doesn't fit in the moment. I have a few images burned within my mind of pictures I never took. Back in February I gazed towards the horizon from the back porch of a island house as a pink light lingered in the sky just past sunset. I watched as a blanket of rain moved across the horizon like a curtain being drawn on the day and on a particularly hard season in my life. My camera was by my side, but I didn't touch it. On purpose.

I have been doing this little cheesy thing called Throwback Thursday for a few weeks now in an effort to unearth images I have captured over the past year that have gotten buried on my hard drive beneath piles of more resent pictures. My last throwback post went back to just five months ago when I visited a precious family with a brand spankin' new baby girl in South Tampa. And today, on this Throwback Thursday, I am looking back at another family I encountered on that very same day in December and am remembering another one of those un-taken pictures that left a memory burned within me.

Just before the New Year I stood in the glow of hospital lights in Tampa and peered through the half opened door into a room with a young healthy looking man in a bed, his wife by his side flipping through a magazine, a yellow "chemotherapy in progress" sign hung on the door. Phil and Porter and their young family were at the very beginning of a journey of unknown length. They had just discovered a cancerous, stage 4 Neuroendocrine Pancreatic Tumor in the body of the 35 year old young husband and father. (I wrote a bit about this in my last post of 2011 here.) The image of the courageous family still lingers in my mind. A camera was by my side, but I didn't touch it. And there was something about simply taking it all in with my full being without the worry of finding the best combination of ISO, shutter speed and fstop for the hospital lighting that let the memory rest upon my heart in a different way.

That was just five months ago.

Now another image lingers in my mind. Porter, a young widow of just hours, sat at the far end of living room bathed in the dim golden glow of the lamp light that lingered at the late hour. Her face in her hands, her eyes pressed tightly together facing a hospice hospital bed just steps away, empty. My best friend (whose husband was Phil's bestfriend), who I had just driven from Tampa to Sebring and back again heading straight to Phil and Porter's house in the same evening, was by her side, her hand on her knee to comfort while her voice trembled. Beside me on the fridge was a collection of happy pictures; friends and family, a bearded healthy Phil, a collection of snapshots of a grinning 4 year old, a newspaper clipping of a wedding announcement from 6 years ago with a picture of a beaming young bride, a letter from their church dated just 10 months ago congratulating them on the newest addition to their family, Andrew Cusmano. A baby monitor with an image of a boy finally in slumber after a long night sat on the kitchen table. Family and friend's huddled in the kitchen around a table of bowls and plates of half eaten food. A chatter hums and means to fill the space where thoughts run sharp and deep. It was the surface of things with a beast beneath. This is my memory from late on May 25, 2012. No camera was on hand. No picture was taken. But the image of that moment will be forever remembered.

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted." - Psalms 34:18

He was certainly near during this time. I spent the next five days with my friend and her husband as they grieved and ventured through the process of memorializing their dear friend and supporting his family. We moved through the world like oil in water, in it but not of it. Removed. People in the middle of the celebration of engagements and weddings and births and baseball games and all that comes along with young family life came in from all over the world. Images of young men, fit, trim and full of life gathered around reminiscing about their own young friend sit uneasy in my mind. And throughout the long weekend there is a whole collection of pictures never taken.

Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, after the funeral and the burial and as people began to leave the reception held at a friends house in South Tampa a storm blew in and rain pushed everyone onto the porches. But Sam, Phil and Porter's four year old son, decided he would rather play in the rain and he and his friend broke loose. Splashing through mud puddles, rolling around on the drenched grass and basking in the wet gloriousness in a way little boys seem to do best. Maybe there was a part of all of us that wanted to join them. I couldn't help it anymore and I pulled out my phone to capture some pictures of the moment. Slowly I began to see others with their cameras and camera phones, snapping pictures and capturing videos. It was as if the spell was broken. It was okay to remember again.

There is something in the ritual of taking the time to remember, to cherish, to keep alive these un-taken pictures that is almost dearer than any image in hand. And it is through this process, the memorializing (the thing you don't do when you know you have the image on your wall) that these very real images in your mind become privately treasured in a deep and personal way.

I am certainly not suggesting putting your camera down completely. I am an advocate of capturing memories, remember. I am merely saying that there is a richness in the habit of being truly open to what is around us, breathing in the moment and cherishing the memory, the heartbreaking and the beautiful, fully and completely. Treasured.

I will still continue to document my life and others through photography. And I will still continue to melt over Denise Bovee's instagram feed each day. But there will also still be that collection of my own un-taken pictures, from those moments when the camera just didn't fit within the space, that I will treasure in my heart for a long time to come.

The fingerprints of Phil's life and the memories he left behind are far reaching and deeply felt. You can read a little more about his life as well as the details of the memorial trust fund set up for his two boys, Sam (4) and Andrew (10 months) by clicking here.

Adventures in Instantland Continue...

For some of my long time blog followers you may remember when I lost myself over the excitement of the arrival of my new favorite photography tool/toy in a post entitled "Adventures in Instantland" back in July of 2010 (you can reminisce and/or check it out by clicking here). I posted a pic of my new fangled Fujifilm Instax Mini 7 Instant Camera and a few of my first attempts at capturing beauty on instant film. I was smitten. And my instant camera and I have had many adventures since then. We have captured and left behind many-a-tiny-memories all the way from Mexico to Peru with kids and parents alike (I am sure you have seen these little gems on my blog). And in a "Summer of Seeing" Project just out of grad school we traipsed around cities in NC to FL capturing light infused curiosities all along the way.



You can check out the full project on Flickr by clicking here. All of this adds up to why I am delighted to see this newly released book "Instant Love" out there in the world today. And I am equally as excited to see this glorious little trailer for the book, created by one of my favorite creatives (that I now follow on Instagram) Ryan Marshall from www.pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com.



Check it out. And fall in love.

On a side note, I seriously just ordered (today) 10 double packs of instant camera film (that is 200 shots) set to arrive next week for some upcoming projects that are to be included in my June 10th Art Show at Brewsters Coffee Shop in Sebring, FL. Get excited! And you FL folks plan to make it down to the show to check out (and possibly purchase) some one-of-a-kind gloriousness from Instantland.

CAAT / Spring 2012 / Modeling & Photography Program

I used to think I would like to be a teacher some day, an instructor, maybe even a professor. You know, investing in and enriching the lives of a select handful of young minds... The idea seemed glorious. Philanthropic even. I would take all the knowledge I gained throughout my life and career and give back to a new generation. And then I went to graduate school with the leading design pedagogy specialist and sat in on a class where the "teacher of all teachers" taught us how one should actually teach. I was deflated. I could never measure up. And I began to think that even attempting to teach would be a disservice to my poor, poor students and their impressionable young minds. So I ran. I ran away from the idea of teaching and ran away from design all together for that matter (but that is another story).

In the wake of graduate school I found myself simply doing what I love and not worrying so much about the rules. And eventually that love of mine became a full time thing. I was a full time photographer. Doing what I love. All day. Every day. And the crazy thing about photography is, that you are almost always teaching. Whether it is the wedding guest that wants to know what brand of camera you prefer, or the long lost friend that now lives in Europe that wonders what lens you use that gives such great bokeh, or the ex-coworker that just booked her first wedding photo gig and wants to know... well, every thing that you know, people love photography and they simply want to know more. Inadvertently, even with as far as I ran from the thing, I have somehow become a teacher.

And then every-so-often I get the request or the idea to actually do the "standing up in front of a classroom and teaching" thing and a part of my heart jumps for joy while a still small part aches with fear. What would my graduate professor think of me and my methods now? Eventually I come around to hushing the still, small doubting voice and moving forward in exciting endeavors. Last year fellow photog Sarah Sandel and I hosted our first photography workshop with raving success (you can check out my blog post recap of the event here). Then earlier this year I was approached about stepping in as an instructor/photographer for a local after school modeling and photography program. I had a very hazy idea of what to expect, but after one meeting with modeling instructor Larry Moore, stylist and make up artist Michelle Trinder Cathey and program director Krista Flores I knew I was in. It felt great to be collaborating with creatives again. And to be honest, it felt great to think about being in my teaching hat again.Another plus was that I also was able to work alongside and learn from fellow area photographer Bill Daily of DisplayCreation.com. (*Side note for all photographers: Collaborating and communicating with other photogs is priceless. There is always something to learn, always areas where you can grow and always ways to encourage other creatives. Never miss the opportunity.)

The six week program is run through the Children's Academy of Art & Theater in Avon Park, FL and provided students with the opportunity to grow as a model and as an individual while developing a portfolio. The lens we used for the class was "style" using each week to focus on each letter and a corresponding theme.

S: Systems, Shapes, Size
T: Trends, Tradition, Timing, Tailoring
Y: You
L: Learning, Looks, Logos
E: Expression

And in the end they got a head full of priceless knowledge about the industry, about themselves and about their own unique style, not to mention a pretty stellar comp card with stunning images.

As for me, I got the opportunity to try out my chops at modeling photography (which turns out, in this instance, isn't much different from what I do every day) and invest a little bit in the lives of a few young individuals. My contribution to the class involved very little putting together curriculum or standing in front of a class teaching. And while we did have photographer students/shadows, the structure of the photo aspect of program allowed for minimal one-on-one instruction time and more-so provided a "watch and learn as we go" type of classroom setting. The real investment was in the students as individuals and through the lens of photography helping them to see themselves in a different light.
 

We wrapped the class up just last Thursday by presenting the models with their comp cards and talking about the next steps. I thought I would share with you a few of my favorites from my own collection from the program.



Children's Academy of Art & Theater Modeling and Photography Spring 2012 Program
Program Director: Krista Flores
Modeling Instructor & Stylist: Larry Moore
Stylist & Makeup Artist: Michelle Trinder Cathey
Photographers: Bill C. Daily Jr. & Caroline Maxcy Prietz

2011 BFC BackPack Ministries

This officially begins what I have entitled the "blog dump" which will proceed over the next few posts. This is not a bad thing, I assure you. You see, I am diligently working on so many photo projects right now (today I am sorting through all my Peruvian adventure photos) and will live up to my promise from my "Gloriousness to Come" post from back in June (which I am to day just over half way through sharing all that was promised.) But in the meantime there are more and more finished projects collecting on my hard drive, waiting for their time in the light, that I feel I just have to share (before they totally lose their relevance). If you go to my church or are friends with me on facebook you have already seen a few of these and thanks so much for your support offline and all the facebook "love".

The first project is Bible Fellowship Church's 2011 BackPack Ministry. You may remember the project from last year that I posted here on my blog (check it out by clicking here.) This year the project looked a little a bit different. I still was excited to organize it with my lovely cousin Bianca ('sup, B?), and BFC's College and Career Small Group but we actually took the supplies the church collected into a community this time and helped over 120 kids fill their backpacks just two days before the start of school.

Below you can check out the movie I put together to share with the church...

On August 20th a handful of helpers from Bible Fellowship Church in Sebring, FL showed up at a local community with enough backpacks, school supplies and sno cones for over 120 happy kids. Thank you to everyone who contributed supplies, donations, time and love to the project.

BFC BackPack Ministries 2011 v.2 from Caroline Prietz on Vimeo.

Flying Adventures

One thing you all should probably know about me is that I can't turn down the offer for adventure. I typically don't even think twice about it until I am standing on the edge of the thing. I have found myself with my skis hanging over the edge of what seems to be a 90 degree drop off on a black diamond ski slope in Big Sky Montana, peering over a rock ledge on a Georgia lake poised to take the plunge to the water 30 feet below, hiking out over volcanic wastelands in Hawaii just before dark, fishing for piranhas in a South American Jungle, climbing through the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu high in the Andes Mountains and paragliding off a cliff on the coast of Peru to name a few examples. I was once on a diving boat in the Bahamas when we made it to a secret "last stop" that happened to be on the edge of a deep, dark underwater abyss. Our hosts then proceeded to lower a crate full of fish parts down into the sea to lure in the sharks, hundreds of them. And then you know what they did... they told us to hop on in. And what do you think I did? I was in the water before I even knew what I was doing, watching the beasts come up out of the darkness and circle below, some of them close enough to touch with my foot (if I so pleased). All of these experiences took place without a second thought (some of them without a first). This oftentimes reckless abandonment has been both exhilarating and absolutely terrifying at times. But has always made for an experience that takes my breath away.

The reaction I get from people more times than not when I tell them I went flying in a two-seater Tecnam plane twice in the past two weeks is, "wow, you are brave." My sister has even proceeded to publicly scold me (via facebook). But I just. can't. help it. I really don't see flying in a small aircraft as all that risky anyways. It doesn't even rank close to the dangers of swimming with sharks or climbing through the ruins of Machu Picchu. But I suppose there is a bit of danger involved.

We had been talking about flying for months but the "risk factor" couldn't push its way around the "adventure/breathtaking/photo-op factor" in my mind. The only time I had even a slight twinge of panic was when I was actually in the plane for the first time, we were making our way to the runway and I was looking at the space (or lack of space) around me thinking that if I get sick this is not going to be pretty. And then we lifted off and soared over Sebring where everything looked smaller from the air (everything but Alan Jays house, which actually defied all principles and looked much, much larger). And then the next week we took an excursion all the way to the east coast, where we spotted alligators in Lake Istokpoga just after sunrise, sea turtles off the coast of Sebastian in the most beautiful aqua water, and country upon glorious country in between. The patterns, the colors, the vantage point... it was a photographer's dream. Something I never would have experienced with my feet planted "safely" on the ground.















Thanks, Bobby! And good luck in all your flight school endeavors.

2011 Disney Princess Half Marathon

Once upon a time... (btw - this is how the next few posts will all be titled, seeing as I am catching up on blogging) I introduced you to my "blue belonging device" (A.K.A. a beautiful, beeping, blue watch) that gelled me into a running group (a.k.a. a rough, tough gang). This lovely group of ladies would gather together at various locations (often discussed in code) to synchronize our beeping devices and hit the road running. I had never run in a group before. So when I showed up for my first training run I stepped out of my car with my trusty running buddy in hand, my iPod, and was reprimanded in a way that had me throwing the thing back in the car, slam the door and lock it promptly behind me. I didn't know how I would survive without the Black Eyed Peas and Beyoncé encouraging me along the path with their "sick" beats. But let me just tell you, good company and good conversation can fuel any distance better than I ever imagined.

Some days we were a large group. Some days we even had kids in our company, lounging and snacking in their jogging strollers. (Which, by the way, are much harder to manage than I expected. Props to you mom joggers out there.) Some days we would chat about the weeks happenings, funny stories, physical ailments and new races to train for. And other days, in smaller groups, we would share prayer requests, our hearts aches and even tears. But every day, even on those painfully long runs, even when we were all so winded to even talk there was something about having the presence of another breathless jogger by your side that encouraged you to keep on going.

Our carrot at the end of the stick was the 2011 Disney Princess Half Marathon in February where we would all embark on a 13.1 mile journey in and around the Magic Kingdom joined by 17,000 or so other tiara donning runners. We made a girls weekend out of it and I can't even begin to convey the hilariousness of the whole thing. There were Whole Foods dining experiences, miracle sock purchases, coffee shop freebies, impromptu camera phone photo sessions and late night costume construction shenanigans, to name a few. And somehow come Sunday morning before sunrise we were all suited up and ready to go at the start line. With fireworks overhead we were off and over the next 3 or so hours we weaved our way in and around the Magic Kingdom where we were cheered on by pirates, and bands, and dancers, and on lookers, and princes and princesses, and every Disney character that ever was. And we all made it. All the way to the finish line, where we paused just before crossing to take one last picture with Mickey and Minnie (who cared about those extra few seconds we lost at that point.) After much contemplation I opted to not take my giant camera with me on the run. But my mom greeted me at the end of the race (thanks, mom!) to pass it over a fence so that I could capture the aftermath, which included exhaustion, elation and several ice packs. But all in all there was a sense of accomplishment that swelled up inside of our weary, aching bodies to leave smiles on our faces for quite a long while.





Don't let the Shoemaker gal's (below) lack of sweat along with their perfect hair and makeup after running a half marathon fool you. It was not a walk in the park, so to speak. And miss Nicole even had a little bun in the oven.



The night before the race we decided to add captions to the back of our shirts that corresponded with the princess we each were representing. Some were clever, some were a tribute, some of the letters hung on through the 13.1 mile jog, some didn't. :) Thanks Lisa, for your dedication to the project!



Our nine person team wanted to wear something unique. With a title that has the word "princess" in it, you can only imagine the costumes that show up at this event. Every Disney princess, prince, sidekick and villain would be represented. And we could count on there being more tiaras and tutus than we had ever seen in one place at one time. We wanted to stick with the princess theme (mainly because we couldn't pass up the opportunity to wear a tiara) but we wanted something creative and unique that would stand out in the crowd. After the success of my 2010 Halloween costume creation of the Paper Princess Bride, princess paper tutus were the natural choice. With wavy scales for The Little Mermaid, fringes for Pocahontas and rounded loops for Cinderella and Jasmine, each tutu was unique to the Disney Princess the runner represented. The paper princess tutus were certainly a hit at the race. And even with the jostling with every stride, water and Poweraide splashes, and sweating, err, I mean glistening, most of them made it to the finish line a little worn but fully intact, just like the nine of us princesses.

Paper Princesses Shown (in order): Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella and Pocahontas.

This is the Day Photography Workshop - Registration Open

Registration is officially open for a one day photo workshop put on by myself and fellow photog, Sarah Sandel of Sarah Sandel Photography. I have included below our vision for the event. Visit the site to learn more about the day, the photographers, what you will walk away with and how to get yourself in a seat for that splendid day.



All of us are telling a story about our days. We may not get to control what happens in the day, but we get to choose how to respond to it. What happens isn’t what ultimately matters – it’s what we say about what happens that lasts. It’s about the story we tell.

Our desire is to see budding photographers learn how to use the tools available to them to tell the story of their lives. The beauty of our differences means the stories we tell are diverse and wonderful. We are parents, brothers, sisters & friends. We are professionals, small business owners, instructors, and artists. We raise children, we teach others’ children. We create and dream and play. Some of us own point & shoot cameras, others are shooting digital SLRs with mega lenses. Some of us snap away all the time, others bring the camera to special occasions.

We want to help you develop the tools to tell your unique story. We want to see you be inspired by the moment. We want to share what we’ve learned about taking hold of those happy accidents and creating memories out of the seemingly ordinary events of our day-to-day lives.

This Is The Day is not about growing a business or the technology of photography, it’s about the story we tell and the tools we use. It’s about a way of seeing things. It’s about being inspired by the everyday. It’s about sharing & celebrating the little things. We want to equip you to tell your stories.

Browse around a bit - gather information about the workshop, the photographers, and some of our favorite bits of inspiration! If and when you have questions, use the {contact} form above to get in touch. We're looking forward to seeing you and spending some time together soon.

Cheers!
Caroline & Sarah Beth

Spring...

Train Date

My lovely cousin and her (one of the loves of my life) little one, Blayne had me scoop them up from the train station the other day. I couldn't help but bring my camera along...

Hugs & Kisses / A Love Affair

On Friday morning, during a coffee shop meeting with fellow area photographer Sarah Sandel I handed over fabric letter X & O and told her to have photo fun over the weekend with the pair, culminating in a Valentines Day blog post. And with a matching set of my own we set off. With the gorgeous Florida wintertime weather (60 and sunny) rolling in along with the County Fair I had myself the perfect setting for a beautiful love affair. Happy Valentines Day!

Love always,
Caroline
XOXO

PS. To check out Sarah's blog post click here.

































And on Tuesday I am taking a real live young couple in love to the county fair for a photo shoot all their own. Can't wait!