Saturday, September 28, 2013

A time to celebrate

My wife and my mother are both cancer survivors.  My Mom is still going strong 25 years after her diagnosis and my wife is so new to the role of survivor that she sometimes has a hard time referring to herself with that designation.  When exactly does one pass through the "gates" of the various stages of this dreaded disease?  From oblivious, to newly diagnosed, to patient, to fighter, to survivor?  They are all different walks, depending on whose shoes you are wearing.  I hate to say it now, but I had no idea what my Mother went through.  25 years ago, I was a young know-it-all with small children and the thought of somebody I loved having cancer never really bored its way into my cro-magnon brainpan.  She was younger then than I am now, and she fought it with everything she had.  She whipped it and has continued to whip it every day for over 25 years.  When my wife was diagnosed less than a year ago, we both had, by this point in our lives, amassed enough experience to realize that things would never be the same, and boy were we right.  Newly jobless with no health insurance, we did the only thing we could think of -- we put our faith in God and each other.  Twelve months, 5 hospital stays, two outpatient procedures, 8 weeks of radiation, several rounds of chemo, and 4 trips to the emergency room later, we have learned a few things. 

     Our God is an awesome God.  My wife's mantra is "I am the child that Jesus loves"

     The Levine Cancer institute specifically and the entire Carolinas Healthcare System work tirelessly to make every single patient feel better every single day with no exceptions as far as I can see.

     The Levine Cancer Institute hires angels.  Every person we ever met at the LCI, from those that greet you at the front door to the doctors and all the staff in between, always exhibited the utmost in positive attitude and healing energy.  And believe me, that makes a huge difference.

     If you don't have a best friend to lean on you can still survive, but it will be harder.  Luckily I am married to mine.

     Celebrate life, celebrate something.  Eat breakfast at 9:00 and lunch at 10:30 if it pleases you.  Watch bad TV and read the National Enquirer if you want to.  Stay in bed all day or stay out all night if you feel like it.  Life is a gift, unwrap it and play with it.

Today my wife and I celebrated by attending the annual Survivorfest at Carolinas Medical Center.  She had looked forward to it for months and even bought new shoes (flashy gold flats) for the occasion.  We call the Levine Cancer Institute "Machu Picchu" because of the great energy we always find there.  Hopefully everybody at the event today found lots of energy to continue their "walk" for many decades to come.    

Here are a few pictures that I took at the Survivorfest:

click on any picture for a larger image.

 The men and women that work at the Levine Children's Hospital, Carolinas Medical Center and the Levine Cancer Institute are part of a rare group today. They never have to go through life wondering if they made a difference.



My wife with Sir Purr, the Panther's mascot

















                        
 Lug Nut kept things lively







Lots of hugs for friends




Fun for the kids and adults too


The food tent was a popular place


Lots of pink everywhere, even the fire truck




 Windi the therapy dog was a big hit





 











 Face painting,   bounce house,    and slide...OH MY!








I have always been amazed at the large number of people that have cancer or are cancer survivors that tell me what a blessing the cancer turned out to be.  I know it sounds wrong or backwards but I have heard it time and time again.  I can't say for sure since I haven't walked the path of a cancer patient.  But I do know this -- my wife has walked that path, and she tells me daily how blessed she is.  "It allows your perspective to get a reboot" she says...and she's a pretty smart woman...and a survivor.

E-mail with questions, comments, thoughts or rants:

 keith@keithlewisphoto.com
 

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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Main Street USA

 I was shooting a job for a client this week in Davidson, NC. and needed a few "general" pictures of downtown to add to the final package.  Except for the crazy busy traffic, downtown Davidson is a quintessential small American town.  I was there right about 5:00 PM on a weekday so, understandably, there was quite a bit of traffic.  It was, however, heavier than I expected.  This little area of North Carolina's Mecklenburg County is obviously a very popular place to live and work.

  Anchored since 1837 by Davidson College, Davidson, NC has, until recently, always been a very small, very quiet southern town mostly inhabited by college kids, professors, lifelong, mostly agrarian, residents, and lots of cows.  In the last 20 or so years, this region has become a favorite place to live with thousands upon thousands of houses and apartments built on hundreds of acres of former farm land.  Isn't it funny how success can often change a place?  I would imagine that the business owners on main street would be happy, but when I spoke to a couple, the opposite seemed to be the case.  One owner told me that business is OK but not great.  She said that all the traffic makes it hard for people that want to come and the usually full, on-street parking drives a lot of people away.  She said that all of the new residents have caused a building boom bringing stores of all types with lots of convenient parking just a few minutes away.  

 The double edged sword of progress cuts in many directions.  I suggest that you take the time to explore small-town America before it's too late.  Wherever you live, seek out the closest main street and take a stroll.

Here are some of the pictures from my walk in Davidson, NC

click on any picture for a larger image









































e-mail me with comments or suggestions:   keith@keithlewisphoto.com
 

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Sunday, September 8, 2013

"In the Bag"

Today we are going to look at what's in your bag.  Or more precisely, what's in my bag.  Or maybe even more precisely, what should be in my bag.  Of course, I'm talking about my camera bag.  I know what should be in my bag.  It's that one thing that I really need, or at least have convinced myself that I need and is not there.  Just last night I set up my photo booth at an arts market and forgot to bring the mounts for my speedlights.  I ended up using wire and tying them to the uprights of the booth and I guarantee that nobody but me noticed.  So would I list speedlight mounts as one of the essential pieces of equipment that should be in everybody's camera bag?  No, but I sure felt like a dope when I didn't have them.  On to more actual essential pieces of gear.  The things that you may be able to live without but will make things a lot easier if you have them.  I'm not going to list a camera body, lenses, filters, or speedlights.  While some of these are, of course, essential, it is also a very specialized thing, depending on what you are shooting.  Sometimes I leave the house with 3 bodies and 9 lenses, and four speedlights and use them all, so lets assume you know what camera/lens combos you will be carrying with you.  

These 9 items are kind of the cool little gear things that can make shooting easier.  So... Without further ado, I give you:

The top 9 things you really really need in your camera bag:

  1. A Camera Bag.  Duh.  you need a camera bag.  I know plenty of women that carry a DSLR in their purse and I guess it works fine, but... really?  You need a real camera bag.  one with pockets and padding and a very comfortable shoulder strap and lots of room but not too much room.  I love the bags with the customizable innards.  The partitions that stay put with velcro that you can configure any way your heart desires.  I find myself changing the config almost every time I go out depending on what body/lens combo I am taking. 
     
Look for a good bag from Tamrac, Lowepro, Caselogic, Tenbra, Thinktank and many many more including all the major camera manufacturers.  Remember, don't go too cheap or too small. You may live to regret it.                                                                                                              
2. Cleaning cloths, or disposable wipes, cleaning solution, and one of those puffer things.  Even if you never leave your home your camera will need to be wiped off every once in a while.  Get a good quality lens cleaner in a spray or squirt bottle.  Spray a little on the cloth (not directly on the lens) and wipe the glass lightly to remove smudges, dust etc.  Now give the outside of the camera and lens a good wipe down as well. 
The little bulb blower thing is great for blowing dust out of crevices on the outside and if you are in a calm, not too bright preferably indoor environment, learn how to take the lens off of the body of your camera and raise the mirror to use the bulb blower to dislodge any specks of dust inside your camera.  Your camera and your pictures will thank you.




3. A good strap.  Whether you use the one that came with your camera or not is your call, but I wouldn't recommend it for extended shooting. See my blog post on the subject Camera Straps, the good the bad and the ugly    


4. Extra batteries for everything.  Camera, speedlights, remote controls, you name it.  If it takes batteries, take a spare.      
                                                                                           







5. A tripod.  If you can't manage to take a tripod, at least consider a monopod.  I always take a tripod with me and it can make a huge difference in your finished products.  I own a monopod but don't use it much.  I need to learn more about it. That will be one of my Autumn resolutions. I will learn how to use a monopod and will write a blog post about it.














6. Index cards and rubber bands.  A few index cards, some left whole and some cut into smaller triangles and squares make fantastic reflectors and diffusers for your built in flash or speedlight.  Use the rubber bands to hold them in place.  Experiment with them sometime, you may be amazed at the results.

7. Extra memory.  This one should have have been higher on the list but I am writing these as they come to me and I just thought of this but you need to carry way more memory than you think you need.  Keep in mind that shooting in RAW +JPEG fine you can only fit 156 shots on an 8gb card. For a several hour outing an extra card or two may be fine, but for a big overnight shoot or major vacation, take a dozen 32 gig cards or consider a transportable hard drive or even a laptop.  In the "old days" this would have been extra film but now that film is about a common as buggy whips, pack all the SD cards you can afford.

8. A flashlight.  I carry this small flashlight with a cord that I can hang around my neck and I can't tell how how many times it has saved me. 
The obvious use would be outside after dark, but think about being in a dark back corner of a church or in a cabin with no power, or a warehouse and you can probably see many uses.  I use mine when I need to change camera settings, or find something in my bag, or just to find the car keys that I dropped on the ground near my car after a shoot at 11:00 at night.



9. A pad and pen.  You will need to take notes, or write something down, or jot down directions, or take a lunch order. A pad of paper and a pen can often mean the difference between being able to find that great waterfall again and zipping right past on I-77. 

A smartphone is fine, but sometimes a scribbled note stuffed in your camera bag is all you need.






So is this everything you will need or want?  Not by a long shot, but it is a pretty good start E-Mail me with any tips, comments, or to yell at me about a crucial piece of equipment that I forgot to include. keith@keithlewisphoto.com
 

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