Covid, Photography, and Creating versus Consuming

LIFE: "take what's left and live it properly!"

I create for me and, when the stars align, I create for you as well. (from below)

CONTENTS

• Wedding Photography & Covid

• Song: Making Peace with the War

• Experimenting with Images
  (display images in your email or follow the link)

• Creating vs Consuming

Wedding Photography & Covid

We’ll refer to August as the month of Covid and Photography.

A couple months ago our friends, Emiko & Maurice, asked Deb to photograph their wedding. This put Deb into a frenzied educational journey watching wedding photography videos and making me pose as both groom and bride.

This is the price of a photographer partner. At least that is what I’m told.

Some of you may recognize Emiko’s name. She is a talented songwriter and performer. We’ve performed together and she has recorded on a few of my songs. Check out, Christmas Heart, here.

We ended up upgrading Deb’s camera from the Canon RP to a Canon R6. We also picked up a new lens, flash, and some additional accessories. I retired my Canon Rebel T3 and am now shooting with the RP.

We asked Edward, my son-in-law, to shoot the wedding with us. Edward is a talented photographer and videographer. I even took some photos.

The day went well and Deb got some great shots. She is working on both her website & Instagram, so when that is ready, I’ll share more of her photos.

Below is the collage of what Emiko posted on Facebook. No link provided… sorry.

And then, Covid

The day after the wedding, Sunday I told Deb I must have gotten too much sun. My head felt hot and a little “closed in.”

By Tuesday I had a 102 fever, slight body aches, and a nasal thing going on. On Wednesday, I tested positive for Covid. By Thursday Deb tested positive.

We didn’t have horrible symptoms. The nasal stuff and fatigue. We’ve since tested negative but both of us have an intermittent dry cough.

Both Deb and I work from home and really don’t go a lot of places. The wedding was outdoors and there weren’t too many people. We assumed we were going to avoid Covid altogether. Oh well.

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Making Peace with the War

We are re-recording and producing this song with the help of a few friends and have scripted a music video. This is an acoustic version. We would like to have the final song and the video by the end of September.

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My Experiments with Photography

My deadly combination is that I neither know photography or Adobe Lightroom. With that disclaimer, here are a few recent shots.

Barber’s Empire - brush

Barber’s Empire - at work

Tone

Self Portrait in Pasadena

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Creating Versus Consuming

I saw this quote a few months ago and put it on this image I took from our balcony while beginning to outline the above mentioned music video.

It reminded me and reinforced that we only have the time remaining that we have. Blinding flash of the obvious but I think it is worth keeping that idea near the top of mind.

For me, perhaps that is 20, 30, and maybe, given science, 40 years. Or maybe it all ends next week.

I’m not being dour or pessimistic. Just acknowledging that, at our best, we don’t know.

We do have today - this moment. We, of course, need to address and tend to our core responsibilities. Then we have the opportunities between to create and try to add beauty or thoughtfulness to the world. I want to be about that.

That is why I have hardly been on Facebook the past couple months. I want…. I NEED, to create things. It makes me happy. I create for me and, when the stars align, I create for you as well.

Thanks for joining me on this journey. Let me know what you like, what you don’t, and, if you are creating, share in the comments.

MATTHEW MORAN
August 29, 2021