Point and Shoot

The term "point and shoot" refers to a small digital camera, that requires nothing more than clicking a shutter to take a picture.  However, when I use that term in this instance, it entails a LOT more.

Ron spent two days taking photos of Jenni for her new album "Illumination"......and it is definitely more involved than just pointing the camera lens and clicking the shutter.  Jenni had lined up the Paramount Theater in downtown Seattle.  It's a beautiful classy old building that was constructed in 1928, so it has all the old glamour and style that you don't find in new buildings today.  There are fabulous chandeliers throughout the entire theater, along with ornate ceilings, and trim work everywhere.  Jenni was able to line up about 5 hours of time for us to shoot.  They keep the outer doors locked, so other than the myriad of workers who were constantly cleaning the place, we had it to ourselves.

We actually needed all 5 hours.  Jenni's friend Noelle (Simkins) Jensen drove over from Tri-Cities to do Jenni's hair and makeup.  The first hour and a half were taken up just putting on Jen's makeup.  During that time Ron was taking lots of test shots, trying different angles and making sure he got the light reading right.  My job was to hold the reflector discs, and at times hand hold one of the portable lights.  In the photo below, I was actually kneeling behind Jenni on the floor, holding a light behind her to light up her hair.

Will's mother Sandy made Jenni's dress.  Jen had ordered a couple of dresses, and neither one of them looked like she was hoping.  So, showing a photo to Sandy (who came up and spent a weekend with Jenni and Will) they re-created the dress from scratch.  It turned out fabulous. 

We actually shot mostly in the balcony of the foyer, where there is an antique white player piano.  There were several ornate staircases, so we used them as well.  Whoever thinks that being a model is easy, (or a photographer for that matter)....they're nuts!  This was a lot of work, and we were ALL tired when we were finished.

After the shoot......sigh.  That was a lot of work.

The inside of the theater is just as ornate as the rest of it.  There are two or three balconeys, and the stage is quite large.  I hope that they never stop using it.....it's one of a kind.

Jenni decided that she wanted to use this one as the cover for the album.....this is just a preliminary version.....there will be "fog" or light added to it.  It looks really classy.

At 5:00 pm, we all started heading north.  Will had left a little earlier to go pick up Preston and Taylor, who were staying with a babysitter.  Jenni and Noelle drove in one car and Ron and I in our truck.  All of us met at the parking lot of WalMart at the 164th street exit in Lynnwood.  We condensed into two cars......Preston was SO excited to ride in "grandpa's truck"!  Will and the two boys rode with us, while Jenni and Noelle drove Noelle's car.....which was loaded to the hilt with things for the next photo shoot.  We drove to Anacortes to catch the 8:45 ferry to San Juan Island.  We got there about an hour early, so we took the boys down to the beach to throw rocks.  Grandpa showed them how you "skip" rocks, and so Preston tried to make all his rocks "bounce" after that.  Taylor loves to throw rocks in the water....the bigger the better.  He got so wet that I had to change his jeans and put dry ones on him.

 Waiting for the ferry.......we are on "Island Time" now.

 Preston and Taylor are BIG fans of grandpa.......that's because he PLAYS with them!

The ferry finally arrived, and set sail for Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.  Jenni had arranged for us to stay at a little motel for the night.  It was dark when we got there, and almost 10:00.  The boys were good little troopers.  I had packed a cooler with some food, so we had a nice dinner.....salmon salad. 

Riding on the ferry is always a fun experience.  Preston was so excited to explore everything.  He found the brochure stand and had to collect a large sampling of them to share with us.  Taylor started copying everything that Preston did.

The weather report kept changing.....at first it was supposed to be overcast but no rain until noon.  So we got up very early (Jenni got in the shower at 4:00 am so Noelle could start on her makeup by 5:00am.)  However, things don't always go the way that you plan.  The weather kept changing on us.....it was raining pretty darn hard all night, and most of the morning.  We all piled in the cars and drove up to the Afterglow Mausoleum just outside of Roche Harbor. 

Will was smart and brought a tent for Jenni to change clothes in.  We all took turns waiting in the tent, just to keep out of the rain.  We had two umbrellas, so I gave Preston one of them, and he proudly walked around and around in the rain.  He finally got so wet and chilled that we captured him and brought him inside the tent to change his clothes and to dry off.  He was NOT happy about that.

We waited around for over two hours waiting for the rain to stop.  Ron brought our rain poncho's which we keep inside the truck all the time....they were a lifesaver.

Taylor was practially asleep on his feet, he was SO tired.  So I sat in the tent on the floor and rocked him to sleep.  He had a pretty good nap.

Preston was starting to get pretty fidgetty, so he said that we needed to say a prayer to Heavenly Father and ask him to make it stop raining.  So I said a prayer.....half way through he interrupted me and told me what to say........I guess that I wasn't getting to the point fast enough!  So not too long after that, the rain started to lessen, and we tried to take pictures inbetween rain bursts.  Finally, after 3 or 4 hours, is completely cleared off....at least enought that we could shoot without getting wet.

One of the best shots of the day, was when Jenni lay down on the table that is there....Ron took the photo looking down at her.  It turned out really good.

My job was to hold reflectors again, and chase two little munchins.  They were so good though.....they really didn't complain much at all.  Happy campers!

We should have brought more snacks with us though....we were all starved by the time we were finished.  I stopped counting how many cookies that they boys ate!

 When we got back to Friday Harbor we went to the grocery store to buy some more food.  We found a nice little park in town to have a picnic.  I think that everything tastes better outside.

Taylor found a "friend" on the table, and was having so much fun with the catepillar that it was hard to get him to eat anything.  I had bought Preston a toy ferry boat that he could actually put some toy cars on, and he didn't want to eat either!  Boys would rather be boys and just play!

All in all we had a great time......it was a lot of work, but the end result will be worth it.  Most importantly......we got to spend some time as a family doing something that we all enjoyed!