Observation on Travel - Oaxaca, Mexico

As with many people, I love going to public markets when I travel.   It's a great way to get an insight into the culture since food plays such a significant part.  It's also a place to mingle with the locals.   Taking my camera with me is always fraught with a little anxiety and hesitation.   There are so many wonderful images that I see, but I also want to be respectful of the people and not view it all as just novelty.  I think this image below illustrates so well. 

I happened to be leaving the market just as a tour bus arrived.  Without so much as a simple greeting, they snapped their photos with cameras dangling from their necks completely ignoring the chapulines vendor. It was pretty obvious that she wasn't enjoying herself.  I feel when traveling, one needs to put the camera down and actually see and interact with what or whom is in front of you. 

Sometimes it can work in your favor, and you are invited to make some photos, like when I started talking and purchasing some wonderful food being prepared under a tent next to the cathedral.   The women where selling their freshly made food to raise money for the parish. I showed some interest, started asking some questions and before I knew I was being given the grand tour of all the vendors and what they where making.  It was a great interaction and they insisted I get in the picture with them.  Of course, I had to try some of the chicken empanadas too!

A Wedding - Rachael & Carol

I don't photograph many weddings, but when I do it's often for friends or small intimate ceremonies. Rachael & Carol's wedding ceremony was one such intimate and touching event. It was simple, but beautiful at the cozy Gates of Heaven Synagogue in James Madison Park. A snowy day, but the light inside was soft and warm. I like it when a ceremony is more about the relationship than the show. It was quite evident and moving with Rachael & Carol. Rachael's mother gave the most heart-felt tribute to them at the end of the wedding.  There were tears all around. All lgbt children would be so fortunate to have such love and support from their parents.

 

 

Amos - Over the Road Trucker

Amos stopped to have lunch with me at the TA Truck Stop while on his way to Minnesota from Indiana.   I've been chatting him about doing some work together for my trucker photo project.   Connecting with these guys is difficult given their transient and constantly changing schedule.   It's kind of like fishing, I keep casting out my line, wait, get a few nibbles and finally get a bite. I'm itchin' to get out on the road again.

Lake Superior Ice Caves - Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

Extreme cold temperatures this winter has created a glorious display of ice formations along the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore at the northern most tip of Wisconsin. Only accessible by boat in the summer, the lake ice is thick enough this year to access the Lake Superior Ice Caves on foot. It's well work the journey, the single digit temperatures, and the 1.5 mile trek on the ice. Mother nature at her best, the Lake Superior Ice Caves are a true natural wonder.