Once we landed the flight attendant asked everyone to remain seated so that the military escort could deplane. Never, ever, in all of my years and hundreds (if not thousands) of flights that I have ever taken have I  ever witnessed this: No one moved. Not one person rushed to get their bags;  No one complained about missing their connection, no one got up.  It was silent.  Once the escort rose to gather his belongings, only then did people feel that they could show their appreciation for the soldier who was bringing the PFC home.  All at once,  people clapped in gratitude for the service that he was performing.

As we left the plane and entered into the airport a few minutes later, I looked outside and that is when I stopped in my tracks.  Next to plane was a military honor guard, along with fireman, state police and airport workers.  All standing in formation, all standing at the ready to honor this young man as he was brought off the plane.  Almost the entire plane was looking out the window, most had tears in their eyes (as did I) as we watched this scene.  My camera was in my bag, in my hand.  I looked down and thought about it.  Should I take it out?  Should I capture the scene?  In the end, I chose not to.  I decided instead to put my arms around my own children, to hug them and tell them that I loved them.

Did I miss what was sure to be a moving image?  Maybe.  Did I fail as a photographer?  I don’t think so.  I knew that it was more important for my children that I be be there for them so that they could understand the importance of what was happening in front of them and for them to honor this young man who had made the greatest sacrifice of all.

As we got on the ferry a few hours later to head over to Block Island, all I could think about as I looked into the fog was this young man, his family, and the loss we as a nation suffered.

As a PS: If you have never seen the HBO movie with Kevin Bacon called Taking Chance, I encourage you to see it.  It may be one of the top 10 movies I have ever seen.  It is the story of a fallen Marine and his escort.  I don’t know if anyone could sit through that movie and not end up with tears streaming down your face.  The honor that is given to each fallen solider is not only moving but amazing and makes you proud to be an American.

Before the guest arrived, before almost anyone was there, the bride walked her 83 year old father from Poland down the asile, talking to him telling him what was going to happen.  In my opinion, you don’t need to see their faces to know what they are sharing.

This is one of those crazy times.  2 days ago, we did a shoot with some wonderful folks that are rebranding their company.  I have always said that I have great clients, but I also have great assistants that help me make it all come together.  Nat is one of those people.    Not only is he awesome, but he knows what he is doing and is really my 2nd eye.  He is not shy about pointing out things to help make the shot perfect;  And that is always a good thing for me

So what does it look like to be an assistant?: This is some what you do get to do…..

As a PS, these are unedited. As you will see, some clean up needs to be done on the white seamless.  But, more than anything, I wanted to give a quick shout out to Nat! Go Nat!

Thanks Nat. You do Rock!

Well, I just happened to have my handy D3 with me and pulled it out and went up front.  These two pilots were great;  They let me sit in the captain’s chair and shoot away.  I knew I only had a few minutes, but I took full advantage of it until the Captain told me that I needed to let him sit down.  I doubt I will ever get that chance again; but those 4 minutes were fantastic! I don’t know their names, but I am guessing one of them flew for the Navy!

It was about 7 degrees outside; and yes, that is cold.  I shared with Josh, that I needed to hire an assistant to help with the lighting for the outdoor portion of our shoot.  He told me not to worry about it as his friend, TJ Lynde and fellow artist, could help.  While I didn’t know TJ, I figured that this would be fun and why not.  Boy was I right.  It was more fun then I ever could have imagined.

As we were heading out  to the outer limites of town (which is not very far I must say), Josh pulled into the corner gas station and came out 5 minutes later with a 12 pack of cold brewskis.  I just laughed.  While I enjoy a good beer, it is certainly not a good idea for me to try and work, shoot and drink all at the same time.  But that didn’t mean they couldn’t do it.

Thanks TJ for your help.  Not only was it awesome, you were awesome.  I hope we get to do it again soon!

Last night as I was working on a set up, I grabbed my 14 year old and asked him to stand “there”.  I got the same look as always do, but he obliged.  And as normal, the light were too hot, this was wrong, that was wrong etc.  After 3 or 4 minutes I got it to where I wanted it to be and off I went.

When I got to my Mac this AM and was downloading my images, I saw the shots of Jimmy and started to look at them.  Sometimes I glace at them, many times, I just move on; but this time, I kept going back to my first shot; the “its too hot shot”.  I put aside my “work” and started to play with his image a bit.  After I was done with it (about 4 more minutes later), I decided to print it to see what it would look like.  Normally, I will crop the image to whatever size I am printing.  This time, I was lazy and didn’t do that.  I told my little machine, please just size it to fit.  But just as I was about to hit the “size it to fit” button, I saw the below crop.  My software didn’t know where to crop, it didn’t know what I wanted.  It just said, this is how it is going to fit if you don’t do anything.

I didn’t plan for any of this; it just happened.  And that maybe is the best way to learn.  Just let things naturally happen.

Now for all of you parents out there, don’t worry, this is a very controlled event.  When it was set up, it was very clear, this was going to happen rain or shine!  And trust me, there is no shine going on right now outside. The event is put on by a local church trying to give the experience of what it is like to be homeless to these kids.  In the parking lot of a local grocery store, a orange barricade is set up; if you have an official shirt, come on in; no shirt, no in. Adults are there (as you might imagine) for all of the 24 hours.  As people come by, they will ask, politely, for food and donations; 100% of all that is given goes to a local homeless shelter here in Atlanta.  The goal of the day is to literally beg, from strangers.

I am going back and forth today shooting at some of their activities during the 24 hours.  Below are some images from this morning as they were getting set up and ready for the day.  I will post some more as the day goes on.

My first shot of the day right before I got out of the car.

Thanks Greg for letting me have some fun with your food before everyone finished it off!