If wrinkles could talk

This last weekend I spent the day with my Grandma Fiechtner and got the opportunity to do a photoshoot with her.  It would have been easy for me to create a bunch of pretty and nice shots of my grandma smiling for everyone to see but that's not the look I was going for.  I wanted to show who my grandma is and the long wonderful life that she has lived.  This photoshoot was more than taking a bunch of photos.  It was about spending time with her, listening to her stories, and learning more about what made her life so great.  What will I remember about my grandparents?  Where they worked?  How much money they made? Of course not.  I'll remember playing baseball at their house and trying to hit the plastic ball over the house, lighting off fireworks in the backyard with my grandpa, having sleepovers at their house with my brother and many other fun memories.  

I realize more and more that these are the things that matter, the relationships in our lives and time spent with those that matter to us.  These are the things someday my kids and grandkids will remember about me.  Lately when I go over to my grandma's house we just talk.  She tells me stories about her life as a child, stories about my dad and his siblings or stories about her and my grandfather.  

Over the years my grandmother has found enjoyment in tracking our family history through our family tree. She'll tell me stories or things about relatives I never met.  When I die and become a part of a family tree what will they say or write about me?  What about you?  What will be said about you?

Here is the result of my day with my grandma:

This was inspired by Chase Jarvis's blog post entitled "5 Photoshoot Ideas Worth Stealing" where he went on to suggest photographing one of your grandparents.  Thanks Chase for a great idea!

Look mom no heads!

Who says you can't take pictures and cut off peoples heads?  Ok maybe no one has said this but I set out to do this on purpose occasionally because I think you can really tell a lot about a location or context even with a person with their head cut off in the photo.  Sometimes you don't want people to look at the person's face because it will take away from the photo.  You don't have to limit youself to removing the head at the edge of photo, instead try removing their head with something in the photo such as an umbrella as seen in the last photo. 

Here are a couple photos taken down at Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington.  Next time you're out there taking some fun photos try cutting off some heads!