It was a dark and stormy Friday night........all the goblins and ghouls were out and about.....at Winchester Elementary Festival last Friday night. What fun it was! It reminded me of the Kids Saturday Art group in Port Orford...... The Festival was set in the school's gymnasium and all around the perimeter of the room were various activities that they could participate in.......ring toss, dime toss, food, toss for (poor) gold fish, candy suckers, etc. There were about 100 children and sometimes with their parents, wanting to be photographed. But the large room was packed to capacity and over-flowing into the cafeteria. Parents, kids, grandparents, great grandparents........they were all there! I went through over 300 photos over the weekend to edit and narrow the choices down to a reasonable number. I wish someone would have photographed me photographing them...........there would have been a few comical sights in there. The children were all loaded down with prizes and goodies from the other stands and I didn't want them carrying the bags into the scene I would shoot. So, there I was a couple of times taking the photographs and clicking with one hand and my other was holding a candy sucker or two in the air for the child. Or, in one case, a bag of water and the poor traumatized goldfish. Then there were a couple of times when the parents were standing behind me animated and posing themselves in how they wanted their children to pose. And these poses were supposed to be expressing their favorite super-hero.....so you can just picture some of the scenes, can't you??
The later the evening went, the more animated (due to hyper-super-highs) the kids became. By the time it was breaking up, there was close to chaotic bedlam, I tell you! And the gym was not anything like noise proof. It's built I think to emphasis the cheers and yowls of the sports audiences. But it was just a lot of good fun! I think everyone had a great time. There were some children who loved the camera! And then there are the shy ones.......and all in between! My favorite part is the editing, I think. It always has been. I can really read into what the kids are about...at least at that time of shooting. The little girls generally have no problem posing.....some are actually good if not outrageous. The boys look like they really enjoy acting out their costumes theme and if they weren't wearing one.....well, they get in the role anyway; the rowdier the better. There are a couple of pre-teens who were 'cool' and their poses were oh-so serious. The Dudes! Some of the pre-teen girls were showing their poise already in their fashion-model poses. Others were all about their bbf and would pose together, arms around each other, or posing in unison. Parents occasionally wanted to pose with their child and the children all seemed to love that and it was very sweet. I shot one boy whose father was right by his side but standing sideways and the father's hand gently touching the side of the boy's face. Loved that moment!
So, I just finished editing and downloading the photos for printing and then they'll be delivered to the school.......and they're free to the kids and family. A great program.
I'm enjoying my photography again......in fact about a month ago Norm convinced me to submit one of my photos in to the local newspaper and they published it. That was encouraging.
The nights are getting cooler and some of the trees are now bare. Mother Nature is getting ready for her yearly nap.
For those of you in Port Orford who might be interested, Finch's Liquor Store and again carrying some of my photo cards. Take a look and see if there's anything you can't live without!
Everyone have a great week.....I, personally, am enjoying the quiet of mine.
No comments:
Post a Comment