Memories, Friendships and Sunsets

The fun of writing "Sunday Morning Reflections" is a lot like those moments when many of you have a  camera in your hands for your own enjoyment rather than work. I can go anywhere, and as so many of you have read, often off-track from the business of photography. This morning's post is a little of both.

To start, the friendships we all have in the industry are the best part of photography and a good friend was with on the beach last night for the Nokomis Drum Circle. Bob Thompson's in Florida. He's wrapping up three weeks on the road, with one primary purpose - catching up to friends. 

I wrote about Bob and the sadness of losing his wife Cindy a few months ago. The title of that post was, "When Memories Mean the Most." Well, that describes his trip over the last few weeks.

​Bob and I met in '87 when I joined Hasselblad, and the friendship just grew from there. Along the way, so did all the memories. His trip over the last few weeks has been a journey to harvest so many of those memories, and with each stop along the way, he's shared photographs and moments with so many different friends.

Now, to last night at the Drum Circle. While it's not season down here yet, there was still a nice crowd, and nothing beats the sunset. My LUMIX G9 is on loan, so I grabbed my FZ300, and it never disappoints.

I was also reminded of a valuable lesson I learned years ago...never assume that somebody who looks like they know photography, doing a great job when you hand them your camera and ask, "Any chance you can grab a shot of us?"  LOL

We've decided to keep the random woman on the right in the image. And, we've adopted her as a new member of the family...Meet "Aunt Beatrice." She's from Nebraska so the accent is on the "a." (In joke, only picked up by people who have lived in NE.)

She's always been a little aloof at times, but she's been that way since she was a kid! She hoped to grow up to be a pirate. So, the ocean has always been a magnet for her dreams - but no pirate career.

And on that note, as I become more obscure, it's time to wrap it up and wish everybody a terrific day. Time with good friends and moments of brilliance when you share stories from the past. Go for those, now suggested, twenty-second hugs. And, to our buddy, Bob, who's headed home to Arizona today, safe travels and remember you've always got a place to hang out here in Florida, and it comes with a bottle of Scotch. What a kick to cover 32 years of memories in two days!

Happy Sunday or Monday if you're on the other side of the world.

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