Photography - the Common Denominator

It was as if somebody said, "Cue the sailboat," just as the sun was setting.

Sunday Morning Reflections started years ago because I wanted to take one day a week where I wrote about something other than the business of photography. Often what I've written has been as much for myself as it's been for you, my readers.

Well, this morning it's a slightly different Sunday. While Sheila's still asleep and Molly is out cold at my feet, we've got company in the house, who's also still asleep, Suzette Allen and husband, Jon Yoshi. The house is completely silent except my pounding away on the keyboard and my Hasselblad clock in my office. (Note: It's a great product, but we always wondered why the Swedes chose such a cheap and noisy clock mechanism to put in the camera body!)

Last night I had one of the most fun evenings I've ever had "hanging out" with photographers. There's a drum circle every Saturday night on Nokomis Beach just ten minutes from our home. Suzette and Jon are both members of Panasonic's Luminary Team and each of us armed with plenty of camera gear headed over to enjoy the evening.

For years I've written about what I consider the best thing about our industry - the friendships that come out of everyone's love for the craft. In the last year or so, I've grown tired of never getting time with people I care about. We hit the conventions, and catch up with each other literally on the run, never getting quality time to step in and share each other's lives.

This weekend, the four of us ended that trend and started something very special and important. We just hung out with no agenda and appreciated the elements of time, sharing, conversation and even a good cigar!

As I went to sleep last night I thought about the evening when at one point Jon was behind the drummers with an FZ2500, Suzette was walking the parameter of the drum circle with a GX85 on a gimbal* and I had the FZ300 and was sitting with Sheila, capturing random moments from the "dance floor."  It hit me how photography has brought together four people who most likely would never have met.

That passion for the craft has provided the bricks and mortar for a relationship that's making each of our lives richer and in turn, individually, stronger. There's a great line from Tennyson that I've shared many times:

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"I am a part of all that I have met."

And there it is, the point of my post this morning. We're all a part of this giant tapestry called life. Our passions, challenges, accomplishments and even failures here and there are what bond us together. In our case, it's photography that's been the catalyst to support the curiosity in sharing parts of each other's lives.

We each define "success" differently, but as I've gotten older I've realized that the smile on my face each morning has little to do with the business of photography, but the friendships I appreciate along the journey. And, as sappy as it might sound:

"There are some people who could hear you speak a thousand words and still not understand you.
And there are others others who will understand without you speaking a word."
Unknown

Wishing everybody a Sunday filled with time to share with good friends. Take the time to appreciate those special friendships in your life and then smile over how they got started! Go for those eleven-second hugs and don't waste time thinking about the business - it'll all be there waiting for you tomorrow!

* Relax, for those of you who have minimal experience in video, I didn't know what it was either. It's a phenomenal little accessory for giving your videos a look that just let's the camera glide when you're moving around a scene. She just recently got a Zihyun gimbal, and it was remarkable to watch how it worked.

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