Tennessee 2012

I remember at the beginning of the summer thinking that it was going to last forever, which was a bit overwhelming being that I had all three kids home.  Fast forward to September 15, summer’s over school is WELL underway and the hustle bustle of a normal routine is the norm.   We took one vacation this summer.  Family reunion (my dad’s side) in LaFollette, Tennessee.  My grandparents rented a lakehouse for 7 days. So for 7 days there were 25 people all under one roof…or in the lake…or on a boat.  To be completely honest, I definitely had my reservations spending a week with 25 people.  I was just really nervous that after a week, there would be some serious “getting on each other’s nerves.”  But there wasn’t.  For me there wasn’t a bit of it.  Except for one trip to the grocery store, one trip to Walmart, and a day trip to Dollywood’s Water Park, I didn’t leave the house at all.  There was no phone service and absolutely nothing to do in the surrounding areas.  I had to turn off, tune out and it was GREAT!  I sat my happy ass on that dock holding my baby (because it was way too deep to take her in) for the week and it was FABULOUS.  I spent the week with the people that I love most in this world.  Grandparents (how lucky am I at 35 to have them both), my husband and three kids, my dad, both sisters (one boyfriend) and brother.  6 of my cousins and their spouses and kids and 5 aunts and uncles (4 of which had spouses).  We swam, boated, cooked, fished, and drank ALOT of beer (you couldn’t buy wine at the grocery store and the nearest liquor store was 20 miles away).  I can’t even begin.  It was so special.

I decided to shoot film on this trip for a number of reasons.  1-I didn’t want to lug my digital DSLR and risk something happening to it.  2-Photography and dealing with the thousands of my PERSONAL digital images has become much more of a chore rather than something I enjoy.  3-I really felt like I needed to get back in touch with something inside me creatively.  Although I own a “creative” business, it is a BUSINESS first and foremost.  Taking care of the business aspect of it takes up so much of my time, that it’s easy to loose sight of the creative part.  Many of my photographer friends who mainly shoot wedding have gone to shooting film exclusively in their businesses and are truly in love with it.  So I took my dad’s old Cannon AE-1 and five rolls of 35mm Portra 800 film. My Fuji instax mini and 10 film packs also made the journey.  For just the 35mm film, I had 180 chances to tell the story of my vacation.  With the digital I could’ve taken 1800 without any thought, rhyme or reason.  But with the film, I knew that every time I pushed on the shutter it had to be special.  The focus and exposure had to be right on, and it had to be something I wanted to remember forever.  It was awesome.  The experience of having to be methodical throughout the whole process really was a thrill.  Thinking about what exactly I was shooting while shooting it was exhilarating.  I definitely was a little nervous, because I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right.  My experience with film is so limited.  But it was a challenge that I welcomed.  Out of the five rolls I shot, one didn’t come out.  It wasn’t loaded properly.  Oh well.  But all in all I’m so happy with the results.  Without further ado…..

THE COLLIFLOWER FAMILY REUNION 2012