90% of what I shoot for your typical Picture Story is edited out. And that’s okay with me. I see so much to capture when I get in that mode of being, too much.

But…

No matter how inspired any shooting session might be, the edit is really what saves the work… Presenting everything is embarrassing besides: in camera, I’m sketching.

But…

And I really like to take the time to live with the work; as much time as I can manage. There’s a lot learned by stepping away, sleeping on it, going elsewhere.

But, but, but… But this is something different, this is Vanessa’s moment. This is her story, her triumph, and to think of modifying this document of a perfect afternoon with an edit, it just doesn’t compute. Fundamentally, this is a gift of documentation, and more is more.

No live audio was captured, so a simple soundtrack is all we need. But what? Sequenced back-to-back, every frame shot of the Observer Obscura installation exports to an 11m 15s sequence. I checked in with iTunes, who was busy blasting Soundgarden (fast times!), and I immediately noticed the uncanny.



Stranger still: it works.

It’s not perfect, except it is. And perhaps when you create from a place of love, you get the assistance of strange forces. Ordinary magic, let’s say.

Congratulations, Vv!

I’m proud to know you, and so glad you let me be a part of such a defining day, on my birthday.

At 36, a spectrum of birthdays have come and gone in enough ways and in enough places to allow me the freedom to grow June 8th past self-celebration and into something else — I like this way. Every single day of life is essentially a day of birth, and I’ve noticed that the more I work to make my days about everyone else, the sweeter the fruits.

They’re good, very good, these times.