Find a penny, pick it up…..
Whenever I guest lecture about multimedia storytelling, I stress the importance of having a personal project. This is a story or an essay that you do for yourself, not for an editor or a professor or a publication. You do it because you’re passionate about the topic, the person, the issue, the situation, because not creating this story would leave you always wondering, “Why didn’t I do that? Why didn’t I make time for that?” A personal project allows you to be more creative, inventive and risky than you might be with an assignment. It can be a fun story or heavy story. Either way, you do a personal project because you must, because you love it. That’s all.
This has been my personal project for the last year-and-a-half: The Penny Project, the story of Leslie Stein, a woman who picks up all the change she finds on the street. In three years she’s collected hundreds of dollars and started a change-collecting movement among her friends and family. Last year she started donating the change to an organization striving to make positive changes in the lives of young women in DC.
I love this story. More to come.
(Mind you, this is just a first rough cut of the story introduction. I’m pretty set on opening with the sound of change, but beyond that I’m still thinking. Feel free to leave me thoughts and suggestions in the comments section.)
Kelly + Mike get married!
Just over a week ago, Kelly and Mike pledged their love to each other during a gorgeous outdoor wedding at the Gramercy Mansion in Baltimore. They carried a little embroidered handkerchief during the ceremony – you know, just in case the tears flowed. While that didn’t happen, anyone can see how ridiculously happy these two are together. Congrats to Kelly and Mike!
Mike + Kelly wedding preview
This wedding featured one of the craziest, funniest receptions I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing! More photographs to come. Stay tuned!
Martina + Ben preview
My dear friend Martina and her fiancé Ben got engaged last month! I felt incredibly honored when they asked me to take their engagement pictures. These two were game for pretty much anything during our shoot around downtown Norfolk, Va., on Sunday.
Me: “Ummm…would you mind standing a little closer to the edge of the dock? Yes….a little more….that’s better….”
Martina: “How about I pretend I’m pushing Ben into the river?”
Me: “Perfect!”
I kid, of course. But not by much! More pictures to come soon….
Samantha + John get hitched!
One of the first things you notice about Samantha and John is how much they make each other smile and laugh. We’re talking constant smiles and laughter! This, of course, made it an extra-special joy to photograph their wedding at the gorgeous Tabard Inn in Washington DC yesterday.
Samantha and John are the kind of confident, laid-back people who don’t let much get them down, which is why the rain on their wedding day didn’t bother them. They’re also the kind of people who are up for anything, which is how we ended up riding the carousel on the National Mall on a rainy Saturday afternoon. John walked up to the ticket guy, who looked up and around and said, “Brides always ride free”–as if he’d seen this hundreds of times before. But it was the first time for us and apparently the first time for a couple dozen amused tourists who snapped pictures of Samantha and John. The ride was so much fun! I admit I got dizzy, but it was worth it.
Thanks, Samantha and John, for allowing me to document the start of your marriage! I hope you two have an awesome honeymoon. See you when you return to DC!
Vivi and Giovanni in National Airport
There I was, about to eat a fig bar before catching my flight to Boston at Reagan National Airport in DC, when a couple asked me to photograph them with their iPhone. Giovanni was heading to Miami. Maybe Vivi was going with him? I don’t remember. I do remember their lovely meeting story (I collect them, after all) but I won’t share it here because I don’t have permission. Vivi and Giovanni exuded happiness and playfulness and love and optimism. They were just so fun to photograph! I’m glad we crossed paths for a few minutes on Friday. Bonus realization from this impromptu shoot: National Airport is a fantastic location for engagement and wedding pictures.
(Above: That's me photographing while snowshoeing through a snowstorm. Picture by