college edubacated...

Despite having a college education and Aunts who corrected my grammar my entire life, it was brought to my attention that I had a few mispelled words in my blog post. Also, despite being a photojournalist required to write captions daily that include the 5 "W's" (who, what, why, when and where), I negelcted to mention where I was in the photo of myself that I posted. I was with the Utah Airboat Association during their annual "service project" to place duck nests in Farmington Bay (a fresh water bay/wetlands that is adjacent to the Great SL). The nests are on 5 foot poles and placed in the shallow marshes. The nests are placed in order to encourage more ducks to nest in the area and to protect their eggs from predators (skunks, gulls, racoons etc.) that would otherwise eat the eggs if the nests were made along the shoreline. The ironic thing to me is that the nests are placed to bring in more ducks so the duck hunters of Utah will have more ducks to kill, and the nests are to protect the eggs from predators so they can hatch, grow to adults and then get shot by a human. Hey, I'm not anti-hunting, I just thought the logic was a little baffling. I didn't mention that at the event.

Yesterday I had two interesting assignments. First, I shot (get used to the term, but it does not connotate a murderous act) Rulon Gardner, the gold medal Olympic wrestler who has been milking his shining moment ever since. He was in a plane crash into Lake Powell and survived overnight in freezing temps. I personally think it was an elaborate publicity stunt! My next assignment was to photograph the Herrin twins, Kendra and Maliyah. They were conjoined twins and were separated a few months ago. They turned 5 yesterday. I shot them (again, I know it sounds greusome) for about 30 minutes while we played Barbies and discussed Ken dolls, why I wear jewelry and the Tooth Fairy. I am including a photo of them.

Finally, a friend of mine, who I took to the Springville Art Museum during the religion show to see my piece on display, took me to lunch today. However, instead of going to the restaurant, she took me to a large home in Orem for a "surprise." When the woman answered the door, it was immediately apparent to me who lived there. Behind her on all of the walls were paintings by James C. Christensen--one of my favorite artists. He does both incredibly detailed fantasy paintings as well as religious work. My friend had purchased one of his books for me and arranged for me to meet him and have him sign it. (Her mom does Mrs. Chritensen's nails). When I shook James' hand he told me I looked familiar. I told him I had photographed him for the paper a couple of times and that I had seen him at the museum during the show. Come to find out, he is an avid photographer. He had a million questions about cameras, lenses and photography in general. We chatted about photography for about 30 minutes before he signed my book and obliged me with a photo with him. I'm not easily star struck, and he is hardly a house hold name, but for me, meeting an artist that I admire was a big deal. We also discovered that one of my painting instructors at BYU, who has made a name for himself here in Utah (Brian Kershisnik) was trained by Christensen. Small world. Anyway, my encounter with James C. is the equivalent of Scott having his forehead signed by Milton Friedman. I have even named one of my children after James C., Jamie. Take that Milton lover!