Well more scouting and the group arrived tonight!  I think we have a really nice group of folks, should be fun!  Answered prayers all around.  The weather had been beautiful here, sunny, blue skies, puffy clouds, the exact wrong weather for what we are going to be doing, and the forecast now is for what we wanted, rain, overcast, some interesting weather moving through!!!  Non-photographers would think we are nuts, but we could not be more thrilled!  I will catch you up on the conditions as we shoot each day.   It is such a pleasure to work with Jack, I hope to have much more to share, for now, since my wake-up call is 3:15 a.m.  I’m headed to bed!

 

 

 

 

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Our group settles in for the first night of class, Jack at the helm!

 

 

Today Jack and I scouted the Portland Gardens for the group.  The light was pretty bad, but this is the second most target rich environment I have ever worked!  Old Old Car City has more to shoot, but this place is gorgeous!  We will definitely take the group here!  I found myself quickly back in the zone and I can’t wait to share this location with our students.

 

Here is some of today’s take (in bad light!!!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jack really knows this area, I’m excited to share this region with his attendees, (well our attendees!)  Stay tuned!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

One more……

 

I arrived in Seattle Saturday afternoon late and Jack picked m up at the airport!  This is one of Jack’s workshops and this is his home turf, so there was much to do so that I could get up to speed before our folks arrive Wednesday.  My luggage mixed my flight so the first day was spent reviewing the maps for both workshops and discussing a plan. later the next day my suit case arrived and Jack and I could get packed and organized to leave for Portland today.  Our first workshop is in the Columbia River Gorge, the water/waterfall capital of America!  We arrived today and spent the next 8 hours scooting all the falls, streams, and lake views fro our major shooting locations.  Tomorrow we will scout out the Portland Gardens, and make final preparations for the students arrival Wednesday.

 

the first thing I try to do when I arrive at a location is to start to try and slow down and get in the zone!  Getting int he zone, at least by my definition, is starting to see things photographically.  I started looking for things to compose while still at Jack’s house just  outside of Seattle, and it continued down here today.  Zoning is getting back in touch with seeing the world through the frame of reference of your viewfinder!  This is what i’ve see so far!

 

 

 

 

The first part of the zone for me is seeing common objects fin a purely graphic way and then try to decide how to best compose them.  More to come!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Each child is unique, and Wes breaks the mold.  From the time he was a toddler and got the nickname “Houdini” because of endless ways he discovered to escape his crib, I knew he was going to be a handful.  Wesley Robert Fortney, I wanted to call him Wes Bob, and his mother, wisely, shot that down immediately,  is our middle child. We once came home from the movies and discovered even with a sitter, Wes had piled pillows on the floor, thankfully a lot of them, and was falling off the second floor balcony to the floor playing, “The Fall Guy”,  a popular TV show about stunt men starring Lee Majors, yep I knew we had our hands full!

 

 

While Wesley’s exploits of  flying climbing, hiking, and canoeing might seem to add up to a rush junky, Wes is much, much more!  He is the son that hiked to Mount LeConte’ with his mother, just because she wanted to go!  He was the first to show up to help console his family and  bury our beloved Samson (the Big Brown Dog), when Catherine, Clint, Cassidy and Cade lost their friend.  He’s the son that quit his job and joined me to make the dream of my life come true, to become a pilot and criss cross America for my book project, that became our book project. He is co-author of the largest selling aviation book on America of all time.  He is the compassionate young man that found dozens of people that needed help as we drove 73,000 miles across America, and he found a way to help each one.

 

 

Yes Wesley loves adventure, but he has become a devoted father and husband, and loves his family. He loves his brother and sister and their families, and he is a devoted son to his mother and father and works hard to provide for his family.  I could  never thank him enough for all the joy he has brought into my life, and the things he has taught me.  Wesley has encouraged me all along the way.  Most of all he has transitioned from being my son to being my son, and my friend!

 

 

Thank you Wesley for bring Rhonda, Elijah & Abigail into our lives!

 

 

 

I am truly blessed to have Scott and Wesley as my sons, and next up is the great blessing I never dreamed I would have, a daughter, Catherine, you’re next sweetheart!!!

 

Blessings

 

the pilgrim

 

 

My Prayer:  Thank You Father for giving me such a wonderful family to love and be loved by.  Family is one of your very greatest gifts to us.  Thank you for loving us so much. Amen