When I left for Haiti just over 2 weeks ago, I had absolutely no intention of doing any portrait shoots while I was gone. I wanted to go to Mark’s service, but didn’t believe it was going to happen, so I planned for Haiti only, which meant 1 Camera, my Canon 7D , one general purpose lens, the Tamron 18-270, three batteries, a 32 and 16 GB flash Card, and just in case the Tamron busted, the lightest lens in my possession to swap out and at least have something, a Canon 50mm 1.8. For those of you who saw the images of Mark’s services, they were ALL taken with the Tamron, it may not have the widest aperture, but that lens is freakishly versatile- if I am on a long trip it’s my go to lens.

Something I’ve loved to do for a long time is to give free Sunday shoots away. I used to do it all the time on the mainland, but not so much on Maui, seems like I have more friends here than I do there. (Which means those friends need to come visit me sometime!) In any event, the last 2 Sunday’s I have had a chance to give away some free shoots, which is pretty selfishly motivated mainly because it feels good to do. I have never regretted it or felt it was hurting my business. In fact, if anything it helps business! If you are a photographer and haven’t tried this, I would recommend it….even if you are established.

Jen is a good friend I have known for about 8 months now. I am so impressed with her. Long story short, as a single woman, she traveled to and adopted (at enormous expense) 2 beautiful young girls from Guatemala, one of which was on the brink of death. She raises these two girls as her own. While Jen works as a private investigator, in her spare time she enjoys helping people find long lost relatives. If you are looking for someone, she would be the one to ask for help, as she is a specialist at it. Being in town until tomorrow, I wanted to do a shoot for her, so I drove down to Montgomery and we knocked out a quick photo session. While I was very limited on my gear (no 5Dii or 50mm 1.2) I was more worried about the sun going down and time. We had about 20 minutes, but that 1.8 lens came in huge.

Still thinking about Mark, something I want to be more selective about is who my friends are. I want to associate with high quality people like Mark or Craig Arnold or Mathieu. Unselfish, good people who like to help others. Thats what I want to be. I think Jen is very a high quality person and am glad to have her as a friend.

How many people would give up being single to raise 2 adopted children on their own? I think this is amazing. I remember in Russia we would visit orphanages and there was one beautiful blond girl there who would cry every time we left because she wanted me to adopt her. It just broke my heart and I remember thinking, “If I wasn’t a missionary, I would want to adopt that little girl and help give her a fair shot at life.” Jen is doing this…two times over. We need more people in the world like her. A little Michael Andrew Paintballer Pro, quick edit/dinner at a very nearby McDonalds (yes…McD’s) and Jen had her images in hand (thumbdrive) before I left. Never underestimate the power of lighting fast workflow, while it meant going somewhere like the Golden Arches, I am officially done with this session and wont have to worry about it later. Ill post last Sunday’s free session with the Tinker clan soon!