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Cricket
in Space
I received an exciting call from Captain Scott
Kirk, with the news that his family was invited
to attend the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour
on March 11, and that a portrait of his children
could go into space on the shuttle. The children
came into the studio with space suits and we had
a fun time making several “out-of-this world”
images. The shuttle launched from the Kennedy
Space Center and a Cricket portrait of the children
accompanied the crew on as they visited the International
Space Station. What a thrill for the Kirk family! |
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Age:
Just a Number?
I
am working on a personal photographic project
about women and aging. All our lives we have a
number attached to us (our age). I have found
that these numbers tend to influence our decisions
about life and our attitude toward it. Some years
we are excited about our number (I’m five!),
Other years we may dread it (Yikes, I’m
going to be 50). Some years we can’t even
remember our age, and other years we make it into
a big deal. We make many life decisions are based
on our age: kindergarten, dating, careers, driving,
college, marriage, pregnancy, retirement, cosmetic
procedures, even death. There are ages considered
“appropriate” to do certain things.
Some are biologically controlled but many are
cultural. How about if we stop being controlled
by our age? How cool would that be?
My project is to photograph as many women as possible
with their age number prominently displayed in
the image. Any woman or girl is welcome to participate
at no cost to her. So far I have photographed
70 women for the project and I receive daily calls
from more women who want to join in. It has been
a blast to meet and photograph so many open-minded
women who are totally OK with their age.
I would like women to view the collection of images
and see themselves in the past, present and future.
You may find a 7-year old who brings back memories
of who you were, or a 85 year-old who is exactly
who you want to become. You may see someone your
own age who is quite different from you, and another
one who is much the same. Ultimately it will be
like looking at one life, represented by many
different people.
My goal is to have a gallery exhibit of the portraits
and a web site dedicated to the images and to
aging in general. I am currently in need of women
over the age of 95. If you know someone over 95
and can bring them to the studio for a portrait,
please give me a call! In the meantime, look for
updates on the project right here in The Cricket
Times.
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Cricket
on TV!
If you missed Cricket's recent
appearance on Great Day SA, San
Antonio's morning talk show, don't worry.
Just click on the PLAY button below and
enjoy the entire six-minute cinematic masterpiece
now!
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Dear
Cricket,
As a high school senior I understand that I will
probably need wallet-sized portraits, but I’m
not sure exactly how many to get. What do you
recommend?
Signed,
How Many?
Dear How,
You can never have too many wallet-sized portraits.
You will probably exchange them with all your
school friends, plus put one in each grad announcement
and invitation. After you receive all your gifts,
it is a nice touch to include a different image
in your thank-you note to your generous friends
and family members. If you plan to “rush”
sororities in college, they require wallet-sized
photos as well. So, add up all of the above, plus
any personal projects such as scrapbooking, and
you will know how many “wallets” you
really need.
Love,
Cricket |
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Portrait
Dilemmas ?
Cricket
can help! Send your portrait questions
to dear-cricket@cricket-photo.com
and find the answer in the next issue
of The Cricket Times. |
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The
Extended Family Portrait
One
of the more challenging jobs of a portrait
photographer is to create an extended
family portrait. There are so many things
to consider. Making sure that all adults
and children are nicely posed in their
individual families within the larger
arrangement, placing people so that important
family relationships and hierarchies are
observed, watching that all clothing and
hair is in place, managing children who
would rather be anywhere else, and of
course capturing pleasant expressions
of many people at the same time. Recently
I was asked to create a very special extended
family portrait: my own.
We gave a surprise anniversary party for
my parents, all children and grandchildren
arriving in Connecticut on a Saturday
morning against all odds in a raging blizzard.
After the wonderful party was over, it
was time for the portrait. Adding to all
the usual dilemmas of creating an extended
family portrait were the additional burdens
of actually appearing in this one, spiced
up by the fact that one adult was on the
phone trying to track down lost luggage
at the exact moment that all the children
were sitting still. I still cannot believe
it all came together, but I am so happy
that it did. Here we are:
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Creativity
Revival
Laura teamed up with Corene Dyer to teach a "Creativity Revival" workshop at the studio on April 7. We had a great turnout with 11 photographers attending: one student even drove in from Mexico! Our goal was to create a stimulating and inspiring environment where students would be free to define their creative goals and create images to fulfill those goals. A great time was had by all! |
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Nikas
News
We just finished our Spring break in San
Francisco, where temperatures in the 50s
and 60s made it feel like anything but Spring.
The first thing we did was head to Macy’s
to buy a coat for me. I guess 15 years in
San Antonio have weakened my response to
cold weather and made me into a true Texan.
As we made our rounds to the usual tourist
attractions, the children (ages 11 and 14)
managed to annoy each other in such creative
and innovative ways that I could only hope
they will be as persistent in their future
professions. Some of the fun activities
we enjoyed were: pushing and shoving each
other up and down the steep hills, stuffing
leaves down each others’ clothing,
throwing the other person’s jacket
into the bushes, stepping on each other’s
toes, torturing the other person’s
stuffed animals, messing up each other's
hair, and making a game out of throwing
various projectiles at each other.
It seemed like we visited every possible
attraction in San Francisco this week, but
Sofia’s favorite activity was touring
Alcatraz and Alex’s was biking across
the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. My
favorite place was the Exploratorium,  an
amazing science museum where you can play
with hundreds of hands-on exhibits about
physics, electricity, sound, vision, biology,
and anything else you can imagine. It also
had exhibits which challenge your assumptions
about the world, giving you the opportunity
to do such things as drink out of a toilet
which had never been used as a toilet. Would
you do it? Sofia thought it was great place
to take a drink! |
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What
People are Saying About Cricket
"Dear Laura, I just
wanted to express once again how much
I appreciate your beautiful work, suggestions,
professional advice and the genuine care
that you showed to my daughter, Jennifer
and I. Our portrait together is something
I will treasure for the rest of my life,
and I thank you for suggesting that we
have it made. Your patience and professional
manner certainly showed in the outcome
of ALL of Jennifer's images, and we were
extremely happy with all of our portraits.
Thank you once again for sharing your
gift of photography with us. ”
Sincerely,
Lauretta Dortch
San Antonio
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