Hello everyone -
This is the first blog from the other half of our amazing team that is Team Scenescerity! Tim speaking... Well we do have much to tell, or at least, I do. Things have been busy as of late. We are climbing that mountain of experience quite rapidly. Stephanie and I were given a wonderful opportunity through our church Corpus Christi here in Queens.
I still remember the priest running to us the prior Sunday, out of breath, and asking us questions. Actually, I have never seen him move so fast to catch up with anyone. He asked us very politely if we wanted to shoot for First Communion, not just one, but two in one day. Then he followed up with, “and can you photograph a Conformation too?”
This was by far a unique learning experience for us, as we were given this scenario with less than week of preparation. The best thing about it, is that, I do believe, we nailed it! We were slightly overwhelmed at first with the number of people approaching us. At least I was. I can honestly say, Stephanie has a natural knack of crowd control (must be part of her teacher life). The first English mass was for twenty-seven children. The mass itself was a cake walk because Stephanie took charge and got wonderful shots--weaving in and out of the pews like a pro. I was awestruck at how she made the ceremony look so easy. The shots of these little ones receiving Communion weren't easy either but I sat back in the pew, holding our photography gear, and thinking these kids are just moving too fast! Seriously, they were all stop and go the whole ceremony.
But wait till you see the pictures!
Afterwards… we learned of a new challenge.
Family shots, in the garden. With the priest, who we love but who had a very specific vision. Yet, it was the questions from parents and potential clients that threw me off but I am laughing as I recall this, because I was stuttering answers to their questions at first. Our first template had brought about some confusion to the families, but I was struck in awe as Stephanie directed all these families for shoots. Believe me, it wasn't easy. Believe me, most people would buckle under this pressure and environment.
This is me being a test model. How do you think I did?
But through all of that, the first mass concludes with a satisfying rush of success, and high fives all around. We've been high fiving each other for continued encouragement! As a team, we talked it over regarding how we could improve--how we had learned from the flood of tiny kids and their families. There was this satisfying lull of peace and quiet for me, as I reminded my dear photographer and girlfriend she was amazing, and that we are a team! To me, she moved like a princess singing a song in a Disney movie (Steph reports she doesn't like that analogy but it will stick since this is my blog post). The families weren't large in number, but they certainly had a huge amount of character. They loved us. We enjoyed it! But, Then…. came the Spanish mass.
Now please hold any judgment back, as I have little to no knowledge of speaking Spanish (Steph interjects here that I am a gringo afterall). But hey, I learned French in high school for some reason, which to this day I never really have to speak. She, on the other hand, speaks Spanish fluently because of her Honduran heritage. I had to rely on her to pick up even more slack on my part. The families piled into the church, some early and some late. I almost joked with myself that this would be easier, until its was almost packed with people!
So, I shrugged my shoulders and thought “we can do this.”
We did.
There was a much more concise formula this time around from the other mass an hour prior, or so. With the help from some of the other organizers, it flowed together like an easy game of Tetris. The pieces fell into place. Stephanie directed them in Spanish. I did my role there, taking their sheets, accounting their orders, and politely nodding to questions that I somewhat understood…. Then of course yelled over to my beloved partner for assistance. Stephanie also shot a group of about fifteen or more, in this uniquely confined garden within the church grounds. Once again, unique learning experience, but I want to brag that we nailed it.
Long story short, as this is my first attempt to shortly describe such an experience, we did something great. The families loved our dynamic, our personality (more so Steph because she is a wonder with that camera--but she would remind me that "we both rock it 'cause we are a team afterall"), and most of all, we were proud of how we walked away from such an experience. The next hurdle will be a Confirmation shoot later tonight!
We are super excited for the opportunity. Maybe you will get to read my recollections of that as well. We can’t wait to share more of our stories with you all!
Tim signing off. Till next time.