Wet March for Babies

St. Louis March for Babies

taken by my photographer
friend, Caren Libby

For the third consecutive year I was a volunteer photographer at the March for Babies in Forest Park. This year, much to my dismay, it rained. Pretty much the whole time I was there. It is bad enough to be in the cool, wet weather for four hours, but add in my expensive camera and I was pretty anxious. I wore my raincoat and threw a lightweight poncho over the top of it. The event organizer lent me a hat, which really helped keep the rain out of my eyes and the wind from blowing my hair every which way to Sunday.

Andy and Megan gave me a clear plastic sleeve to go over my camera as a Christmas gift, and I used it for the second time. In theory it is a great idea, but from a practical standpoint it is difficult to use with a zoom lens on the camera. And I have to use my zoom because I can get much more candid shots when people don't know their picture is being taken. (Which sounds kind of stalker-ish when I write it that way.)

To me it seemed as if the crowd was much smaller, though they have had their best ever attendance during a year when it was a constant downpour. The mood of the staff, volunteers and attendees was still upbeat though. The disc jockey kept the music lively, Margie Ellisor of Fox 2 did another fine job as MC, and the a cappella rendition of the National Anthem was delivered flawlessly. This year's poster family gave a presentation - a family blessed with two sets of twins. Both pregnancies resulted in premature births, but all four of the children are doing well.

I have to say that the hit of the event this year was the bubble truck. Located at the end of the walk, both kids and adults had a blast running and dancing through the bubbles. They were already wet, so what the heck! It was great fun to photograph, though I kept getting rain drops on my lens.

I went through all the pictures and did some selective cropping and had to lighten quite a few because the day was so dreary. Then I burned them onto a DVD (at the March of Dimes request) and dropped it in the mail yesterday. Another March for Babies in the books - I hope it was successful for them.

this is why we March for Babies

Busy Weekend!

me, Tom Cooper, Deborah Ladd &
Emma DeLooze-Klein

This past weekend went by in a blur. Friday night the Webster Groves Public Library had an author signing of the new book, "Images of America: Webster Groves." I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the book for two reasons. First, because I love learning the history of the place I have called home for over 30 years. And second, because our house appears on page 60 of the book. How exciting is that? They had a nice little reception as well, but I needed to dash out and make my way down the street to Grafica Fine Art Gallery for the closing of our Women in Focus photography show. There was a small turnout, unlike our opening reception, which was packed. That gave us an opportunity to really study the photographs, and to get to know each other a little better as a group since we are relatively new.

Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. I was at Forest Park for the March of Dimes "March for Babies." This is the second year that I have volunteered to be one of the photographers at the event. I had so much fun last year that I jumped at the chance to help out again. I was quite concerned about the weather as storms were predicted, but outside of a slight mist first thing in the morning the weather held. My assignments were to cover the VIP tent, photograph the ceremony before the walk began, and then just take crowd shots. It is no hardship to take photos of the darling babies and children around the area. I like using my telephoto zoom lens because much of the time the people don't know that I am taking their picture. I heard on the news that $500,000 was raised in St. Louis. Wow!

Sunday morning I should have been cleaning the house to get ready for some company that will arrive late this week, but the morning was so beautiful that the Missouri Botanical Garden was calling my name. I arrived early, not realizing that the Tulip Trot had taken place that morning. I wondered why so many cars were already there at 9:00. Once I got inside the garden, though, it was not crowded at all. I enjoy these solitary walks where I can take pictures to my heart's content and  appreciate all the beauty displayed before me.

Then it was back to reality at home, where toilet brushes awaited me. But I had pretty pictures in my mind to make the job more palatable.

Women in Focus St. Louis

A friend had invited me to the second meeting of a new organization in town, Women in Focus St. Louis. The purpose of the group is to network with other female photographers, and to support and promote photographic arts. Women in Focus began in Atlanta. When one of their members, Tiffany Weigel, relocated to Chicago in 2014, she started a group there. As she now lives in St. Louis, she wanted to bring the idea here as well.

At first I was hesitant to attend a meeting, thinking that it was only for women who take photographs for a living. But then I thought, what the heck, they can always tell me not to come back if it isn't a good fit. Around 16 women attended the second meeting, which was in February, and the group is about half and half in terms of professionals versus serious enthusiasts. So it is a nice mixture of backgrounds.

Tiffany want us to go on field trips together as well as participate in "photo shows." Our first field trip was to the International Photography Hall of Fame in Grand Center. Who knew? I didn't realize St. Louis has such a museum. It relocated here from Oklahoma City nearly two years ago. While the Hall of Fame is rather small, the current exhibit of photos of St. Louis architecture was very interesting.

Our first show is taking place at Grafica Fine Art Gallery beginning with an opening reception on March 27th. We could each enter up to three photos, so I selected a nature shot of deer at Jefferson Barracks Cemetery, the band stand by the Muny in Forest Park, and a grittier photo of the graffiti wall downtown to display. I had shot the wall while taking senior pictures of my great-niece last summer. I didn't realize until I looked at the picture on my big monitor that the word "FU*K" was spray painted on the wall (minus the * but with the C.) I decided it would be safest to email the picture to the gallery owner to make sure she was okay with it. I mean, it is a graffiti wall after all, but I don't know how many children come through the gallery. Or other people who might be offended. She reviewed it, and said she is fine with it as is. I have the pictures printed but am waiting for the frames to arrive.

The qualification for having the show at this gallery is that we all must have the photos available for sale. This is a tough call as I have no clue what to put on the price tag. The gallery takes a 50% commission (standard practice), so obviously I have to keep that in mind in the price so I don't lose money on the printing and framing. Of course, I would like to make a little something as well. I don't have the final cost on framing yet, so I'll have to wait until I get that number. However it goes, I am thrilled to be part of the exhibit, and this group of talented women. I anticipate that I will learn a lot from them!

Speaking of photography, the March of Dimes asked if I would be willing to be one of the photographers for their March for Babies walk again this year. I volunteered for the first time last year, and I had so much fun taking pictures. I also talked to a lot of people and realized how challenging life has been for so many of the families. And yet progress has been made, and there was such a sense of hope in the crowd. So of course I said yes. I will pray for a day as beautiful as last year so that they will have a good turnout and raise lots of money.

2014 March for Babies