I spent the day yesterday at a fantastic lighting workshop in LA taught by Joe McNally. If you haven’t heard of him you definitely need to go check out his site. I will post tomorrow about how great it was to just sit and learn from one of the greats, but the highlight of my day came after the workshop. A bunch of us decided to go to Philippes for french dip and wait out the traffic.
As we were sitting there eating a woman walked past headed to the restroom. She had on this wonderful hat and had such a great face. I thought about asking her for a photograph, but then told myself how dumb I would sound. I mean, what an embarrassing thing to do, asking a complete stranger to take their picture. I sat there for a couple of minutes debating and then, without thinking too much more about it, jumped up, camera in hand, and went into the bathroom.
She was just washing her hands. I told her how beautiful I thought her hat was. She said, “Thank you so much! I’ve been out celebrating a special occasion today and decided to get dressed up. It’s my birthday.” I wished her a happy birthday and told her she looked so pretty. As she had her hand on the doorknob ready to walk out I said, “Would you mind if I took your picture?” She didn’t even hesitate. “Really? Of course!”
I had her stand against the wall in the restroom and fired off a couple of shots. She had the best smile on her face. She asked if I would send her a copy and gave me her address. I thanked her and she said, “No, thank you! You made my day!” She definitely made mine. Taking someone’s photo really does make a difference. It’s all about noticing people and just making them feel beautiful even if it’s just for a few minutes. It was a personal mini Help-Portrait project. I cannot wait for December 12 for the real thing.
Beauty is an experience, nothing else. It is not a fixed pattern or an arrangement of features. It is something felt, a glow or a communicated sense of fineness. What ails us is that our sense of beauty is so bruised and blunted, we miss all the best.
~ D. H. Lawrence
How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said.
~ Victor Hugo
