Move Over Mr. Postman!

fine art photography, new york blizzard © shāna, Running in Snow, 2010

It was December 25th, 2010. A most unusual ordinary day. I ‘celebrated’ by spending the day with my family at the home of my brother & his girlfriend. It’s not my holiday, per se, however when all norms of society come to a halt then heck, it sort of becomes everyone’s holiday. Anyway, this was no typical holiday season. I found myself thrust into another health crisis starting back around the end of October. Not my first rodeo with this health stuff as you know. But this was new & a most unwelcome diversion. I spent most of my time with doctors, labs & technicians. I was barely able to eat. Just in case, I carted around small containers of brown rice & yogurt to holiday events. By Christmas day I was so weak that I wasn’t even able to drive. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I’m pretty stubborn about that. It’s my independence, a symbol of wellness.

What made this day especially daunting was that the very next day I was booked for a family portraiture session. Which, by the way, I hadn’t officially done before. And…a blizzard was coming, though all predictions indicated it would start in the late afternoon. And…one of their sons’ was in from out of state and planning to fly out the next day. So I crawled into bed knowing that no matter what I had to show up – literally & figuratively. This family after all extended their vote of confidence by booking me. So, I prayed for strength, I prayed for inspiration, I prayed for creativity, I prayed for presence and lastly I prayed for the snow to wait until the shoot was over! Almost, all my prayers were answered.

I awoke the next morning to find snow already on the ground and coming down quite steadily. So much for weather predictions. As I nervously drove to their home I was dumbstruck and began laughing. Laughing so hard at the ridiculousness of all these things converging simultaneously. I could’ve cried but laughter is what rose up. I am delighted to say that the shoot went swimmingly well. This is one special, lovely family. We collaborated, laughed, talked, played, danced & even did some shooting out in the snow. Grace was flowing for sure.

The photo below was taken by Mike (Dad & Husband) of me shooting part of the clan. I was hysterical because I couldn’t see as my glasses were fogged over from the snow. Above is an image from the shoot. Maybe more to follow, we’ll see. I hope you like?!

[UPDATE: Come on over to Give me More to view more images from this shoot.]

Making family portraits in the snow