Isn't it quite fascinating how just one picture can conjure up a vivid memory? This is one reason why wedding photography is so important to me. When all is said and done, when the cake has been cut, when every little carefully color-coordinated goody bag has been snatched, all you are left with are memories (which grow dim with time) and if you played your cards right, some fabulous pictures. I capture the details of the big day in a way that allows both bride and groom to look at the images and not only notice the fantastic table settings they spent hours designing, but to recall how they felt at that particular moment. Feeling is more important than a faint memory. Photography is such a powerful medium as it allows the viewer to virtually experience their wedding, family event, etc. as though for the first time, again, just by viewing their photographs.
What reminded me of this all-important lesson? I saw this picture that I snapped in Spanish Fork Canyon and the blown up television reminded me of how I do not have cable (who has the time?) then I remembered one show that always mystified and stumped me. Jeopardy. This picture alone led me to remember and feel this past vignette...
I was living in LA at the time and I had the opportunity to view a live taping of Jeopardy. Apparently Alex Trebek enjoys light mingling with his guests, so he would answer questions in between takes. We were warned by Johnny (picture an elderly, tucked man in a red button down worn beneath a beige satin jacket which read Johnny on the front, and Jeopardy on the back, no doubt a clever Christmas cast gift for him from the 80s) that Alex does not like to be asked how old he is, or how much money he makes. So other than that, we could ask him any question.
Alex, mind you, has a very dry sense of humor. The kind of creativity that flows from the rock of hosting genius. One woman asked him, "How do you stay so fit!?" Response? "I drink." Another guest asked, "Why did you shave your mustache?" Alex's guillotine slammed down with "I felt like it. Just like my Mother." I thought I had better not get my clumsy fingers near his blade, but a few segments later, I mustered up the courage to ask a question. I proceeded to ask, "Which modern invention do you feel we would be better off without?" Alex looked like he had just been doused with a super soaker water gun. He went speechless. The audience fell dead silent. He started to pace, back turned to the crowd. "Hhhhmmm," he pondered. "I have never even considered such a thing..." He paused over the crew table and said "Well, having two teenagers I would say the cell phone, but I see its necessity. Hhhmmm." After a few more awkward seconds (which in Hollywood is akin to an hour), he said "I'll have to think about it and I'll let you know before the end of the day. Will you be here all day?" "Yes," I responded like a faithful soldier. Another segment later, Alex went to his private quarters for a wardrobe change, and I knew, serious contemplation. My friend turned to me and said, "You stumped Alex Trebek!" Over an hour had passed, when he walked back to the crowd to answer more questions, shoot some more people down, then before turning to the stage he looked me dead in the eye. I slightly adjusted in my seat. He then flipped around, like a young sassy super model taking her first turn on the catwalk, pointed his arm straight at me (oddly I felt the need to raise my arm and point at him as well) and said, "The electric can opener." He looked coyly pleased with himself like a fourteen year old girl in her first pair of high heels walking past construction workers.
He explained, "My house has had an electric can opener built in to the kitchen for seventeen years, and it has never worked. I have to use the old hand job, the manual."
Gracious this is a long post. The point is, the power of a photograph is worth a thousand words, or at least several paragraphs.
Location: Spanish Fork Canyon, Utah. Shot on my vintage Nikkormat with Fuji Pro 400H Film.
Location: Spanish Fork Canyon, Utah. Shot on my vintage Nikkormat with Fuji Pro 400H Film.
