Cuba

Thanks to my wonderfully amazing parents, I recently had the opportunity to take a week long vacation in Cuba with my family. I had a wonderful time sitting in the sun, and shooting whatever and whenever I felt like it. I brought my digital camera and my hasselblad and ended up shooting 6 rolls of provia f which I have developed but not yet scanned. So for now I only have one image to show you, and ironically I did not take this photo, Julio did.

Julio worked on the beach that we went to, and we bonded with him right away. This shot was taken on our last day.. Tori and I had gone on a walk to the beach in attempts of getting the most out of our last few hours in cuba- I had been taking a photo when houleo ran into us and chatted for a bit. He thought my camera looked pretty funny, and for some reason I deemed him worthy of not only holding my baby but taking a photo with it as well. I explained as best I could how to focus and take the photo, and this is the result- I actually like the fact that its blurry.

I realized recently that if anything were to happen to me or my family, there wouldn't be any photos of us and our everyday lives. Since going to school for photography, I have begun to look at every photo technically, examining the pose, the lighting, the overall composition. Because of this, taking a snapshot on auto has been cut out of my life. Almost like gargling with salt water - I just cant do it. Because of that I feel like I might be missing out on something that is so important - documenting my family.

My parents wont be around forever, and one of my biggest fears is not having them in my life. But when that day comes, and I have to turn to photos to remember those hilarious quirky situations that my family always seems to get themselves into - I want to know that I took advantage of every situation, and to not just remember the good times, but see them on paper. preferably luster.

So stay tuned, I hope that this ramble will not just be a ramble- and that I will take advantage of the opportunity I have just created for myself to change my ways for the better. For my own sake, I hope I preform.

Siren

© Rebecca Leach 2010

This is my uncle's dog, Siren.

Siren is a german shepherd, and the eldest of 4 dogs. I am not sure exactly how old he is, but he is old enough to have arthritis in his hips and have trouble walking. I never really gave much thought as to why my uncle always had german shepherds until I came home one night and my mother told me that my uncle's house had burnt to the ground. After the firecrew arrived and got my cousin (who was home alone) to a safe place, Siren went nuts running around from the front door to the garage to the back door, trying to get into the house. This dog was trying so hard to get inside that the fire crew had to chain him to the fire truck, and it took more then one guy. Siren sensed danger and had to protect his people. After the fire, Siren came and lived with us for a weekend.

Bianca

A few weeks ago Bianca and I got together again and did another photo shoot. The results? WOW - This girl is going somewhere.

Thank you so much Seema and Chris for makeup and styling!

All Images © Rebecca Leach 2010