Introducing the Bedlam Farm Heart Photos. So I have this photo issue, a creative challenge. Due to my bypass surgery, I cannot hold any camera that weights more than 5 lbs for three months and it isn’t a phobic caution, it’s about protecting my chest and keeping it together. I will honor it, it is neither brave nor daring to take such a risk. I have a small Canon G1X I gave to Maria, it isn’t a great camera for me, and I’m not going to buy a new camera now or anytime in the future. I put my big Canon away, gave it kiss and told it to rest up, I will pull it out around the time of the next Bedlam Farm Open House Columbus Day Weekend. My back-up used Canon is also too big, so are my lenses.

I will use the G1X when I can, but Maria and I tried something new this afternoon, something wonderful in it’s own right. Taking our afternoon walk – I overdid it this morning, I have been tired all day but I am learning what my body wants to do – Maria brought my back-up Canon in a camera bag, when I saw a photo I liked, she took it out and we conceived the photograph together and she hit the shutter. I looked at it and made a suggestion or two, then she took another shot, added her own idea and interpretation.

It is wonderful to undertake this creative collaboration together, especially during this period. I am calling these photos Bedlam Farm Heart Photos – ours is a creative connection, these are very literally photos of the heart. I welcome other ideas for a name to call them. I love this first one, it combines my passion with afternoon light with Maria’s sense of artistry, and the barn in the background takes on it’s own life. It will be wonderful to see where this goes, how it develops, a wonderful collaboration between a photographer and an artist, both of whom love working with one another but have a fierce sense of pride and independence about their work.

I confess it was hard at me to let go of the finger on the shutter, that precise moment of capture, that is quite a letting go of the ego, but I trust Maria and as she grows more comfortable, she will add her own sense of imagery and incorporate mine. I hope these will make notecards or photos to sell at our next Open House, I would be excited to sell them. Stay tuned. There is a creative solution to anything, I think , I will come out of this better. I love and respect Maria as an artist so much, this is a gift for me.