More Monkey Business And The Things We Do

Some photographers like to tilt the camera at strange angles. They like the look of it. I don't. I think that I made this exposure mostly because the shutter went off by accident as I was awkwardly holding the camera out at arm's length. It is kind of interesting though, even if I hadn't yet put my face in the lower right.

Also, it reminded me of my late afternoon bike ride today, my first time on a bicycle in ten or fifteen years! I was not too steady at first, tilting this way and that and seeing the world from new angles. While the rain poured outside I finished getting the bike that Doug had given to me into a semblace of working condition. An overnight soaking in WD-40 had gotten the chain pretty much loosend up, and two pair of pliers got the recalcitrant links free and flexing properly once more. The brakes are fine, both front and rear derailleurs function as they should, and the tires hold air. The only thing I still need to do is free up the seat post and raise the seat.

It was a hectic day because I'd already taken Monkette over to Starbucks for an important business meeting with a potential wedding photography client. Actually Jessica is the groom's sister, an unlikely person in the family to be hunting down a wedding photographer. More usually it'd be the bride or the bride's family.

Jessica had no trouble spotting Monkette sitting at my table at Starbucks, and assumed that I must be Al. There really aren't all that many grown men in North Miami having their afternoon coffee with a toy monkey.

We looked through a few boxes of photographs, some of which she'd already seen on this blog, and I told her the stories behind the others. She'd grown up in the Miami area so we talked about all the changes over the years, not just since she'd left but since some of my photos had been taken. One shows some new buildings under construction about thirty years ago in downtown Miami. Now they've been torn down to make room for still bigger ones.

We talked about the Greek Orthodox Church here where the wedding will be held, discussed black and white versus color, and talked about the fact that she was going to be taking some courses in traditonal black and white photography. We talked prices for shooting the wedding and how big the reception was going to be. Now she has to talk to her brother and his bride to be. I left with a good feeling! I gave her a ride back to her mom's house, went home and got busy working on the bicycle. It was a good day. Monkette can't wait to go shopping for a dress.