October’s Local Social at the Tradesman was tonight. Barbie and Dan even performed a song and there were tributes to Tom Petty every few songs.
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the dailypic 2923 yr9 001 Another Year
Today’s my birthday, and I was excited to spend it with family. Barbie surprised me by picking Anna up at school and bringing her home for the day. We had the family together for the first time in a month. A perfect day, my parents came over and we all watched the game outside around a fire. Then I spent the night eating far too much hibachi with friends. It was a great year. Each one is, no matter what. This one was so full, school, college, moves, trips, might be why I look so tired in this photo. I would not change a thing.
As for the dailypic, here we go day 001/365 of the 9th year. I have always wanted a black and white series, so I am going to give it a try. The dailypic goes colorless for the month of October. It is easier said then done, we will see how it goes.
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thedailypic•yr8•335/365•2892•Peace and The Boy
I have told this story before, but things get repeated for different reasons. I took a photo of the kids on August 18th, 2007. I was working at Staples Corporate office at the time, Barbara was on a work trip. Staples had announced an offer to all office associates that the next day they would be setting up a Digital print lab in the cafeteria and we could have files printed for free. I figured I would get a fun portrait of the kids, blow it up and surprise Barbara upon her return from the trip. Outside we go, putting a horrible old black backdrop on the fence, using a Nikon D80 with kit lens and piece of white cardboard as a reflector. I put Danny, age 6, on a step stool so he could be the same height as his older sister, age 8. Now Dan was a loud kid, he is now a loud teen and I am betting he will be a loud adult. This will all pay off with his music I am sure. Then Anna was quiet, so quiet and shy, so the pose was Danny screaming and Anna shushing him, the photo was called Peace and Boy.
I printed it, it caused a huge stir at the office. This was before the dailypic, this was at the end of what was a horrible few years where I did not take photos. Barbara loved the photo, coworkers loved the photo, it took on a life of its own. Remember we were not saturated with photos all over the place in 2007 the way we are now, it was not hard to impress. It was great, I was booking family/kid portraits based off that photo. I made my first business cards, that photo was on it, and so was the newly named “timricephoto”. I look at that photo as my entry back into photography (I had taken a break – that is another story).
Here we are, 10 years, 13 days from that original shot. Instead of those two little kids, I have two incredible young adults living in my house, well for the time being. The loud little “Boy” is now 6’1″, 16 years old and loud in so many great ways. He has a genuine smile and presence that lights the world. Then there is “Peace”, she is no longer quiet, the shush sign is now a peace sign, meaningful for many reasons and she is just shy of 19 years old. Hours away from leaving home for college, and changing not only her world, but all of our world for the better. I thought it would be fun to revisit this shoot before the next variation of the family kicks in, and I was lucky enough to have them agree. How much changes in 10 years. I sent a group text to my kids saying meet me at the studio at 5pm. One drove themselves, one was dropped off by a girlfriend, this time the only stool that was used was so Dan could sit and be shorter for his sister. I have a far different camera, professional lights, backdrops and a studio space…. all that can be tied back to that one photo in the back yard. My business is not what is without them, I am not who I am without these kids, in so many ways, and I would not change any of it.
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thedailypic•yr8•333/365•2890•One Back
One of these two went back to school today, starting 11th grade. One insisted on getting up 30 seconds prior to the photo, because they had to be in it, even though they don’t move to college until Saturday. I will leave it to you to figure it out who is who.
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thedailypic•yr8•331/365•2888•Dan’s Debut
Dan had his first real gig today. The Dan Rice Project debuted at the Tradesman in Milford. Three hours, a couple guests sang with him, an original was tossed in, a great day overall. The turn out was awesome, so much support from family and friends, he can say he is a paid musician now. Six years ago or so I started photographing acts in the area, if you told me my kid would be part of the community I would never have believed you, yet here we are. So proud of him, he puts so much into this music, today was just the start of the pay off. Anna even joined him for a song they just decided to do after one practice this morning (video below), one of those moments where you realize as a parent you might have done a decent job… and you feel really old at the same time. Way to go Dan.
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thedailypic•yr8•289/365•2846•The Dan Rice Project
I helped Dan set up a recording spot today for his music. He made a YouTube channel, added a few videos from today. “The George Sessions” George the Tortoise costars in all the videos, George always comes out when Dan plays. The first song he added is Daydreamer, a song he wrote while traveling to Iceland.
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thedailypic•yr8•276/365•2833•(R)iceland
I truly do not know how long I have wanted to go to Iceland, I just have… for a long time. It was on the bucket list. I had seen a photo of the US Navy plane on the black sand beach, it got me looking into it more, from there I uncovered photos of waterfalls, sheep, horses, geysers, landscapes that looked out of this world, I knew I would go. Then over Christmas break 2013, we saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty as a family and Anna fell in love with the scenery – much of it was shot in Iceland, the locations we found on this trip. That sparked the interest again. Add in a few years back we tried to take a road trip as a family, we were to head west, take 2 weeks off and drive to Yellowstone. the plan fell part when Barbara’s employment situation took a detour. So a year ago this week we were in NH, a simple quiet lake house vacation, we had just gotten Josie and was a perfect week. This lovely couple owned the house we rented and they came to see us and asked us if we wanted to book it again for next year (would be this week)… and without really thinking about it, I said “No thank you, I think we are going to Iceland.” That was the first time the words really came out of my mouth, the first time the family heard me say it, and the plan began. Iceland in 2017.
And here we are on the last day about to leave, it has been a great trip. Better than great, I feel like this will stay with me in ways I have not thought of yet. It is hard to put into words. I hope more than anything that one day, 5, 10, 25 years from now my kids will look back at this adventure as a milestone. Hell, we all got tattoos. I saw my plane, my waterfalls, sheep, horses, geysers, out of this world scenery and so much more. What started as a once in a life time trip, quickly became a scouting trip for future locations to visit again. Maybe it will be with just Barbie, maybe it will be just me, or a group of friends, or the kids and their families, but it will never be like this trip. The trip we got our road trip, the four of us, 950 miles in 9 days.
As for the photos, I have barely shared any, I have so many more, I was prepared, I knew what I wanted and I got them. I love these photos, yet I left so many here, it is impossible to get them all. I am not sure how to share the ones I have. They will be displayed, I have already been asked – and the answer is yes, I will have some for sale. I would love to have a show for them. Maybe rent a place and put on a true photo show. We will see, and I promise you will get to see them too. I just need time to get the right set in order. For a person that takes and posts photos daily, having a set of photos that need to be worked on ‘later’ is tough. I am open to suggestions on how you would like to see them.
I wish each of you the chance to go somewhere, wherever it is, not matter how close or far, that can add to your story. That is always my goal, add before things are subtracted. That’s the best we can do. Thanks for looking, more soon.
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thedailypic•yr8•267/365•2824•Family Runed
Left Boston at 8:45pm Friday night, landed in Reykjavik at 5:45am the next day (1:45am Boston Time) – we are running on fumes. A great breakfast pastry Bruad & Co, a quick walk around the waterfront then off to a family tattoo appointment I set up. Ragnar at Tattoo Stofan met us at 10am ready with Icelandic Runes we had talked about over email, all drawn out. Yes, even Dan got one. Dan’s means Music, Anna’s means Peace, Barbie has two, Fire and Ice, and mine is creation. Ragnar suggested it after we spoke about my photography. David Bowie blasting in the parlor, we talked music, photos, travel and even Trump. Ragnar is the man. It was a great experience and family bonding exercise, and on top of it all we met a great guy. Then it was off to explore Reykjavik without falling asleep on our feet.
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thedailypic•yr8•256/365•2813•The Songwriters
For Dan’s Birthday he got a new guitar and a songwriting lesson with Ellis Paul. The Skype session was tonight. It was cool to listen to them brainstorm on a song Dan is working on, bond over AC/DC and just talk music. Ellis even sang some of Dan’s new song, I think that was his favorite part. I will use it as another excuse to share one of my favorite videos of Dan and Ellis singing 3000 miles. We highly recommend booking a mentoring session with Ellis if you are interested in such things, he is the best at what he does. As for Dan’s new song – it is a work in progress but is awesome. He will be debuting it at the Tradesman’s show he is doing August 27th.
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thedailypic•yr8•240/365•2797•A Day in Boston
A family day in the city with a Bernese Mountain Dog means you meet thousands of new friends. Josie was in heaven, we were stopped every 10 feet, while the family got lunch I met 17 people, including another Berner family with big Gus. She got some playtime with a Swiss Mountain in Columbus Park, took in some music, saw the Memorial Flags on the Common and had a blast watching birds, especially the ducks.
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thedailypic•yr8•227/365•2784•Going Forward
So now this…
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thedailypic•yr8•226/365•2783•Happy Mom’s Day
Happy Moms Day, Barbie!
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