In Memoriam: Ginger Jones

[Andy]

Sadly, today, our friend in photography, fellow Dgrinner, and SmugMugger, Ginger Jones passed away after an illness.

Ginger was an amazing lady. I think she once bought Photoshop rather than feed her husband Bill one month. I know when her Canon 20D needed service after a million shutter clicks, she was devastated, and we the community were happy to help her out with the bill for that. We did it because we loved her.

Ginger would leave her house at dawn, and not come back till dusk. Feed the dogs, her Husband, and then get to work on processing her shots so she could post them here on Dgrin, and in the SmugMug Daily photos community. Ginger was a prolific shooter (she uploaded over 13,600 photos to SmugMug!), and a really good shooter. She won more Dgrin Challenges than anyone else. She got her photo up on Times Square, as a Kodak Photo of the Day. Pure and simple, she loved photography, and loved sharing photos. She lived, breathed, ate, slept photography. What an amazing Lady she was. I feel lucky to have known her! I will miss her, as I know many of you whom she's affected in the same manner will.

I know that things are probably going to be a little tight for Ginger's family. Peruse her galleries, and buy a print maybe? Why not? That's how Ginger would want you to remember her: through one of her beautiful images. In fact if you like, SmugMug will buy a print for you. Just send a request (with a photo link) to our help desk, ATTN: Barb in the subject line, and we'll take care of it. Include your shipping address.

Either way, we'll make sure that all the profit goes to Ginger's family.

We've made Ginger's SmugMug account a pro account forever, so her photos on SmugMug will never go away and we can all return and visit any time we need to. Oh, and comment on her pictures. That's what she liked the best of all.

Good bye, Ginger, we love you.

[DavidTO]

EDIT: Obituary here:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=547757#post547757



EDIT: Funeral Details
Thursday, May 10, 11:00 a.m., Stella Maris Church, Sullivan's Island, SC.
In lieu of flowers the family is asking that donations be sent to Stella Maris Church, where Ginger attended for years and who has helped out Ginger and her family, or to the charity of your choice. Captel Phones or CorgiAid, for example, or any of your choice; Sara said that if a charity is important to you, and you were important to Ginger, that the charity would matter to Ginger.

EDIT: Here is Ginger's Son Scott, he's posted down below in this thread, but we're adding it up top here so that he's not missed by anyone:

Originally Posted by Scott, Ginger's Son

I came on line tonight to have a moment with my mother and her photos. Instead I find all these posts from friends around the world. I read the kind words of Andy and those whom she has shared the "Dgrin" world. To me my mother was always taking photos. As a child she posed us here and there and everywhere in search of that special picture. My dad built her a darkroom in our second bathroom. Strips of film hung everywhere, chemicals reaked throughout the house, the Besseler Projector towered above the toilet. From all this I have a box of photos I treasure and carry everywhere. Throughout the years my mother was always there flitting around the room taking photos. She nearly drove me crazy ducking and weaving through the crowd clicking away on her Nikormat. In the last several years she would excitedly e-mail us about the latest challenge and how she was going to either win or lose. I would link to her thread and find the most amazing photos by her and her friends and only wish I had been born with her skill and ability to capture the magic of the moment. I asked her recently why the obssesion with photgraphy and getting the shot. She replied it kept her connected with the world (she was deaf) and allowed her to be part of what she could not have. I never have found the time to look at all her photos and probably never will (13000 is a lot with more on her computer and cameras i am sure). Every photo I have seen has convinced me that the State of South Carolina lost it's pre-immiment (sp?) visual historian on Saturday. I believe her family will do her showing for her and any photo bought will help either with funeral expenses or the showing. At this point though we are trying to come to grips with the rapidity of her passing and the shock with which we all feel. I thank the members for their kind comments. I also thank you for giving her the gift of a world in which she was special and connected in a way which she could not in the real world because of her hearing. I believe in the end though she showed us all how to really hear the beauty of this world; just look around. I can not wait to see her showing in God's Gallery (he must have been tired of the old photos).

Thanks for letting me ramble, her oldest son Scott

EDIT: One from Ginger's daughter Sara as well.

Originally Posted by Sara, Ginger's daughter

Wow. I would say that I am at a loss for words but, hey, I am Ginger's daughter. While my heart and my head are still so thick with grief that it is hard to find the words I want to use this night, I have to take the time to say how very moved and touched and thankful we all are in Ginger's family to find such a legacy on this site. To read all of your posts brings a profound respect for the woman we knew who hiked the Charleston trails and then sat on her computer all night and then all day. All that time she was cementing connections with a group of people who are kind, honest and just plain amazing. Thank you so much for being her friends. Thank you for loving her strong, eccentric mind. Thank you for being there for her and loving her. And thank you for creating and maintaining a site where I can go and where I can bring my children to visit mom/Grandma Ginger whenever we want. There are so many stories behind the pictures and I imagine my mom has told some whoppers. Let me tell you a little about the white peacock picture. I wanted to "help" her out (and you can imagine how well she accepted that...but she was tolerant with me) and so I got behind the peacock to try to get it more into the sun for her. She was lying on the ground and I was shooing it and it would turn towards me and mom would yell, "Now all I can see is it's @##!" We were in a children's petting zoo! There is another recent picture of my daughter playing in the surf that she may have posted on here and I remember trying to get mom to stand up because she was sitting on the surfline and the water ended up coming up on her. She was getting all wet (and she was in jeans and tennis shoes) and people were looking at her. But I knew, I just knew, that once mom got in that "I"m getting the shot" mode, well, she wasn't aware of anything else. And while I admit to being a bit embarrassed then...I am filled with a tremendous amount of admiration now for the strong, wonderful woman I call mom who DID make her own rules. I am so proud of her. I ache for her. I love her. I miss her. And I thank you for doing the same. Sara McCarthy...the daughter who just moved to Columbia

[DavidTO]

So sad to see her go.

And I'm very appreciative of what she brought us all.

Nice gesture, Andy, SmugMug. Thanks for doing this.

Smile.

[devbobo]

Rest in peace Ginger.

The forum will miss you.

[rutt]

Of all the people I never met, I feel I knew her best.

[richW]

Originally Posted by ginger_55

After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.

Your Wit and Wisdom will be missed.
Rest in Peace.

Rich Wilson

[Thusie]

Thanks Andy, thank you very much.

For many months now my morning coffee was spent reading little emails from G, she stayed up all hours, reading or working on photos. I would have link to look at this or that shot and should she put a different one up on DP than the one she had posted. Interesting bits she had read in photo mags, a movie she watch or songs she had listened to, just bits and pieces of her evening. Every so often I wouldn't get her emailed back before she got up and I would get and email

THUSIE WHERE ARE YOU!

I have those emails and everyone she ever sent to me. I miss you G, I miss you very, very much

[Andy]

Merging threads:

Originally Posted by rutt

Ginger died today. Of all the people I never met, I feel I knew her best.

[Harryb]

Words are so inadequate at moments like this.

Ginger was a special person. I never saw her say a mean spirited thing to another. She was with out pretense. She had the ability to find the beauty in her world, to capture it and to share it with others. She will be missed.

My deepest condolences to her family and friends.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Rutt

Of all the people I never met, I feel I knew her best.

Amazing and true, I feel the very same way.

And DavidTO, you are right. No matter what, she always said in closing "smile, Ginger." I loved that.

[sherstone]

I do not cry very often,

today is one of those days....

The memories of Ginger or G as we affectionately called her will live within my heart,
her images, her sense of humor and her determination and spirit will always be remembered.


My condolences for Ginger's family and all her friends that knew her.

~~~~
Thank you Andy, and SmugMug for everything you have done for Ginger and her family, your memoriam was very moving for me.

Goodbye G

Sean

[Flyinggina]

I read about Ginger's illness for the first time this afternoon and have been praying ever since. She was so much a part of dGrin for me that it seems totally inceivable that she is gone. Surely she is out shooting her POD, capturing birds, and sunsets as only she could.

Is there an address where we can send condolences to her family? As big as our loss is, theirs is much, much greater.

Thank you to SmugMug for keeping her photography spirit alive for us and future generations of photographers.

Virginia

[Andy]

I've always loved what she's had in her Bio:

Originally Posted by Ginger

Creek Lady of undetermined age carrying a camera, maybe some dogs around. Stay for a discussion of important things, when the sun comes up, when it sets, what stage the moon is in and how that affects the tides. I will take your picture, you take mine.

[Angelo]

I am truly saddened by this. Rutt said it best: Of all the people I never met, I feel I knew her best.

I watched and participated in the many, many images with which she graced our pages.

I often giggled at her occassional frustrated, rambling posts when she couldn't get something just right.

I marveled at the level of improvement she displayed over time as she worked tirelessly to master her compositions, post technique and her frames. I think I was actually a bit jealous of her.

She will be missed for sure.

Andy, SM team - very nice gestures you've made in her honor!

Rest in peace sweet lady.


I'm going to break a rule and post one of G's beautiful pictures here because it just seems fitting:

[Baldy]

What a great lady and what a character.



I love the caption she wrote for this photo:

Real Me: no make up, hair back and "wet", visible "glow", no computer shenanigans like removing under eye circles, none of that, just ME!

On bridge at Magnolia Gardens, very near the Ashley River. In the pond behind me I often find an egret. He then goes (walks) to the other really pretty pond where I have taken many photos. There are also alligators in that pond and whatever else one would expect.

Bill took this picture, so I guess technically he is the photographer, but I was the producer and director. Also, I played myself in this photo.

Had miles to go, as the man said.

ginger (late today, sorry!)

As an aside: Have any of you ever forgotten that your glasses were on your head? I looked all over and thought I had dropped them in the water... with the gator!

Looking there, it was certainly possible.

[ian408]

I truly do not know what to say except Godspeed Ginger, we will miss you.

[wholenewlight]

I was having such a great day. We had a baby shower celebrating the arrival of my third grandson.

And then this news. . .

Ginger was one of the early members of the "daily photos" smugmug community. It will be a sad place without her for awhile. She has been someone I looked forward to hearing from. I also looked forward to leaving comments for her on her great photos.

There aren't any real rules in the daily photos community but the goal is one photo shot and posted per day. Ginger didn't really follow that "rule". One day about a year ago, someone posted a challege to Ginger about her "rule breaking." I remember Rutt responded with a post that simply said that Ginger had her own set of rules!

And that was it in a nutshell. Ginger was our friend. She had earned the right to follow her own rules of life. We liked Ginger. She was family. . . . We wanted her around. We were better with her being with us.

And like losing a family member, I'm shedding a tear or two. I believe families last for more than just this lifetime. But for for now I'll miss her.

I feel for Bill, her children, her family, her corgi dogs, and her beloved people of Charleston. I'll back up those feelings with some pictures ordered from her gallery.

So for me, today a new life is celebrated coming into this world and at the same time, sadness surrounds the departure of a someone I considered a respected friend. I know we all have our time to go . . . but that "time" will always seem too soon . . .

"Life becomes precious and more special to us when we look for the little everyday miracles and get excited about the privileges of simply being human” - Tim Hansel

Carry on Creek Lady - thanks for finding everyday miracles in your life and letting your photos show them to me. And may you find birds 'o plenty in your new surroundings.

[jwear]

I really do not know what to say --very sad so I borrowed this-My condolences for Ginger's family and all her friends that knew her.

[DJ-S1]

Early on in joining this community, I saw a post with the words Shem Creek in it. Images of my childhood in Mt. Pleasant, SC came flooding back to me and it was so wonderful to see all those places from my past captured brilliantly by Ginger.

As time went on, I began to look forward to her posts not for the nostalgia but to see her talent, and read her wit...I just enjoyed the heck out of Ginger Jones.

Thank you for everything Ginger - you are sorely missed.

[Ann McRae]

My deepest sympathies to Bill, the kids and the dogs.

Ginger was such a big part of this forum in the early days. I loved to watch her post, edit, post, edit, express frustration, and finally get it just right.

I loved how her images all looked magical and mystical and dreamy.

Thank You very much, smugmug, for this gracious offer.

This is just so sad!

goodbye, crazy creek lady. I wish you a creek full of egrets and spanish moss, with never ending sweet light and unlimited memory. goodbye, ginger.

ann