One way to thank a soldier

Scott_Quier · November 7, 2007

About a month ago, SWMBO and I were out to dinner. We struck up a short conversation with our server and, during that conversation, I learned that her husband had been deployed to Iraq for 15 months. Because I so seldom get an opportunity to give thanks in a meaningful way, I offered to photograph her so she could include a print in a care package. We were finally able to synchronize schedules today. Jennifer was so easy to work with and so into getting the photos - it was just amazing. Loved working with her and hope she will allow me to photograph her again.

Anyway, these are two that came out of the session. BTW, we include the dog in the shots because her husband misses the dog almost as much as he does her!

Anyway, C&C welcome and solicited - thanks for looking.

1. I really, really like the way I was able to capture the light coming through her hair and the way it contrasts with the darker background. It was just one of those spots you find in a forested area where the light (just as sunset, we were chasing the light from one tree to another) was in just the right position.

2. This one is not quite as spectacular but I still like it.

The rest of the images, there are 6 total, can be seen here (linkie)

anwmn1 · November 7, 2007

Very nice Scott

.

If you are interested in doing more like this check out Oplove.org a great cause that is still trying to get off the ground. I think I will have my first military 'home coming shoot' in January.

Swartzy · November 7, 2007

Great eye Scott
and great opportunity. You've done very well here and you may never know just how wonderfully you've touched so many lives with your act of kindness. Excellent!

DJTHEMAC · November 7, 2007

I love the first one!

urbanaries · November 7, 2007

That first one is one helluva exposure! The way you found just the right amount of backlight, coupled with the WHITE DOG, I am just in awe! A beautiful photo and a touching story.

I'm photographing a deployed soldier's return home (at the airport) the week of Thanksgiving as part of Oplove.org, and I get teary just thinking about it!

Sweet gesture on your part, and well deserved on the other end.

Icebear · November 7, 2007

Something to think about!
What a great idea. I'm going out hunting for "Iraq/Afganistan" (won't say "widows") (can't just say "wives" any more) left-behinds. Hell, even I can do that.

Anyway, if that serviceman misses that dog as much as he misses her, he's just plain nuts.

Bravo-Zulu to you Scott.

saurora · November 7, 2007

What a great gesture on your part and what beautiful photos! The first shot is killer and they both should be very happy with it!

photogmomma · November 8, 2007

anwmn1 wrote:

Very nice Scott .

If you are interested in doing more like this check out Oplove.org a great cause that is still trying to get off the ground. I think I will have my first military 'home coming shoot' in January.

Thank you for that site!

Scott, these are awesome! I can't tell you how much i LOVE LOVE the first one! Just gorgeous!!!

banbro · November 8, 2007

Scott,

I agree that the first one is a real winner and I think including the dog in the pictures was a great idea, plus the white really works with the contrasting shadows.. great expression from them both.

I also love how the background in image 4 looks almost like a backdrop instead of a true outdoor scenery... is that Newport News park?

Great shots and wonderful image

Elaine · November 8, 2007

Wow, Scott! That first shot is soooo wonderful! I just love it!

All of them will be so appreciated, I'm sure. Really great job!!

Scott_Quier · November 8, 2007

anwmn1 wrote:

If you are interested in doing more like this check out Oplove.org a great cause that is still trying to get off the ground. I think I will have my first military 'home coming shoot' in January.

Hey, thanks for looking and leaving a nice comment.

As for OpLove.org - I had not heard about this. Thanks for mentioning it. It is definitely something I'm going to look into.

Swartzy wrote:

and great opportunity. You've done very well here and you may never know just how wonderfully you've touched so many lives with your act of kindness. Excellent!

I know of at least 4 lives I've touched with just a couple hours effort - Jennifer, Jean (Jennifer's mother), her father, and (most importantly) her husband. I'm really looking forward to hearing whatever comments he might make and be willing to share with me.

urbanaries wrote:

That first one is one helluva exposure! The way you found just the right amount of backlight, coupled with the WHITE DOG, I am just in awe! A beautiful photo and a touching story.

I'm photographing a deployed soldier's return home (at the airport) the week of Thanksgiving as part of Oplove.org, and I get teary just thinking about it!

I thought you might be out of contact until Friday night. Nice to see you're still with us! Thanks so much for you nice comment. This shot was inspired by one that Yuri posted a short while back. I set up the session time specifically to get this shot and I'm sooooo stoked that it turned out something like I envisioned it.

Icebear wrote:

What a great idea. I'm going out hunting for "Iraq/Afganistan" (won't say "widows") (can't just say "wives" any more) left-behinds. Hell, even I can do that.

Anyway, if that serviceman misses that dog as much as he misses her, he's just plain nuts.

Bravo-Zulu to you Scott.

Hey, thanks for the BZ - appreciate it. And

with the comment about missing the dog as much as the wife - she's a lovely person, just so much fun to work with and be around!

saurora wrote:

What a great gesture on your part and what beautiful photos! The first shot is killer and they both should be very happy with it!

Thanks! After the shoot, I had one other session to finish before I even started looking at this one - it's the only way I can exercise any discipline - work them in order otherwise ... Anyway, I was so excited about what I thought I had gotten that I almost broke my rule. So, as a result, I was up late last night processing this set (BTW - 10:00P is late for me as I'm at my desk by 0530). As it was, I had a hard time getting to sleep last night!

photogmomma wrote:

Scott, these are awesome! I can't tell you how much i LOVE LOVE the first one! Just gorgeous!!!

Thanks so much Andi. You know I've told you that you are my "artistic inspiration" (you and Lynne, actually). You think I just making noise, but it's true. Anyway, getting that comment from you means just so much.

banbro wrote:

I agree that the first one is a real winner and I think including the dog in the pictures was a great idea, plus the white really works with the contrasting shadows.. great expression from them both.
I also love how the background in image 4 looks almost like a backdrop instead of a true outdoor scenery... is that Newport News park?

Brock, WELCOME to DGrin! Isn't it a wonderful place to hang out? Oh, I left you a PM.

Yes, it is Newport News Park. Enter the park from Jefferson and follow the road past Old Saddle Rd, there's a playground on the right with a parking lot. On the left is a copse of trees, another small playground, and an over-look across the reservoir where you can see the trees. I'm actually not too happy with #4 - it's more than just a bit over-flashed, but it has other redeeming qualities, so I included it.

Thanks for looking and leaving such a nice comment. I really appreciate it?

Elaine wrote:

Wow, Scott! That first shot is soooo wonderful! I just love it! All of them will be so appreciated, I'm sure. Really great job!!

I was hoping that people would like that first one. SWHMBO was standing behind me when it went up on the screen and it elicited some very nice comments from her so I knew that it was a winner. Thanks for looking - I do appreciate it.

k2butter · November 8, 2007

Great Shots! I am sure her husband is going to be thrilled!

saurora · November 8, 2007

Scott, I notice that you did not use fill flash in #1 (but it looks like you did.) Did you use a reflector? Do you know what mix this dog is? Looks like a shepherd in the face with maybe samoyed mixed in? Beautiful animal!

Scott_Quier · November 8, 2007

saurora wrote:

Scott, I notice that you did not use fill flash in #1 (but it looks like you did.) Did you use a reflector? Do you know what mix this dog is? Looks like a shepherd in the face with maybe samoyed mixed in? Beautiful animal!

I set my camera to all manual and used manual, off-camera flash, a Sunpac 622. If you have a light meter, shooting with flash this way is actually, for me at least, much more consistent and reliable then the ETT-L.

As for the dog - I have no idea, but I'm thinking you're nor far from the target.

wxwax · November 8, 2007

Excellent thread, worth a bump.

jdfaith · November 8, 2007

What a wonderful gesture and very nice job! I can only imagine the joy you were able to bring them both. Bravo!

John

jeffreaux2 · November 8, 2007

The photographs are awesome Scott. Although I can appreciate the backlighting in #1 I actually prefer the second one. Leave it to me to be different!!!

The gesture is the story here, and since oplove was mentioned, I believe I will check into that myself. Might be that you have really done something even bigger than this favor for your new friend by bringing this up on the board. I am invisioning sticky at the top of the page with homecoming photos.

Good Job!!!

hawkeye978 · November 8, 2007

That first one is truly a beautiful shot Scott.

System · November 8, 2007

great idea and great photos-

please, how is your son doing?-

DavidS · November 8, 2007

Those are beautiful Scott. What a wonderful gift.

Miss Sharon · November 8, 2007

Oh my gosh, you made me tear up. Scott, with your motives behind these shots, I think these are the best portraits ever!!!

Seneca · November 8, 2007

Scott...these are awesome...that first one is just so perfect...

Scott_Quier · November 9, 2007

gefillmore wrote:

great idea and great photos-

please, how is your son doing?-

Thanks for asking, but Matt's doing just fine even if he's a little frustrated with the Army right now. He's been trying for two years to get the attention of the Army - they don't return his calls. So, he's been working at a Starbucks and is on a management track with them. A couple of months ago, some Sgt somewhere discovered that the Army didn't have any PT records for him and gave him a call. And, that's the last we've heard from them. Again, they're not returning his calls. It does make one wonder!

Scott_Quier · November 9, 2007

Seneca wrote:

Scott...these are awesome...that first one is just so perfect...

No, I don't think so. But, it'll do in a pinch.

Thanks so much for looking and leaving a comment.

thebusch · November 9, 2007

They are both wonderful but the first one is a wowser! Good work and as an old soldier, thanks! Wish some one had done that for me.

Scott_Quier · November 10, 2007

thebusch wrote:

They are both wonderful but the first one is a wowser! Good work and as an old soldier, thanks! Wish some one had done that for me.

I don't know how old a soldier you are, but I grew up at the tail end of the Viet Nam era and witnessed the treatment suffered by the returning GIs.

:soapbox I was and still am truely disgusted by what I saw. I made a promise to myself that I WOULD NOT copy that behavior and that I would do what I could on a personal level to thank the men and women in uniform.

This is just one small thing.

I'm going to seriously look into the OpLove.org thing posted above. On the surface and from the web site, it sounds like something right up my line.

System · November 10, 2007

God bless our military-

I just signed up for the oplove.org thing; don't know if I can help, but I thought I would apply-

Ted Szukalski · November 10, 2007

I've been coming to this form less often recently but when I do I always find good photography, like your first photo here Scott. I really like the use of light.

Scott_Quier · November 10, 2007

I just downloaded and filled out the application. It will be going in the mail on Tuesday (13 Nov).

In the meantime, Ted, thanks for your compliment. I really appreciate it.

I've been coming to this form less often recently but when I do I always find good photography, like your first photo here Scott. I really like the use of light.

Pindy · November 10, 2007

Use photography to help people!
Wow. This is a wonderful way as a civilian to show your appreciation, and acknowledge the humanity behind it.

ShepsMom · November 10, 2007

Beautiful work Scott! It is a really nice present indeed. I didn't expect anything less from you.

One way to thank a soldier

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