Something old, something new...1949 Oldsmobile Coupe

"A photographic portrait is a picture of someone who knows he's being photographed, and what he does with this knowledge is as much a part of the photograph as what he's wearing or how he looks. He's implicated in what's happening, and he has a certain real power over the result." ~  Richard Avedon

I had been keeping an eye on this 1949 Oldsmobile Coupe for awhile. I knew there was a photo in it, but something had to happen in order for me to capture what I saw and felt.

Photographers see things differently than other people do. We are always looking to turn everyday things into something extraordinary. Yes, there were many times I could have stopped and done a whole photo-essay on this automobile that was 1-year younger than I was. In the right light, it was quite a fascinating car with its 1955 Chevy eyebrow lights and 1955 Lincoln Capri fenders. Still, something was missing.

The other day, I was passing by my old friend, the Oldsmobile, when I saw this pretty bride walking around outside of a building across the street, where she had just been married. I slammed on the breaks and jumped out. "Can I take your photo?" If I had a nickle for every time I had asked someone that question, I could afford a few more lenses.

After the bride agreed to pose in front of the car for me, the groom came out and I snapped a few photos, wished them a happy life, and went on my way, feeling that somehow I had acted as a "Time Lord", bringing together not only the past and the present, but the future as well. I am sure that in this car's history, some happy couple began a life together. With just a few clicks of my shutter, I had captured not only the past, but a new beginning for a couple that was about to embark on a trip into the future. Ah, the power of photography.

Thanks to this lovely couple, whose name I regretfully did not get. You are two of the many people who make my love of photography so enjoyable. In my many years as a photographer, I have had only a few people who have declined to be photographed.

To the happy couple: In the old days, your photo would have been turned into a negative and printed and filed away - at least in my busy world, or just filed away without being printed. In this new technological world of ours, you have forever become a part of history. I am happy to say that this photo is special enough to be include on my artistic blog, Photos of a Lifetime.

As many of you know, I have just starting digging into negatives from my prior years as a photojournalist, scanning them, and turning them into photos for posting on my second blog. Many of the negatives were never printed. When you work as a photojournalist, speed is of the essence. You take photos, develop the negatives, and pick out 1-6 that represent what the assignment is trying to say; You print them, and move on to the next assignment. It's a whirlwind job.

I hope that everyone continues to enjoy my Crisfield blog as well as my new blog that will focus on both past and present photos.