A Birthday Homage

Happy years pass so quickly and the last 25 years have flown by - that's how many years my wagon has been hitched to this man's. We've been together 25 years and married 20, but that's not what I'm celebrating today, I'm celebrating his birthday which in fact was five days ago.

As I've been organizing my photography files (thanks to Lightroom), I added the keywood "Peter" to every image that he was in and at the end of the day I found I could quickly pull up a collection of nearly 700 images that showed him at one point or another during our life together. Some are humerous, some are handsome, and nearly every one shows him with a camera of one sort or another in hand - on the beaches in the Hamptons, New England, California, Puerto Rico, or Normandy; at events like a photography workshop in Venice, a cooking class in Provence, an antique car show in Water Mill, or a balloon festival in the Adirondacks; or simply walking the streets of the cities and villages of North America and Europe.

Over the years Peter has photographed everything from air shows to horse shows, from orca whales to bumble bees, from national landmarks to local soap box derbies, and food - I must add food. As we've traveled around I've found I needed to some how explain to those sitting at tables next to us in restaurants why I haven't started eating when our food arrives. "Well, you see," I say, "It doesn't go in my mouth, until he's photographed it." It's true - "the proof is in the pudding" or so they say.

Loving to be outdoors, I have coaxed Peter out of many a warm, dry living room or hotel room to venture forth and see what we might capture. We've been hip high in snow drifts on the beach, battered by driving snow in Paris on Christmas Eve, pummeled by the rain and wind of numerous hurricanes, and warmed by the gentle sea breezes and sun in the Bahamas. No one, particularly me, could call Peter just a "fair weather friend".

This collection of images demonstrates Peter's fun nature, his insatiable curiosity, and his pure determination to capture the image he wants under any circumstances, whether it's facing the Atlantic's waves or on bended knees inside an architectural wonder. Always good company, this man is not only my husband but my very best friend.

So this is my homage to the man I love for his birthday this year. I hope you enjoy it too.

 

Photos and Slide Show © 2014 Claudia Ward
Music: "Someday My Prince Will Come" by Dave Brubeck

 

Comments

[Nancy Karp]

Wow..your words and the photos and the music say it all. What a beautiful, special relationship you have-You two are so lucky to have each other!

[Nancy Lanzoni]

Coco, what a wonderful birthday montage for your hubby. The love you share for each other as well as for the camera lens comes through loud and clear. It made me smile the whole time! Nancy

[Ally de Groat]

wow, you have a lot of great photos here claudia and some amazing locations you have visited together. It must have been hard to edit them- nice music too.

[Carol Hance]

Wow truly a great birthday love letter and very well deserved! Happy Birthday, Peter

Carol

[Valérie Jardin]

Happy birthday Peter!