Thursday, April 15, 2010

Changing Seasons: My Last Spring


"I hate that sadness in your eyes,
But Angie, Angie,
Ain't it time we said goodbye?"

My headphones echoed as I sat on a wooden bench bequeathed by some wealthy couple in hopes of getting their underachieving offspring accepted to college. Focusing the lens on the edge of the tongue, I took a second look through the viewfinder and tossed my dirty white buck in the air.

The shutter of my camera thwaapped like an automatic Nerf gun as the buck hung for an instant, suspended a few feet above the recently exposed grass and then awkwardly flopped back down. What started as a means to pass time seven seasons ago, grew and evolved into a defining part of my life. At first, I waited to tell my friends and family of my new crush, deliberating until the spark caught and I knew it wasn't another one of my many short lived and often unrealistic excitements.

Something was different. Maybe I was mature enough to stay committed for more than a few weeks, or maybe I had found something that fit my intense and stubborn personality. Telling myself it was both, I dove in like an eight year old into Karate classes, hoping that one day I too could chop bricks in half and wear a black belt.

As the seasons marched on, I muscled through the slow and enjoyed the best, leaving my aspirations of business school and board meetings behind like a beleaguering ex-girlfriend. Motivated by a new passion that fueled my curiosity and confident in the success of my new experiences, I started acting on more impulses and seized opportunities with the disregard of a love-struck teenager.

Before I knew it, a few coincidental activities became routine and I was captivated by something that I never knew existed a year before. I enjoyed the security of finding strength in something created by passion and creativity, yet available to only a few.

As the situational end of my relationship with Maine and the free time necessary to work on photography and write for my blog marched forward two posts a week at a time, I slowly started to realize how fortunate I am to have had them. Like with any tasty beverage, I didn't realize how good it was until the last sip.

I waited and rationalized like the inevitable end to a serious relationship. "Tomorrow the sky will be brighter and the grass greener," I told myself a few dozen times after the last hope of winter died early in March. Finally, on Tuesday, I packed a lone British Walker White buck in size 13 into my pack along with my Canon 5d Mark II and biked to school. Sitting by myself on the wooden bench, turned on Angie by the Rolling Stones and pulled out my camera.

"Come on baby dry your eyes
But Angie, Angie,
Ain't it good to be alive?"

Here are some more links,
Changing Seasons (Picasa),
Changing Seasons (ART).

19 comments:

ian durkin said...

nice post friend ! a/s/l ?

Foster Huntington said...

Thank you bri! 22/male/Waterville Maine haha

Anonymous said...

good stuff, foster.

Foster Huntington said...

Brian,
Thanks for the kind words. coming from you, it means a lot. btw, Ian Durkin is a good friends from midd,
foster

Keenan Jay said...

i love these.

Foster Huntington said...

thanks keenan. hope your last spring at catlin is going well,
foster

TFKoP said...

Best wishes! I look forward to the direction you take with your blog in your next life advencha.

--joe
orono, maine

Foster Huntington said...

Joe,
thanks for you kind words and loyal readership. I am going to do my best to keep the blog updated but i dont know how much time i will have,
foster

Anonymous said...

I stumbled onto your site while googling for anything about the Ricoh AF-5 and I found my way to this!

These flying-shoe shots are surreal and brilliant. Lovely.

(Looks like film. Is it film? Or clever post-processing?)

Foster Huntington said...

Ricoh Af-5 i an awesome little camera, do you have one? thanks for the kind words about my blog. it means a lot to me. I shoot with Canon 5d Mark II. The full-frame gives a great dynamic range and has very rich colors.
foster

Anonymous said...

Pretty much. Today, I got a free Sears M35 in the post, which is the same as the AF-5, just without a self-timer.

I do have a question for you here: how loud should the autofocus be on that little camera? Mine's absolutely silent, and I don't know if that's because it's broken (I'm way too used to SLRs to believe that something can be both quiet and working, heh heh). It'd be nice to find that out *before* I stick a roll of film through it.

You're welcome for the kind words, as well as most deserving of them; I'm digging through your archives here and you are quite consistently awesome. :)

Foster Huntington said...

My ricoh focuses pretty vast and is very quite from what i remember. have you shot it yet? develop a roll of film and you will defiantly see if it is working. The one thing i will say about the ricoh as its minimum focal distance is pretty long. dont try to get any close ups with it,
foster

Sam said...

Holy shit! I'M talented???

Sam said...

This is badass, Foster. I can't believe how great these are.

Foster Huntington said...

Yes sam, you are supper tallented. I can't believe how good your two blogs look. I am glad you like my flying shoes. I like how simple alterations of the same image with different components can tell a story about growth and change. I am adding a link to your blog on my sidebar. I spent half an hour catching up on your work and then emailed your pages to anyone I thought would be interested. You have an amazing eye,
foster

Miron Dimas said...

Been listening to Angie since I first read this post. had to come back to comment. Definitely black belted and brick chopping.
Good luck with everything,
miron

Foster Huntington said...

Miron,
nothing like chopping and blackbelting to angie. thanks for the kind words,
foster

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