I'm not yet saying goodbye to summer, but I'm preparing for it. Although it's still warm, the kids are back to school, Labor Day has passed, and I've seen a few red leaves. It's hard to accept.

Summer is my favorite time of year in Rhode Island. Who am I kidding? Summer is my favorite season, period.

I grew up on Lake Erie, where the only dependably pleasant months were June through September. While Rhode Island is very different, it too suffers from too much cold and snow for my taste and shares a summertime built around the water. Our family took full advantage of the water--surfing, sailing, and playing on the beach when we weren't in a pool.

I'd like to share what Sea Green Photography did on its summer vacation. After a winter and early spring getting my business affairs in order, I devoted summer to exhibiting my non-portrait work and photographing families.

In July and August, my art prints were featured in the Bristol-Warren Art Night tour. Because I typically feature portrait work on my website and Facebook page, I was thrilled to be able to show my personal work. Inspired by the event, I now have many of these photos available for purchase on my website as art prints.

The exhibit was a great opportunity that inspired some positive business changes, but the real success of the summer was my family portrait work. I had the pleasure to meet families on the beach, in their backyards, and even in their friends' backyards. I photographed friends, acquaintances, and families visiting from out of town. Most importantly, I photographed a lot of fun and laughter.

As a photographer, the obvious part of my job is to find the best of any location and plan the session for the best light. Those things contribute to great photos, but they aren't the most important things.

The most important skills I bring to a shoot are people skills. I need to get to know my subjects, often in a short amount of time. I need to make them comfortable in the situation, and I need to draw out natural expressions and interactions between family members. Hopefully, I also can make them smile, or perhaps even belly laugh.

After a glance through the laughter and love in my summer client work, I declare it a success.

The days are getting shorter and will soon be getting cooler. We New Englanders will layer our clothes, gather around soccer fields with warm drinks, and start planning for the long, cold winter ahead. I will be there with my camera to record it.

When our kids are sweltering in classrooms, it's hard to think about fall colors and holiday cards, but those things are not so far away. If you hope to have family portraits taken this fall for gifts or holiday cards, please call soon to book a session before my calendar is full.

I wanted to create today, but I was stymied. I had free time, but not enough for a full-fledged photography adventure. When I looked at the readily available subjects in my house, yard, and neighborhood, I bored myself.

Standing in my kitchen surrounded by dirty dishes, laundry, and a cluttered kitchen table, I discovered a solution--clutter. I would photograph what our house looks like on a random Wednesday. I allowed myself only the fifteen minutes remaining on the muffins in the oven and set a rule that I could not move or manipulate anything.

I knew the results would show that we are untidy, but I didn't expect them to show so much more about us. In addition to being clutterers, we are many things.

We are artists.

We are musicians.

We defy categorization and are a bit odd.

We are swimmers.

And if our clutter is to be believed, more than anything else, we are readers.

Knowing that our messes speak volumes about us makes me feel better about the state of things here. So much so that I may have a muffin and read a novel instead of folding those towels.