Sandy Supposes....

Stop, Snap and Stroll

         Emily, my middle grandgiggle, has discovered a new passion.Photography piques her interest. My role is to chauffeur her around, or in modern parlance I uber her from shoot to shoot. I also act as crowd control, site scout, equipment monitor,keen-eyed observer, enthusiastic-approver-of-each-shot, snack provider, and a sounding board. Basically, I'm her shadow. I trail along in the background at her beck and call.

         Strolling along a rock-walled waterfront one gloriously sunny afternoon, dodging others intent on partaking of fresh air and a dose of Vitamin D, I espied a gash in one of the immense boulders that cried out for Em to explore it. On closer inspection, she discovered a hole , a two-inch hole that seemed to have been bored straight through like a port hole and framed a peek of the lake. She hunkered down to snap a few pics from this rock's perspective and captured its glinting metallic veins splashed by the restless waves. When we viewed her efforts the hole in the foreground resembled a damp tunnel leading to a body of water. I christened our find 'Emily's hole' and considered out loud whether I should post it to social media with this title. Of course, I kidded. I respect Em's privacy, I'm just that kind of Nanna.

         Inukshuks originally beckoned us to stop and snap images of their rugged beauty set against the wind swept backdrop of the lake. Creative types have balanced stones and rocks atop each other to fashion several of these inukshuks and then placed them along the winding wall. No two are alike and they exude personality. A pair resemble side-by-side dancers frozen in a spin. A few are squat while others stretch on spindly legs to the sky.

         Curious Emily stuck her lens into buzzing blossoms exposing fuzzy-looking bumble bees dusted in pollen. A white lilac appeared as popcorn in her view. Pink and mauve petals duplicated stars.A kaleidescope of colours caught her discerning eye. Reds, yellows, oranges glowed.She captured the roiling, bubbling surf of crashing waves.

         On another of our forays we recovered an abandoned red double-decker bus, a die cast replica, from a wooden bench. It became the subject, the focal point of her photos. She and I had great fun scouting unusual sites for that toy vehicle. It modelled in the sand and the surf. It perched in a vibrant green pine tree. It hid in the shadow of a tangled thicket. It balanced atop an inukshuk. It swung precariously on a swing. Emily preferred close-ups and the size of this bus became skewed. On the face of it, this bus seemed to be traversing rocky terrain under an azure sky.

         Inspiration struck a couple of days ago, and once again I accompanied my grandgiggle as she filmed slo-mo video of her little red bus in action. I suppose I acted as the stunt coordinator / equipment wrangler. Okay, I was the schlep. As per her instructions, I climbed a slide and released the unsuspecting bus at her command. Squatting at the slide's exit point Em captured the bus careening in its descent, flipping in mid air and spiralling into a crash. The best shots saw the out of control bus slam into the camera. I thought it could be how disaster scenes of a tornado are filmed. Who manages to send a full-size bus spinning through the air? Perhaps Em has a future career as a special affects creator?

         At the moment, Emily is enrolled in an integrated art program which is gobbledy-gook for a photography course. Each day she receives assignments and sets her imagination soaring. Her reluctant dogs have been subjects. Various household paraphanelia such as coloured pencils, clips, books, and more has been incorporated into her shots. Pine cones, dandelions, chipmunks, house flies, and blades of grass pose for her pics. Yesterday's project asked her to take a selfie with script.

         "I'm not scribbling on my body with permanent markers," Emily exclaimed.

         I commiserated. Once was enough for me and I only did it to amuse girls at a Girl Guide camp. The cartoon faces I drew stayed with me for two weeks. I guess they were my temporary tattoos.

         We had to be creative and resourceful. I'm now ensconced for the summer in my camp trailer and supplies are limited. I do keep a bag of Sharpies here, but as per Em's wishes, they were not to be used on her skin. After much thought and a looming deadline, I rummaged around in the craft supply cupboard, ( every self-respecting Nanna has one), and found self-adhesive flower stickers made of coloured foam. I adhered them to my sunglasses and we wrote ' i c u' on them. Next we loped down to the beach and I snapped photos of my grandbaby. This represents her shyness and her keen eye. She is always observing. Even if she thinks she is somewhat hidden behind a pair of sunglasses she is watching and well aware of what's transpiring around herself.

          True critical teenager that she is, Em demanded I not take a photo of her profile. She has decided she does not like the shape of her nose at that angle. I'm just the loving Nanna and the photography assistant. Emily is gorgeous, but what do I know? I possess almost fifteen years worth of photos to prove my unbiased point.