Last year was a crazy year for me as it started with a doctor telling me I had Hodgkin s Lymphoma (cancer) and that it was stage 4. This pretty much rocked mine and my families world at that time. One of the first things that I worried about was all my photography commitments for that year. I had weddings booked, engagement sessions that need to be shot, senior pictures needing done and I was unsure how long it would be before the chemo would get me down. You see while Hodgkins is one of the more treatable cancers it is one of the worst treatments to have to go through so I knew it was going to be rocky ride.
I was able to get a good friend from Dallas, Mark Arnold of Mark Arnold Foto to handle my weddings for me. While I had to cancel a couple of senior shoots. I was able to complete the engagement sessions before my health went south. But there was one shoot I knew I had to do if possible
Just a week or so before I got my news American Profile magazine had contacted me about working for them as a photographer on a story they were covering on a Mrs. Roxanne Daniels from Camden, AR who was the one who started the Camden Daffodil Festival held each spring in March. I had never been asked to shoot editorial pics for a magazine before as I primarly do wedding and senior pictures, but I really wanted to add this to my resume. However the shoot was to be right after my 3rd chemo. When festival time rolled around my hair was mostly gone and my strength was on the downfall, but I knew I needed to keep my commitment and work through this shoot.
When I met Ms Roxanne I found out she was a breast cancer survivor for many years, but that now she was battling another form of cancer. Her son had told me priot to the shoot it was be a game time decision whether she would be able to go into the fields etc for pictures as her health varied from day to day. Luckily we were both having good days and got through it together. She was such a wonderful person and inspiration. I will never forget my day with her listening to her talk about her fields of Daffodils and how it all started for her and the festival.
At the end of day we were both tired. She wished me luck, told me to keep a positive attitude while going through my treatments and then sent me home with a huge bouquet of Daffodils for my wife. Which reminds me, I gotta return her vase!! Oh... The good news is I have been in remission for 7 months now and loving life more than ever.
I was asked not to blog these pics until American Profile had an opportunity to run their story which happen to have been last Sunday. American Profile is a magazine much like Parade that comes in our local Sunday papers with a circulation of 10.4 million copies delivered each week. It's editorial mission is to write about the positive and uplifting aspects of American life. Passing on those stories that are negative, sensational or blatantly controversial, their stories embody the spirit, values and sense of place found in the smaller communities of America. You can read about Mrs Daniels and her garden story by clicking here to go to the American Profile Magazine website
Below are just a few of images from that day and my pictures do not do her fields justice. They are one of those things you just have to witness for yourself. While not my best work as it was difficult shooting with the noon day sun blasting down on us in the middle of a field,not being 100% and an unseasonably warm day but they do remind me of where I was and where I am now and looking at the images while you see an elderly woman with her fields of daffodils I see a couple of surivors that are enjoying life.
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