Camp Tahkodah

 Every summer since 1992, I have spent at least one day at Camp Tahkokah shooting photos.  Josie is at camp this session and Jalen was at Camp last session.  Camp Tahkodah has been a blessing to me and especially to my kids.  I am really thankful for all the people that spend their summers out at camp investing in kids.

 I got lucky and caught the bullet.  I had fun taking a couple of turns shooting myself.

Camp tradition- you get thrown off the bridge if it is your birthday.

Josie and her cabin.

                   
I really enjoyed the basketball games.  This time I really enjoyed the basketball.  I sometimes miss shooting sports in the summer.

 Josie and her friends.

This is what happened when you asked Jordan Ashmore for water at the canteen.

Jalen went to Camp with me and he wanted a camera. His photos were not half bad.  "Not half bad" is code for really good.  It comes from Statler and Waldorf, the grumpy old men muppets.  One would say something "was not half bad" and the other one would respond "it was all bad."

                          

This is Jalen with my friend Sam Jeffrey.  

Back over Christmas break while the boys were out of school and Jackson was recovering from ACL surgery Jalen used Sam's name to win an argument.  The boys were fussing over something that really didn't matter and it eventually boiled down to Jalen saying at least my knee works and Jackson accusing Jalen of thinking he is tough because he has an Apple Watch and then said only sissies wear Apple Watches.  I was watercoloring at the time and had had enough of their nonsense and said so you calling Coach Simmons (HU football coach) a sissy?  It was a total bluff on my part as I have no idea what kind of watch Paul Simmons wears.  Jackson looked at me for a moment and then bluffed back at me with " is Coach Simmons the toughest guy you know?"  Jalen said, " I am pretty sure Sam Jeffrey is the toughest guy I know."  Argument over.

More Film

This past Saturday I went up to Camp Tahkodah for a dedication ceremony. I took my RF camera with me so I could keep up my summer resolution to shoot film. This is Denis Rine talking to the campers about what is important in life. Dennis has a different perspective on this as he has buried his daughter,Micah, this spring. Micah grew up at Camp Tahkodah in the summers. Her Grandparents worked there for years and Micah and her family would spend time there every summer. Dennis was telling the campers that even as her cousins fondly remember summers at Camp,ski trips and vacations at the lake and Micah being home for the holidays Micah had something that is more precious than that now. Micah had a relationship with God. Nothing is more important to Micah now than that one relationship. I wish we could all have that mentality. This life is brief for our bodies but our spirits will live eternally. We can control where we spend eternity only by how we live our life on earth. Micah was focused on her spiritual relationship with God and even though her death was untimely, we know she is now resting with her heavenly father.

On to lighter things now.


You can't leave camp in late afternoon light without taking a few photos.


I stopped a couple of times on the way home to shoot things that caught my eye on the side of the road. I always find it hard to pass up Black Eyed Susans but I must admit that it is just not the same to shoot them in B&W. I really loved this fence post as well.
This week I have been at the UPAA Symposium at Jamestown Community College in Jamestown , NY. We shot a baseball game Monday night and I got a couple of photos that I liked. I really loved this old guy keeping his book as the game progressed. I took his photo and I don't think he even knew I was there.

I hope you enjoy the photos. I am having fun with my summer film project and I am having a great time with my UPAA buddies. But I hope more than anything that we keep the memory of Micah alive through that Gazebo and Bell that were dedicated at Camp and that we can learn from her the value of being a child of God.

Summer Camp

Jenna, Jamie and Jackson are headed to camp today. This is the first year for Jackson and I think he is excited. He has his video camera packed and his headlamp flashlight. My niece,Casey, is coming to go to camp with Jamie. Camp Tahkodah is run by Harding and the director is Ross Cochran one of Harding's Bible Professors. Ross and Nita have run camp for the last several years and they do a great job. I look forward to the time when I can go and spend the week at camp with all the kids myself.
PHOTO NOTE: The top photo is a real Polaroid. I was inspired by watching the movie Martian Child to shoot some Polaroid film before it is gone forever. I got my Polaroid camera from Julie. She took a pre-school seminar on using photography in the class room several years ago when she worked for the educational co-op in Bebee. I have a couple of other Polaroid cameras and HU has a Polaroid back for its Bronica 645 camera.

Tahkodah Mess hall