Creative Vision Of A Thirteen Year Old

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There is nothing more thrilling and rewarding than experiencing and nurturing the creative process in young creatives. Their vision of reality is truly boundless and they are not restricted by technique or form or structure like most adults. Young creatives experiment. Young creatives push boundaries. Young creatives are fearless. Unique and inspiring, the works of young creatives are truly captivating.

The images presented here were captured by one such young creative, my son Will. At the time these images were shot, Will was 13 years old. They were taken at a traveling exhibition that comes to our small, hometown airport annually every fall. The exhibition is called Wings of Freedom and it is funded and promoted by the Collins Foundation. It features three restored WWII warplanes as living history and includes a P-51 Mustang, a B-17 Flying Fortress, and a B-24 Liberator.

Will and I attend this exhibition almost every year. In the fall of 2011, I outfitted one of my older Canon 20D DSLRs with a Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens and handed it to Will. I gave him about 20 minutes of basic instruction on the finer points of its use and off we went to the Wings of Freedom tour.

It was a chilly fall day with lots of late afternoon sunshine, remembering back. We paid to get into the exhibition, parked the car, and hit the tarmac. The only guidance I gave Will was explore, play with the angles and light, and, above all else, have fun. Will stayed close to me for a time, but soon struck out on his own. We spent about two hours at the exhibition doing photography and viewing the warplanes and other WWII memorabilia.

Coming home, I uploaded Will's images to my file server, looked them over that evening, and then promptly forgot about them. Such is life... lol. A few days ago, however, Will and I rediscovered his images and I was immediately impressed and captivated by them. Pulling up a chair in my office and digital darkroom, Will and I began to work the images in Lightroom 4.

Captured by Will and worked by Dad, the images below are a joint venture between father and son. That said... Will did much of the work for me in-camera. I am extremely impressed with Will's eye along with his exposure and composition skills. Many of these images are shots and angles I would not have even tried. Yes, I helped Will work them in Lightroom, but they all are a product of his vision and reality as he saw them in the moment.

Enjoy!!

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Paper Trail:

This post was originally published on Kerrsplat.com, dated October 20, 2013.

Band of Brothers

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I recently finished re-watching HBO's, Band of Brothers. Band of Brothers is a ten-part miniseries that takes place during World War II. Based on the Stephen E. Ambrose's book of the same title, Band of Brothers follows the fictionalized history of Easy Company (part of the 506th Parachute Infranty Regiment, 101st Airborne Division) from training through the end of the war.

This viewing marks the forth time I have watched the series. The first time, I viewed it as it unfolded on HBO directly and it was captivating. I was completely enveloped by both the production and content of the miniseries. This time was no different. Every episode floods me with emotion. Every episode puts me there with the soldiers of Easy Company. Every episode, even the last, leaves me wanting more. 

On this viewing, I had the pleasure of watching it with my 15 year old son. We watched an episode a night. We waited until the rest of the family went to bed and then meet up in the family room. Taking our usual positions, me on a comfy sofa and my son in an overstuffed chair, we settled in for an hour or so of pure escape into a time and world that few now can remember. 

This was my son's first time watching Band of Brothers completely. He was filled with emotions and questions and wonder that made him think and ponder. A rare gift to a 15 year old. He was enthralled. I enjoyed watching him and his journey through the miniseries as much as I enjoyed my own. 

Band of Brothers… This miniseries is, without a doubt, one of the finest works to ever come out of Hollywood. It is a true cinematic masterpiece and a creative body of work that will stand the test of time. If you have not had the pleasure of seeing the miniseries, you should.

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Paper Trail:

This post was originally published on Kerrsplat.com, dated October 19, 2013.