Nothing screams group photo to me more than a room full of toddlers! Here’s a recent attempt from a “baby reunion” at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Hope you find it as entertaining as I do!

Or is it summer?! Franklin Square in Syracuse is among the places in Central New York that have come into full bloom this past week. Magnolias have always been a favorite of mine, and they were in their glory with the 80 degree temps this weekend!

In 2004, when I worked as a photographer for the Finger Lakes Times, we started a weekly photo column called “Behind the Photograph” pairing a single image with a narrative of the person, or event, or circumstances surrounding it. It was a chance for the “eyes of the newspaper” to have a voice, and something that the chief photographer Spencer Tulis and I poured our hearts into week after week. It stayed alive for quite some time, even after I left the paper in 2007, and when I opened the FLTimes today, I found the column back again under a new name. I started thinking about the wonderful people and stories I discovered with Behind the Photo and thought what better a time to share some of those that meant the most to me than now. I’ll start with my first and share more as time goes on!

BEHIND THE PHOTO — I first met Alfred Cobb in July. His pale yellow Mercury Grand Marquis rolled by while I was photographing two kids on West River Road in Waterloo. The kids were happy as could be splashing and chasing one another in a pool of standing water, oblivious to the 89-year-old man who stopped his car and purposefully trekked across the street in their direction.

He was genuinely concerned for them, worried about possible contamination of the water from recent runoff.

“You boys shouldn’t be playing in there,” he warned with a scowl, pointing his walking stick to the farmer’s overflowing field next door.

Farming runs back several generations in Cobb’s family. The old-fashioned kind of farming. The kind without pesticides and insecticides. He remembers the kind of farming where land was cleared by hand and prosperity was found in the 25-mile wagon trip to the chancy streets of New York City where you had to “watch your back” for thieves.

“They had to bale the hay (to the truck) using a crow bar and ratchet. If you didn’t, they’d take the hay,” said Cobb, remembering the precautions his granddad took on overnight stays in the big city. Cobb was born on his grandfather’s vegetable farm in Massapequa, Long Island, where his mother had been raised. Once or twice a week, his grandfather would make the trip to the market to sell his seasonal goods.

“It was a dirt road. Took two teams to pull the wagon,” said Cobb. One was sent back home once the wagon reached the paved road. “Somewhere on the way there was a hill. A man stood on the hill and charged ‘em 50 cents to pull ‘em up the hill,” he said. “Fifty cents was big money then,” he added, mumbling to himself for a bit, curious what that would be today. “Ten, maybe even 20 bucks,” he concluded.

Money is not something that comes easily to farmers in this country, Cobb said. He compared the industry to climbing out of a well – climb, climb, fall and climb again. “You don’t believe that do you?” he said with a tone of disbelief.

During the depression, Cobb remembers working for his grandfather for free. “I was big for my age. I could outwork 80 percent of the men at 16. I used to be 6′2″ in my stocking feet,” said Cobb, who maintains a solid 6-foot stature 73 years later. Take a drive down West River Road and chances are you’ll see him out working in the yard, wearing his signature engineer’s cap.

“I cut wood. I garden. I sell produce on a stand in the summer – tomatoes, peppers, vegetables,” Cobb said. “I’m 89. I got a broken back, but I can probably outwork most the young people,” he added with a smile.

Post-script : For a while I continued to see Alfred hard at work in his yard, but he has since passed away. I imagine him up there with that walking stick, still watching over the neighbors’ kids.

Here’s a peek at a wedding album I’ve been working on for two very special friends! They married last year with a fairy tale wedding at Casa Loma in Toronto. It was a perfect day and a beautiful event! Cheers to you both!

I cannot get over what an incredible voice Catherine Russell has. I’m not even sure how to describe it besides intoxicating. Daughter to jazz legend Luis Russell, she performed last night at the Palace Theatre in Syracuse where I could have stayed all night listening to her sing! It was a great assignment to say the least. I thought I’d share a couple of photos from the show, along with a few other faces you might recognize from past concerts in the area. More photos of Russell are posted on Syracuse.com.

Catherine Russell

Dave Matthews

Dave Matthews

Norah Jones

Gym Class Heroes

Gym Class Heroes

Chaka Khan

Fergie

Fergie

Rascal Flatts

And (b/c he deserves a disproportionate number of photos!) Dave Matthews

Signs of spring, an equestrian, Easter traditions, Syracuse University fashion, surprised sheep … some of my favorites from recent shoots!