Happy Independence Day Weekend

It was a busy week of theatre photography, Gen Con photography prep, travel, and contemplation. Those theatre photography shoots will have to wait, but I can talk about those other things in the meantime.

Gen Con Photography Prep

Distant Era is returning to Gen Con for more character portraiture. If you’re going to be at Gen Con and you’re interested in doing a mini session, please let us know! Here’s an example of our work from previous years.

Travel

In Michigan we had the opportunity to see some spectacular sunsets, stars, and fireworks. I decided not to try to capture the starry sky this year, but I did stand outside and use the old Star Walk app on my phone to identify different constellations. Living in a big city, the one thing I miss the most is stars. We can only see a few here, and looking up at the night sky always feels so peaceful. On the other hand, I live right off Lake Michigan, and there’s something to be said for that as well.

I also had the opportunity to teach some board games over the weekend. Pictured below is Amun Re, which I lost pretty soundly.

And we got to try out a barbecue place we always used to pass on the road. Finally stopped and tried it out. Ended up with barbecue and peanut-butter-chocolate fudge. Fully satisfied.

Contemplation, Independence

There’s a lot to think about these days. Too much. Over the weekend, I taught my nephew a game called 1775: Rebellion. The game provides a great summary of the events leading up to the American Revolution and covers the course of the war in broad strokes. I’ve also been reading The Armor of Light, by Ken Follett, which takes place just after the American Revolution, during the French Revolution and Napoleon’s rule. But it’s also set at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and throughout the story, the workers struggle against a rapidly changing world where they’re being replaced by machines.

I’m also rereading The Flashman Papers, by George MacDonald Fraser. Or rather, I’m listening to them on audiobook. There’s nothing quite like having an eyewitness account of the major disasters of the nineteenth century through the eyes of such a cad, rake, and ne’er do well as Harry Flashman. We finished the seventh Flashman novel on this trip, the most “American” of the Flashman Papers. The way Fraser describes the West and how it changes between 1849 and 1876 made it seem an appropriate choice for our Independence Day weekend travels.