Photographing Family - Brewster, MA - Cape Cod 2024
Ten years ago I stepped foot on “The Lane” for the first time. I was invited to my then-future-wife’s family getaway on the bay in Brewster, MA for the weekend. She and her family have been coming to the same little cottage, the Minot, for 31 summers. I can’t quite remember what Cassie told me about it, but I’m pretty sure she uttered the phrase “best place on Earth” at least once.
Soon after arriving, I realized I didn’t get it. Sure it was pretty…but let’s go do some stuff. Didn’t I see some go-karts in South Dennis? Isn’t P-Town a short drive from here? Unfortunately, I was just a passenger on this trip and my vote held little sway.
I learned quickly that the agenda for the next few days was to unpack, get a beach chair, pour a cocktail, take a seat on the beach, and don’t move. Every attempt was made to avoid driving back down that dirt road filled with bunny rabbits…back into the real world.
It may have taken a year or two, but now I understand that on the ever-eroding coastline of Cape Cod, there may not be a more wonderful patch of land. I can close my eyes and imagine every little bit of it. The long grass, the rocks under my feet. The weathered cedar siding and wood floors burnished from decades of shuffling sandy feet. Lobster dinners from Breakwater Fish Market, fish and chips from JT’s, and buttery baked clams (which we may or may not have gathered ourselves) blend into one coherent story in this home away from home.
While I do still try to shake things up a bit by bringing some new cooking appliance or recipe to try, and I will leave the lane for morning golf and date nights with Cass, now I know one thing for sure: soak up every minute you’ve got at the Minot.
Each year we bring a camera, but this was the first year I seriously considered not bringing it so I could take a well-earned photography break. It’s complicated having your old creative hobby turn into your primary money maker. I think chefs probably know that the best. They might cook confit duck and hundred dollar steaks all day long and then go eat at McDonald’s because the idea of cooking for yourself feels overwhelming.
To be honest, I’ve been waiting for that feeling to come. Sure I’ve only been full time for a few years but I’ve been shooting for a decade or more. This is the perfect timing for me to go and find something new to do. I’ve always hopped around from job to job, getting to a pretty good level and then losing the passion or getting bored or a little combination of all that. Am I destined to do that with photography? That has been a real worry in the back of my mind for a few years.
In the end, I decided I would bring my camera, but with a few goals:
Avoid using anything but natural light,
Shoot as much as possible on my typically least used lens (a 35mm), and
Experiment with my camera settings.
With these rules in mind, I would be challenging myself to have fun with my camera, rather than using it as a tool.
To make a long story short…I shot a lot and for a ton of reasons. First, the light was just really pretty. Without a flash to use, I started looking harder at the light that was shining in each window throughout the day. Also, it was Theo’s first visit to the cottage and I wanted some good photos for our family albums. Finally, it was a bittersweet anniversary for Cass and I, as just the summer before, we first found the lump that would flip over our lives, right there in the Minot. So I picked up my camera more than I thought.
After spending this solid one-on-one time with my camera on vacation, I can say I don’t see the finish line any time soon. I’m proud to see my growth as a photographer these past years, and it's wonderful that as I continue to go into deeper waters, the vastness of the potential to create beautiful images just keeps growing too. Even if I ever grow tired of working in one area of photography, I can think of several other areas which I’m super interested in and require whole new skill sets. I can become an absolute amateur again in this field just by changing my subject. That might be true of other professions, but I’m so happy it's true of photography.
Something about that paradigm gives me real comfort. There is a lifetime of knowledge and no upper limit on how good I can be at my job. Plus, I’m my own supervisor…the judgment of whether my work is good or not comes from inside me. Rick Rubin said, “All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.” I love how simple that is and also how it sums up a lifetime of effort towards pursuing that one thing.
I love these images and I’m excited to share them with you. Each one is special to me in its own way - I’d love to hear which ones are your favorite. Tell me below in the comment section!
