Tandem Bike Photography

Matt and Lana: Enaged

2010-09-04T09:08:00.001-07:00

I love engagement pictures.
Especially when the engaged couples are among my closest friends.

Poor Matt had such a hard time opening his eyes in all that bright sunlight.
But it turned out pretty nice, no?

We took the photos down on the banks of Utah lake, where Matthew proposed to Lana.
But not in the actual location, since a very non-photogenic tent had been set up there and was filled with children eating hot dogs and wishing they could have a bonfire for s'mores.

Not a terribly romantic background.

Beautiful Girls

2010-07-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took some pictures for the BYU Women's Services Office for their Beauty Campaign, which will be launched this fall.
Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I seriously stared at these shirts for an entire minute.
"Be a... What is that?" I thought. "What is a Utiful and how can I be one?"

When I learned to read I decided that I love this shirt, and am definitely going to try to get one come fall. They'll be giving them away to girls who participate in challenges, like going without makeup for a week, or not weighing themselves.
Since I don't own a scale I KNOW I can do that one at least.

And speaking of Beautiful, check out the lovely ladies:

28 days in Africa

2010-07-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

A picture for every day?

And maybe a story for each one.
I admit it, much of the time we spent over the last month in Africa I didn't have my camera with me at all.

I have excuses though.
1. After working so hard all day lugging the 7D around for film, we didn't want to have it on our free time. Using that heavy camera became a chore.
2. We wanted to experience Africa as best we could, and I learned that you have a very different experience if you are taking pictures of things instead of doing, eating, smelling or wearing them.
3. People stopped us constantly when we had the camera asking us to take their picture and bring it back to them. We tried to as often as we could, but really it was a pain.

So some of these pictures are taken on the same days! Oh no!

1.
It would seem wrong to start this photo flood with a picture of someone besides Osito.

Osito was one of our drivers. He told us he was 26, but he also said he thought he was born in 1987. So we don't know how old he is. (I don't think HE knows either)

Osito has, as he mournfully told me the first time we met, "never even touched an aeroplane," yet his greatest ambition is to be a famous singer in America. If he becomes a famous singer in America then he will send his giant fortune to a Kilifi orphanage.

This is a picture he asked me to take to go on the cover of his Demo Cd.

If you are wondering, Osito's "band" is really a small gospel choir.

He is not the main singer, but intends to be the only one photographed for their cover.

Oh Osito, I love you. But you also drove me nearly crazy.
2.
This is Squeegee, our favorite wiggly skinny little puppy. He did have fleas, but we still let him in our room and I carried him around quite a bit.

I couldn't help it. Have you ever seen such a cute little guy? He is also the puppy that I mentioned being harassed by monkeys in Kilifi. I'm glad to say that he is still alive and well.
3.

This is my cute husband filming a burning pile of trash.

First, imagine the worst smell you have ever smelled.

Now set it on fire.

There isn't a garbage system in Kenya (or most of Africa, I think.) So people throw their garbage in the woods, or if that's too big of a pain, they burn it.

4.
This is Kilifi! Doesn't it look just perfect?

Yes, the picture below is also Kilifi, combine them into a rural and gorgeous town and you got Kilifi.
5.

This picture was taken from the BoatYard, a little tourist restaurant that served absurdly delicious crab samosas, while you sat with your feet in perfect white sand, shaded by palm trees, and looked out at the sun setting over the Indian Ocean.

Can we talk about ideal? This was our special treat for our last day in Kenya.

We went with our friends Leah and Rajiv, our personal Kenyan tour guides, they introduced us to our favorite parts of Kilifi, like the people, and the alleyway market, and --of course-- crab samosas.
6.

This is Osito again, in front of his Tuk Tuk. It's basically a motorized rig-shaw. He would drive us around town in it for super cheap.

I said to him, "Osito, can I take your picture in the Tuk Tuk so my family can see what it looks like?"

"Of course, of course!" he said

So I took a picture of him sitting in the Tuk Tuk seat.

"One more," he said, and he got out and crouched down next to the front.

"Another?" he asked, posing in the above position.

"Would it trouble you to take just one more?" he asked.

A dozen photos later and I am confident that I have pictures of both Osito and the Tuk Tuk from nearly every angle.
7.

We had a bonfire on the beach one night and it was a blast. Luckily Rajiv and Travis were both boy scouts or we never would have gotten the fire started it was so windy! We ended up all crouched and huddled around it, holding a blanket over our heads to block the wind. When the papers and sticks finally caught fire my eyebrows (and everyone else's) were nearly burned off.

Lots of teeny tiny crabs (think nickel-sized) would venture near to see the fire, but become frightened and try to scurry away.

But the boys kept herding the scuttling little guys into the fire where they would scream, start to bubble, and then die.

Then the boys would pull the crab out and eat it! they said it was pretty good, but I was too squeamish to have a bite.

8.
I think this monkey is in the Nairobi airport, although I assure you they were everywhere.

The guards in the airport absolutely hated them, but they kept sneaking in somehow.

9.
This is Osito's band. Can you see him back there?

We have his cd if you would like a copy, and if you are feeling generous I think Osito would love to get a few US dollars in the mail.

He might even donate it to a near-by orphanage.

10.
This picture was taken in Uganda at one of HELP Internationals Eye Camps. HELP pays for doctors and nurses who come to very rural places and give out free eye glasses and perform dozens of cataract surgeries.

Travis made good friends with the man above and followed him through the whole procedure.

He spoke very good English for living somewhere so rural.

11.
This is us at the NILE river. We were right near the head of it, visiting some pretty little falls.

I have never been anywhere that is mentioned in the Bible, and I know it was silly, and we were very far from Egypt, but it was a very neat experience to see the Nile.

I just kept thinking about Moses, and after I thought of that (of course) I felt the need to take off my shoes.

And then I finally understood (I think) how sweet it was for Christ to wash the apostles feet. Since every day we came home and our feet were dirty and sweaty and aching, but mostly dirty, and I would have to sit down in our disgusting cold shower and try to rub my feet semi-clean.

And sitting there at the Nile with water washing over my feet just felt so heavenly.

12
This man is at another Eye Camp.

Travis took this picture.

Isn't it gorgeous?

13.

This is me.

14.

This is our driver Peter, who, if you've read other posts in Africa you will know was a very good friend.

When we were in Uganda he actually called us and once I was on the phone said "Becky, please. I miss you so much. Please, please return to Kenya."

"I would like to," I said.

"Then please come back. Come back now if you can."

It's nice to have friends who want you to visit.

15.
Remember when we broke down in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere in the middle of Kenya.

We took some pretty long-exposure shots.

You seriously wouldn't believe the stars you can see in Africa.

16.
Remember when the Kenyan women couldn't stop laughing at me? They helped me tie my skirt and then babbled on in Swahili and then laughed until they cried?

These are a few from the group. The girl in the black and green is the one who finally helped me.

17.
This is a photo from when Rajiv and Leah and Travis and I had dinner with Kadzo and Bahati and they gave me my Kenyan name and then showed us their farm --which we would have destroyed if they let us keep working on it.

These are the mud huts they live in and you can see their make-shift tables and communal plates.

It was perfect. I want to do it again.

Today.

18.
This is Elvis, Bahati's baby. All of the babies (and I even saw children who were at least three r four) are carried around like this. The fabric used is the same fabric they use as skirts (Kangas) and often the woman will wear a skirt that matches her baby-carrier.

19.
This is Kadzo and Bahati laughing at someone (I think Leah) trying to hoe.

Don't be fooled though, they laughed much harder when I tried to hoe.

Repeatedly they took the hoe away from me and tried to reshow me how it's done.

And repeatedly I failed.

20.

This is just a little baby tree.

And little baby me.
Doesn't it make you think of Fern Gully?

21.
This was in Uganda, at the footall tournament HELP held between several local primary schools.
Travis was doing a time lapse over the hill of the sun rising, and then of kids running up one by one until the field was thronged. Once these kids realized the camera was taking pictures on its own, they would stand in front and then run behind it to see their picture when it flashed on the screen and then run back to have another taken of themselves.
Smart little guys.

22.
This is a picture of our friend, Wilson. Wilson had us come meet and interview several women who had AIDs. This was the 6month old baby of one woman (the baby didn't have HIV/AIDs, but was seriously malnourished.)
She was so sweet and I held her while her mom interviewed... that is, until the baby peed all over me, (no disposable diapers in Africa) and then I passed the baby off to grandma.

23.
This is Mapensie, and her little sister Monika. Neither little girl could understand me, and I couldn't understand them, but they were so sweet. They followed us around with all the other kids in Kilifi, but tended to hang on the outskirts of the group.
When I learned all their names, I kept calling Mapensie, Mckenzie.
The kids laughed and laughed and Mapensie was seriously embarrassed, so whenever I saw her after that I always made sure to say "Hello Mapensie!" and she would smile and say nothing, but all the other kids were jealous I remembered her name.

24.
This picture was taken at a Muslim primary school during one of HELPs school festivals. They had the best school uniforms of any African school we went to (and we went to A LOT), but I noticed the schools in Uganda tended to have better uniforms in general compared to Kenya. Can you believe they're wearing sweaters? It was winter time for them there, but it was still in the 80s and 90s every day, and right on the equator! The sun was SO hot and bright.

25.
This is my dear roommate (in ages past) Paige, or as the African's knew her, Peggy. Paige was there for an internship with HELP and we got to see her several times. It;s crazy bumping into people across the world. We even stayed with someone in Kenya who turned out to be from Annandale Minnesota! That's where my parents grew up and was about 15 minutes from my house in Buffalo. We are both from such small towns (Annandale has less than 2,000 people - although I looked it up, there are 26 lakes in a ten mile radius!) that you don't even run in to other people from Annandale in the USA, let alone in Kilifi Kenya!
But back to the picture above, ahem, this is Paige helping mash down the cement for an adobe stove at a school.

26.
This photo was taken by a Ugandan at a secondary school after my very expensive camera was kidnapped.
The girls LOVED learning how to take pictures on it, even if they were off-center and out-of-focus pictures. But it was horrifying watching them casually pass it around. The other girl in the photo, Zinab, was forceful when trying to get me to give her my camera.
"You will give this to me," she kept saying. "I will keep this, alright?"
"No, Zinab, I will keep this. I need it for work, it is my job to take pictures."
"No, friend Rebeccah. I need it. You will give to me because I need it."

27.
This was actually also at a secondary school, this is the school lunch lady. She made lunch for 600 students in that little pot. Usually just Pojo (or Ugali if you're in Kenya) which is cornmeal mixed with water.
Very filling, but not very nutritional.

28.
THis is Ester, from the Orphan Choir. She wrote the lyrics and music to most of the songs that the choir sang when we came to record for them. It was heart-breaking listening to them sing about death, AIDs and the hopelessness of life, knowing that all of them were orphans from AIDs and many were infected. There was such power and emotion when they sang, too. She and the others wept during nearly every song.
And so did I.

Spring is here!

2010-04-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

mmm, I took some pictures on campus of these budding little trees.
and I love it.

oh, Spring! It's finally here!

Baby Elliot

2010-04-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

I admit it, I I didn't take these pictures. But husband Travis took them.
And since we are two man team, these can be posted on the blog.
She's my favorite baby. Also, she can say my name.
Win!

Rock Canyon

2010-04-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I had to go to Rock Canyon for a Geology field trip.
I managed to snap a few pictures while trying to catch up with my group (man, they were fast
walkers.)
But they turned out pretty pretty.
:)

Angel

2010-04-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

(Disclaimer: I only titled this post "Angel" because that's the song title.)

My husband Travis filmed and edited this yesterday:

OdeToBeauty from travispitcher on Vimeo.

Notice that he took out all the goofy faces and whiny noises I made while he filmed it.
If you hire him to film your wedding video, I'm sure you'll only ever see the pretty footage.

Recess

2010-04-06T17:26:00.000-07:00

I posted this on my other blog a few weeks ago, but I thought I'd share it here.

I made this for a class, but all I did was edit it. The filming was done by my talented husband.
He works freelance and would probably love to shoot your wedding.

Recess 10:05 from Becky Pitcher on Vimeo.

Email him today! travispitcher@gmail.com

Sister Kathryn

2010-04-05T08:06:00.001-07:00

This Easter weekend I got to see my family, and I spent all day Saturday and Sunday watching
Conference. While I watched I sewed and by Sunday afternoon I'd made my sister this little doll.

I think they're both adorable!

Dying Eggs

2010-04-04T14:19:00.000-07:00

Art not Math

2010-03-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

Photography is an art.

Did you know that? I seem to have not known, or forgotten somehow.

I thought to myself good lighting + good poses + good equipment = good photos.

That is wrong.

Today I went to see Jonathan Canlas speak at BYU about photography. He said some (many) things that got me thinking. I realized that photography is not math.

I started thinking about things I do that I consider to be artist expression. I thought about writing.

When I write, no matter what I write, it's all about me. It's filled with me. If you know me you can read it and think "THIS IS BECKY."

I write about girls who aren't me or even like me, they have different problems than me, they are different ages than me, but its all about me.

My photography should be like that. It needs to be filled with Becky. It needs to have my personality in it. I need to shoot what I love because I love it, not because I'm competing with others for THE BEST PICTURES EVER. (all caps for intensity).

Jon kept saying "You need to find your own voice in photography."

Where before I thought, "Photographers have their own style," and style is how you prefer the lighting to look, and how much you photoshop and things like that.

Writing this aloud is making me feel like a fool. (Writing aloud makes no sense, but I talk to myself while I type... so there.)

I need to stop taking pictures because I think they look good or because I think someone might give me money for them. I need to take pictures because I want to. I need to take pictures like I write.

They have to be an artistic expression.

Tyler + Jessica: ENGAGED!

2010-03-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

Tyler and I have had a few classes together at BYU and when I found out he was engaged I insisted on taking their pictures.
Aren't they sweet? I love their balloon bouquet! Sadly, with all those trees we lost a good balloon or two. The bouquet used to be a bit more colorful....

The shoot was cut short when sun started to set and I couldn't help but complain a bit about the light, but I should have held my tongue! The lighting turned out unbelievably perfect in many of these photos, don't you think?

The ones above and below are two of my favorites! It was so windy that Jessica kept become tangled up in the balloon strings

Ryan + Kathryn: Enagaged!

2010-03-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

This photoshoot was actually really fun. We went out to Utah Lake, which was frozen solid, and
we really just played around.
In some of these pictures the background was so washed out that it looked like they were in a
strange studio, but I hardly did any editing to the above picture.
Then we went to the apple orchards up by Stone Castle, where there were tons of deer. Some of
the pictures even have them in the background.

See the little deer right in the middle?

Snow Day!

2010-01-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

It's not a real snow day, because there wasn't any school to cancel (and even if there had been

school I doubt it would have even been late).
But there is pretty snow everywhere in Provo.
I spent an hour wandering about my neighborhood taking pictures of the weather, and here are

some of my favorites:

365: January 13

2010-01-13T10:23:00.000-08:00

I took this picture of Travis with my beautiful new Macro lens!
I love how I focused on his eyes, so everything else is blurry.

Ashley's Bridals

2010-01-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

Even though I uploaded pictures Ashley of getting ready for Bridals a few days ago, and even
though I took the prep pictures and the Bridals the same day...
here are some of Ashley's bridals. Finally.

Ashley's finance proposed in the Children's Book section of a library. Landon wrote and
illustrated a book about them and then had it professionally published!
So of course we had to get a few pictures in the library.

Macro Lens!

2010-01-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

I am crazy about this lens.

I love it. I love it. I love it!

Yesterday Travis and I bought a beautiful 100mm Macro Lens for my pretty, pretty 20D (and also, I suppose he can use it on his camera, too).
I only had it about fifteen minutes before it was too dark to take pictures inside or out.

But here pictures of things in our yard, our house on my feet and my hand:

365: January 12

2010-01-12T10:18:00.001-08:00

365: Begins

2010-01-12T10:05:00.000-08:00

I am trying this year to take a photo every single day.
I am also going to try to post on my blog every single day.
I made up a nickname for this project because it makes it feel more real. I am calling it 365. (Not very creative, I know.)

Sadly, this is quite the daunting task for me, but I'm using the things to help each other.
This is the beginning. Since Blogger is so tricky and I can go back and change the dates on posts, I am going to insert posts from the beginning of the year.
Here goes.

Photo a day.
It begins.

365: January 11

2010-01-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

Ashley's Bridal Prep

2010-01-11T09:31:00.000-08:00

Since I am not going to be able to photograph Ashley before she gets ready for her actual wedding, I tagged along to Paul Mitchell before her bridals and stayed to photograph getting her hair done. It was my first time shooting something like this.
Here is the result:

365: January 10

2010-01-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

Eeewwwww, here's the truth. This is a pumpkin from Halloween, on the ground outside our front door.

365: January 9

2010-01-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

Today I took Ashelys Bridals at the Provo library.

It was very fun, but admittedly very hard. I need to get better at bossing people around instead of just saying "Hey! Stand over there." and then letting them be.

365: January 8

2010-01-08T23:22:00.000-08:00

I actually was playing with my flash today at Lauren's house and you get two pictures.
In the first picture, the flash was pointing at Lauren, and in the second the flash is bouncing off the hot pink wall.

365: January 7

2010-01-07T10:33:00.000-08:00

This was taken in the Wilk on BYU campus. The out-of-focus shot was much better than the in-focus shot.

365: January 5

2010-01-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

Paul Mitchell school had these everywhere today. I guess if students don't have enough haircuts, perms or colors the month before they have to make it up on the creepy manikins.

356: January 4

2010-01-04T11:30:00.000-08:00

365: January 3

2010-01-03T11:28:00.000-08:00

Mmmm.

365: January 2

2010-01-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

I love to take pictures of my hubby. Especially when he's not expecting it!

Sisters

2010-01-01T19:05:00.000-08:00

Because we're up here in Montana for New Years I get to see my pretty sisters everyday.
Then I get to take their pictures.
Here they are. Pretty girls.

Mary is only 18.

Lisa is 21, and almost a graduate of college, and almost totally gone from America. I will cry when she leaves us.
I can't believe she wants to leave us!

This is Kathryn pretending to be a sad little kitty.

Is she the cutest 4 year old in the world? The answer is yes. She is also, of course, the smartest.

365: January 1

2010-01-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

My first 365 picture! It's my sister Lisa.

Sophie, Maude, and Casey

2009-12-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

To say that I was privileged to get to work with these girls wouldn't be completely true.
To say that I coerced them into letting me take their pictures by harassing and texting them
incessantly would be more accurate.

I have pretty friends. I like to take their photographs.

I loved that because I know these girls and how spunky and fun they are I could take funkier
pictures. I could experiment and play and not worry about disappointing anyone.
Have you ever seen such pretty sisters?

Temple Square

2009-12-17T11:01:00.001-08:00

Travis and I spent Tuesday evening admiring the beautiful Christmas lights at the Salt Lake Temple. Soon we will have a tri-pod and all our pictures will be prettier. But here are some tri-podless favorites.
Travis took the first two pictures and I took the rest.

Brandon, Emma and Jaymz

2009-12-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

I took some family photos on Saturday of the Peay family. They have an 18 month son who was
very photogenic but not very interested in sitting still for the camera.

We actually took all the pictures inside the Provo library or outside on the steps.
They had a big Christmas tree set up and outside was fresh, pretty snow.
It was lovely, and luckily the family was a lot of fun too! Brandon, Emma and I
spent most of the time making silly faces and noises and trying to get Jaymz to laugh.
All in all, we played most of the time, and it felt more like a game than a photo shoot.

Tate's first day snowboarding

2009-12-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

Travis took his little brother snowboarding on Saturday, and Tate did wonderfully!
By his fourth run down the mountain he could almost go without falling.

We're hoping to get a Canon 7d for Travis's senior project soon, and then our videos
will be nicer quality, this was just done on a little point-and-shoot. But despite the
quality of the video, the film making can't be beat!

First Day Snowboarding from travispitcher on Vimeo.

Ria, Jake, Skyler, and Zac

2009-12-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

I took pictures of this beautiful family on Saturday and it was perfect! There was a fresh blanket of snow and everything looked perfect. The only trouble was, with all the new snow it was hard to keep Skyler and Zac focused on pictures.
That was fine with me, I ended up photographing a snowball fight!

Law School Staff Party

2009-12-14T06:52:00.000-08:00

The pictures are from last Friday's Law school staff party. It was hard to take good pictures since everyone pretty much stood around in an ugly room eating gross looking food.
But these are some of my favorite pictures of Corbin telling a story. He makes the best facial expressions!

Oooh, the day after we all agreed that this food made us very sick.