Covershoot. Dogs, Maria, Mother

February 5, 2010 – Miss the big storm, just below us. Good. Sunny, cold. Am shooting cover shots for my first children’s book “The Dogs of Bedlam Farm.” The editors want detailed close-ups of the four dogs together. Editors. Maria helps out by talking to the dogs and I jump around slipping on the ice to try and get the light right and get the dog’s faces in the shot.

Try getting two border collies, and Lab, and a Helldog to sit close and all stare at the camera with the eyes open at once. Yoiks. But it is a creative challenge, and I will figure it out. Trying 16-35 mm wide angle, and then next, a bigger lens from farther away. The dogs are patient, willing, a great group used to the demands of celebrity.

I think I will not ever get used to the notion that I am a celebrity. I was in the bank yesterday and  a woman in front of me turned to her friend and said, “did you hear? Jon Katz is broke and is selling his farm to raise money!” Last week a woman came up to me and said she was sorry to hear that I was moving to Alabama. A waitress in a restaurant asked if I had recovered from surgery.

Celebrity is a strange thing. It pops up again and again. I don’t think about it, but I can’t really forget about it either.

Meditation is paying off for me. I see my mind more clearly, disturbing as that is. A thoughtful and helpful Zen Buddhist priest reminded me not to judge my practice, to accept whatever happens in meditation. Good advice.