I met Russell when he came to my house to have his portrait taken. We connected on many levels, with one being music. I went down to the Sarasota Farmers Market to make video and photographs of Russell and this video is the result of that time. I wanted to have Russell’s music in the background as I photographed people’s reaction to him. Russell is at the Farmers Market about once a month and if you are in Sarasota, you can see and hear him at The Cottage in Siesta Village on Wednesday and Sunday Evenings. More about Russell Donnellon.
Tag Archives: people
Sunset at Siesta Key
There are times when a still photograph just does not capture the feeling of what is in front of me. This sunset video is a good example. Not a lot is happening, but the waves, birds and people moving through the frame along with the sounds, capture the glory of a Siesta Key sunset.
Balinese Dance
A little while ago I offered through a local Sarasota newsletter to make free portraits. I had a number of replies (some of which can be seen in the previous post). Sari is a Balinese dancer and she came back for a second secession. I created a slideshow of her dance and posted it on YouTube.
Siesta Key Drum Circle
Here is another video slide show of photographs I made from a few trips to the Siesta Drum Circle at Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota (also included are a couple of photographs from Nokomis Drum Circle in Nokomis). Mari and I met sixteen years ago at a weekly event called Dance Freedom in Cambridge, MA and the drum circles down here have a similar flavor to them where anything goes dance wise. Although in the case of the drum circles here there are more watchers than participants. This drum circle according to their web page (www.siestadrumcircle.com) began twelve years ago.
I have seen a number of videos on the web (mostly through YouTube) of the drum circle. My hope is that the photos I made give people a different persecutive of the event and capture some of the energy. The sound was captured with my Canon G10 and edited and enhanced with Apple’s GarageBand.
Three Moons
In response to my friend Bob Ballou’s comment of asking me to provide more information on my process of discovery, here goes: Mari and I have been in Sarasota for 3 moons now. We left Waltham Massachusetts during the full moon and last night (July 7th), we were atop the canopy walkway at Myakka State Park (with Mari’s sister Debbie) to watch the sunset and the moon rise. On the canopy we met a very interesting man, Michael, who was there for the same reasons as us, to view the full moon and too charge his magical stones.
Why Sarasota Sam?
Let’s say, I meet someone on the beach and take their photo. If they would like me to email them the photo I realized that telling them to email me at sam@samlaundon.com was very forgettable.
Before Mari and I moved down here I registered sarasotasam.com, because every time I mentioned Sarasota Sam to a friend or acquaintance they would smile or laugh, so I knew I had something memorable.