My Grayson, who came to homeschool with me two years ago, has decided to go back to his Dad’s house in Ohio, and return to public school for sixth grade. This brings great sadness to my heart, yet I understand that he wants and needs to be with his dad.
For the seven years I’ve been married to Ryan (and the Air Force), I’ve been flying my boys from and to Ohio. The familiarity with airports and airlines that I have is not something I enjoy, but it is a constant in my life. Each time, I have to get a “pass” to escort the boys through security, I have to get a “pass” for each of the “babies”. We have to empty pockets, remove shoes, walk through scanners. There have been a couple of times over the years when we barely made the gate. There have been cancelled flights, delayed flights, lost DSes, and lost cell phones. Generally, I will put just my ID, debit card, and a $20 in my pocket, and leave my purse at home. I wear slip on shoes and I dress the babies in bare minimum. This time however, for Grayson’s two week visit to his dad’s, I took my camera to try to capture the emotion I feel each time they go. The hustle and bustle of getting everyone through security and then getting the boys on the plane always subsides as I watch the aircraft pull away from the gate. The empty feeling that is left is something that I’ll never be able to accurately explain with words, so I hope my images tell the story.
Technical notes: For these images, I used my Canon 5D Mark II, and I busted out the old 85mm f/1.8 lens that rarely sees love now that the bazooka has entered my life. In post editing I did a simple gradient black and white conversion, adjusted levels on the silhouettes, and sharpened them for the web.