Roger Toliver

In with the new, or so they say. This is the time of year where most everyone sits back and reflects on the past year. Looking back on the year and trying to determine how well it went, or in some cases, WHERE it went! I try to look back every year and determine the highlights and low lights, the successes and the failures.

This past year has been full of very favorable events. As some of you are aware, I am the head photographer for The Royal Gauntlet – Birds of Prey, Rescue and Rehab Center. As their primary photographer I get the chance to get up close and personal with many different species of birds of prey. It allows me to shoot some beautiful bird portraits. It also gives me the chance to work with the birds, namely Ritual, our male Eurasian Eagle Owl. From the day Ritual arrived at the Gauntlet’s facility I was hooked. So hooked in fact, that when the opportunity arrived for the Gauntlet to acquire a female I was asked if I would be willing to take her into my care and work with her I just couldn’t pass it up. So, now Kitara, the female Eurasian Eagle lives with me full time. She was hatched on May 5th of 2011 and she arrived on June 5th in Tulsa. She has been a joy to work with and a whole new learning experience.

The next favorable event was meeting Heather and her two children. This led to the end of bachelorhood and my little two bedroom apartment and brought me to a 3 bedroom duplex with a huge backyard for Kitara and a room for both the children. Next step is the dreaded mini-van! Actually, not dreaded really. With having to haul Kitara around plus gear for fairs, having the van will be a good thing.

Of course there have been several lesser favorable events happen this past year, but those already mentioned were by far the most life altering events to happen in 2011.

As for “in with the new”, I’ve been reflecting on my photography work lately and have found that I didn’t shoot as much “new” material as I normally do on a yearly basis. My portfolio has been limited to mainly raptors. I plan to change that next year. I need to challenge myself to stretch my imagination more and shoot different styles. With that as the goal I would I have started looking at food photography, still life and travel photography a little more in depth.

I also want to spend more time blogging this year than in the past year. I have a couple different blogs set up, my photography blog (which is my main site), the Royal Gauntlet’s blog and last years 365 blog. While the 365 blog didn’t go as well as I originally intended I would like to resurrect it for next year. The hurdles I discovered were lack of interesting subjects. When you travel the same route daily to and from work, work 10 hours days, it’s not hard to fall into disinterest. Especially during the winter months, which coincidentally is the start of the new year. I may not make the new 365 project a true 365 project but more of a 52 project. I think this would take the pressure of a 365 project off me and allow me to be more creative in my shooting. Another thing that strikes me is I that I rarely carry the DSLR with me everywhere. Especially during the week due to the bulk and the fact that I’m usually spending my days at the office. I may turn the project into an iPhone camera only project. With all of the available camera apps on the iPhone shooting/editing/posting can all be done on the iPhone.

One other project I have been kicking around is a bit on the travel side. My dad loved to travel and explore new locations. His goal was to visit every state in the country, one county at a time. At one point he told me that just visiting the state wasn’t enough. He said to really see the state, you needed to visit the counties. See the countryside and visit the cities and towns. See how people lived there and get to know the cultures. Visiting the county seats and taking photos of the courthouses was part of his goal. Sadly, my father passed years ago before realizing a tiny portion of the dream. In the last few years I’ve started exploring how I can take that idea and expound on it. Make it richer and deeper than he meant it to be. The goal for me this year is to take one or two counties and explore them completely from a photojournalist/travel photographer’s point of view. Capture the cultures that dominate those counties.

One other project I intend to explore in more detail is food photography. I love to eat. I enjoy cooking. I love shooting. This is an avenue that I’ve never considered before but lately I’ve been studying some of the work on a few forums and it looks very educational in terms of lighting and styling. Could also become a decent sideline with a good income base. Some of the local restaurants are always looking for flattering images of their menu items for advertising.

All in all 2012 looks to be a promising year. Full of adventure and new challenges. I can’t wait to get started!

Found out today my fathers youngest brother, Johnny, passed away on Sunday. Interesting how you never really hear from anyone until there is a death in the family. We lost my father in 1990. Since then I could probably count on both hands the number of times I heard from anyone in the family since.

John passed from cancer. Seems to be the story of my family. Makes me wonder if that what will take me in the end. I suppose it will. One form or another.

Reflecting back on my memories of growing up and how John was there for my sister and I through the years. I recall the time dad had his first back surgery. Cold winters day. John was married to Rose. I remember staying at my grandmother’s home and John and Rose coming in early that day to sit with mom while she waited at the hospital during the surgery. Once dad was in recovery and in the clear, John and Rose came out to my Grandmother’s and picked up my sister and I and took us home so that we would be able to sleep in our own beds. In the comfort of familiar surroundings. I didn’t realize until I was much older how much that little sacrifice of time made things so much better for my sister and I. We was home and although our parents weren’t, we knew things were OK.

Back in the mid 70′s my father bought five acres of land from one of his older brothers out in rural Ohio. About an hour east of Columbus. Shortly afterward John bought another 5 acres on the opposite hill. John never built on that land, instead keeping it mostly for an investment. Occasionally coming out and
making sure it was still there. Like it was going anywhere, I’d always tell him. Anyway, that big hill was perfect for sledding, as long as you knew how to dodge the large growth of briars that seemed to pop up from nowhere right after the first snowfall.

It became a regular event to spend almost every other weekend to build a bonfire at the bottom of the hill and invite the neighbors and family out to enjoy the cold snowy Ohio winters. Sledding down that hill, avoiding the briars and stopping just short of the bonfire. Getting warmed and heading back up that hill to do it all again.

I now understand John’s investment. It wasn’t about money. It was about family.

I also recall a time when John got so mad at my mother he didn’t talk to her for a month. Every time john would come out to the house mom would have apple pie baked. Only what John didn’t know it was actually “mock” apple pie, made from Ritz crackers. She must have gotten the recipe from the box at some point.

I’ll be honest, unless you tore the pie apart and really looked at the “apple” filling, you couldn’t tell the difference. John swore it was the best apple pie he had ever eaten and mom never corrected him. For months, John would come out and have apple pie. Sometimes calling a day or so ahead to make sure mom was going to have one baked. One day he found out that the pie wasn’t made from apples. It hit the fan! Oh he was so upset to think all that time and no one told him the truth.

John and Rose never had children of their own. They did, however, adopt. I won’t swear to it, but I believe they adopted two. A little girl they named Sarah and a little boy named Andrew. I remember Sarah well because they adopted her before I went to high school. I remember Sarah well. Shortly after Sarah arrived, John was laid off from the factory that he and dad worked at. I’ll never know the reason why or if he ever got back to work there or not. Anyway, John was the first Stay-At-Home dad I ever knew. He did a great job raising Sarah. I can’t think of a time when you would John without her. She went everywhere with him.

After dad passed, we saw less and less of John and Rose. Come to think of it, we saw less and less of everyone in the family. At the time, I honestly didn’t think much of it as I was busy with my own life, but every now and then I’d catch wind of someone in the family passing away. I’ve drawn so far from the family over the years. Living in Oklahoma doesn’t lend itself to being a close knit family. Not that we ever really was a close knit family. Not that anyone is at fault, we all just got wrapped up in our own lives and families.

Right now, though I can just imagine Uncle John reaching those pearly gates with a smile on his face. Being welcomed by those who have followed. His parents, Ash and Amelia and all of the brothers and sisters who passed before. I can just see my dad shake his hand and slap him on the back in greeting.

John, you’ll be missed. Say hello to all of the family that I’ve been missing for years.

Kitara, female Eurasian Eagle Owl. 8 weeks old.