When I was a freshman in high school I was very shy, and very skinny… even skinnier than I am now. I was new to the school, entered mid year, and after several months I still hadn’t made any friends.

I hated a lot of my classes, one of which was gym class. I was good at gym, but we had to wear shorts and a t-shirt for class. Revealing my arms and legs made me more self-conscious than usual.

I tried hard at gym and was usually among the best athletes in the class. Disappointingly, being the best in the class made me zero friends. So the rest of the time I stood alone and acted like I didn’t mind having no one to talk to.

It was rope climbing day. I had climbed all the way to the top once and was now waiting in line to climb again. I was wearing a teal tank top and khaki shorts… and now suspect I had no fashion sense as well as no friends and no muscles… When two of the class’s prettiest girls walked past. I liked them both, because they both pretty and popular. I didn’t know anything else about them, because I had never once spoken to them… I was very shy.

As they passed, one turned to me and said, “Burke, why don’t you hold your nose a little higher in the air.”

I had no idea what she meant. No idea at all. She smiled to her friend and walked away. They thought I was too vain to speak to them.

That is called irony, which I generally find amusing. At the time, I just found it terrible. I could have explained the mistake to the girls and we might have become friends. But to explain anything, I would have to speak to them, and I never did. I was too shy.

I am still too shy (no, not that shy anymore but too shy). I have given myself a challenge–To post one photo a day–to share my photography and a little of my world each day… because it is good to share.

Today is Day #2…

If you don’t know her already, this is my wife Veronica Varlow. Above is the poster for her most recent tour with Emilie Autumn. Below are outtakes from the shoot.

In the world of glamour, these are very unusual photos. Not just because Veronica is unusually glamorous, but because what you see was NOT photoshopped! In the modern world this kind of never happens. The props are real–magical items, jewelry and nicnacs brought from our house. And this is really what V looked like that day. …For the poster I added our names to the old books, but that’s it.