Bayonne, France (and the one(s) that got away)

This past weekend we took a trip to visit the French Basque country. It's only a little more than an hour from where we live, but I love that crossing over the border from Spain into France suddenly throws you into a completely different mindset- not only is it the language, but the architecture, the food, the expressions in people's eyes, the light. So many things. I was excited to bring my camera along, but realized soon into the weekend that taking pictures must, for the moment, take a big back seat to other priorities in my life. Our son Julen has just turned 2 and is still in that precious and totally crazy stage in which a wee second of not looking in his direction can mean he's spilled the juice he was drinking everywhere, or worse- taken off down the street. Which means, of course, that the kind of seeing that it takes to make photographs that not only look visually appealing, but that also tell a story, get left behind. I know this time will pass more quickly than I can imagine, but there are times when I daydream of having days or weeks on end to dive into a story. I love shutters, and pretty buildings, and amazing light, but I love photographs whose content takes me deeper even more.