A Family of Idiots

by Ashley Weeks Cart

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The day we picked up Gladdy, we stopped in Chestertown, Maryland (the town next door to Gladden’s breeder’s home) and spent the morning with the Idiots‘/Bobbledy Books family. It is with great love and affection that I refer to them as a family of idiots, after their namesake biz.

We’ve had the great pleasuring of befriending this lot over the past couple of years after teaming up on projects such as this and this. And the blog header is all thanks to Robbi.

It was fun to spend some more meaningful time in their barn with their littles. We brought along our camera, and captured many a shot of this wonderful group.

Before entering, James took some pictures of the epic barn in which they live.

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Then I captured them at work in their studio: painting, writing, reviewing… Matt is apparently a tough critic.

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And then we snapped some headshots. Some more serious than others…

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But my favorite part of the morning was spent hanging out and documenting the daily routine/life of their family. That’s my sweet spot as a photographer, blending in and trying to capture people at their most natural, their most authentic. I like to be as unobtrusive as possible, just me and my 50mm lens – no fancy gear, or flashes, or accessories.

Here are my favorites.

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We then ate pizza, played Mario Kart (and I was totally crushed by a 3-year old), sampled a Sun Bun (*salivate*), and headed on our merry way to collect Gladdy.

For Robbi and Matt’s take on the experience visit here and here. And may I once again suggest that you subscribe to one or both of their book subscriptions. We have a whole section of our guest room devoted to their books for our visitors to enjoy, and Sunny positively lights up whenever the big, red Bobbledy envelope hits our mailbox. They are quite a hilarious, talented, glorious pair – I suggest you experience it yourself. And may I especially recommend investing in Ten Thousand Stories, recently released by Chronicle Books. Yeah, they’re a pretty big deal.

Thank you for a wonderful morning, Idiots Family!