How Did You Meet Airlee?

I had to laugh... Several years ago I wrote a daily Bandon blog and it was there that I first began visiting on a regular basis with Airlee. What I find ironic about our friendship is that during all the years that we wrote each other I didn't have a clue that Airlee was Rosie's brother. In fact Rosie's deceased husband, Lucky Siewell, was one of my best friends with which I have stayed in contact with over the years as well as her wonderful children.

In the beginning Airlee would contribute his amazing photos to my Bandon Blog all of which were the kind of works that make to wish you had it framed and hanging on your wall at home. Airlee really had an amazing eye which when combined with his lifetime devotion of learning his photographic skills, gave him the ability to capture and create photos which were as good as can be found anywhere.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about Airlee was each time we discussed one of his photos he really had a lot to say about it. Not only did we talk about the lighting, film speed, aperture settings but more importantly he enjoyed discussing the subject matter. There were many but I remember when he told me about the day he was walking on the Bandon Jetty when all of a sudden he saw a Bald Eagle land on a driftwood log. The excitement he shared with me was like a kid walking into a new toy store. It was an exciting story that even had a touch of drama as Airlee was trying to shoot the pictures while some tourist were walking towards the eagle completely unaware of what was going on let alone that there was a Bald Eagle just yards in front of them.


Photo Courtesy Airlee Owens
















Airlee enjoyed shooting anything with his camera, always looking for that exceptional shot. One such photo was of nothing more that a red boat sitting on the rocks along a river. When I told Airlee how that particular photo brought back so many wonderful memories for me it really hit a nerve. We talked chatted back and forth over an hour about this one photo and it was amazing to look at it from Airlee's eyes because he could see so much more that just a boat. As it turned out he shared many of the exact same memories as I did with regard to that photo simply titled "Red Boat".


Photo Courtesy Of Airlee Owens