Brownsmead Flats member Dan Sutherland is featured on the hammered dulcimer, fiddle and mandolin.

Happy Fourth of July weekend to all Coast Weekend readers. Let’s hope it is safe and sane here on the North Coast.

The main focus of today’s column is photos.

I used to read magazine articles where fashion photographers would talk about supermodels; they would mention Iman or Christie Brinkley and say, “the camera loves her.” 

For years I thought it a myth, or at best an exaggeration, until I expanded my original career horizons to taking photos to accompany the articles I have been writing these past 49 years.

I soon discovered a truism: some people “take” better photos than others.

Now Dan Sutherland is unlikely to be found wandering down the Milan catwalk modeling the latest chic outfit. But for the Brownsmead Flats, he is a standout. He just photographs well.

I like the Flats, an Astoria/Brownsmead-based band whose joyous sound is fondly labelled “crabgrass.” Their music is so entertaining. Here are a half-dozen guys playing music together, enjoying each other.

I first encountered them many moons ago, but became a little closer when I highlighted a series of Pete Seeger birthday tribute concerts at Astoria’s Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts. Those wonderful gatherings at the PAC, dreamed up by Kit Ketcham and others, were among the most inspiring events of my quarter-century here at the coast. Other musicians, including Joanne Rideout and Hobe Kytr stood out, showcasing the storytelling role of the troubadour, but the Flats provided the core.

For photos, Larry Moore comes a close second, in large part because of the way he scrunches up the entire top half of his body when coaxing wonderful sounds out of his mandolin.

I am delighted the Flats endure. I especially like the way each looks with pride and almost reverence when one of their number is performing a solo. They let him have his moment — joining the audience, looking and listening with delight.

• The Flats perform at the Seaside Museum from 1 to 4 p.m. July 4 and at Cape Disappointment State Park in Ilwaco 7 p.m. July 12 as part of the Washington State Parks’ Waikiki Beach concert series.