The paparazzi are here and they are us

Just call Sally Graff, Sherry Townsend and Dr. Brian Docken- dorf "Gemini Paparazzi." (Graff, left, and Townsend are shown clicking away at the Gemini Captain’s Brunch at Shreveport Country Club.)

If you are at a Gemini or almost any Mardi Gras event, you will dodge them as they snap away and their flashes pop. No excuses. No apologies. They are paparazzi ready.

The trio are the spouses of Gemini Captain Brad Graff, and top Gemini royals, King Louis Townsend and Queen Noreen Dockendorf.

They are not the only recorders of Mardi Gras history, of course, but this year, they are usually up front and center wherever their spouses are making an appearance.

"Keeping a scrapbook is just important," said Townsend. "I have tried to be there for everything and make pictures. I have enjoyed doing it."

And taking pictures is a one-time shot, she pointed out. "You can’t go back and get it again. This is a big year for him and I don’t want to miss anything."

She started shooting for a scrapbook sometime around June when they went to Mobile, Ala., to order his custom-made crown.

Graff said she and her husband always had a camera when they were Duke and Duchess of Louisiana in 2005. She started keeping a record at an April Gemini board meeting.

Dockendorf has also been shooting all year. "I have a digital and I had to work with figuring out how to get pictures that weren’t blurry and too dark, but it has been fun," said Dockendorf.