There are moments I think it's an obsession. I'll be driving along and in my mind frame something into a photo. It probably stems back to when I was a child/teen and my father would show me something and say "what's wrong with this picture?" Often used in marketing displays or a print ad and sometimes upon inspecting an allegedly "clean" room. Not to say I critique everything. Ok, I may critique it, but I don't judge. Mostly I'm critiquing my own work, a recipe, a photo, a home project, a farm project. Before a party I take photos of the house, and then look at them. I had a series of about ten photos I took last year before our Christmas party of the beverage area. Every time I took one I found something different to do in the layout, or flow of the drink situation. Did anyone else notice? Of course not. I didn't do it for anyone else. This might be why I'm good at raking hay. (I think much to my husband's surprise) I'm constantly watching the rows I've already done and checking for consistency and improving technique, then asking questions to see how my part feeds the rest.
Currently, I'm studying the last 5 years of Christmas pics as I will be adding a second subject to them this year, seeing what made the final cut in years past, and in that one year that there really wasn't a great one, why not? Where should the camera be set? What angles work best? and so on.
When I'm not taking photos, I am often looking at others. I think it's my favorite part of facebook. I love learning about people, places, and lives through photos. I love watching children grow, families grow, people grow. I love seeing what someone got from an experience through what they thought was the important shot. From a technical standpoint I love looking at photos for ideas. Not that I make a list on a legal pad of what I liked or didn't, I think it's mostly all cataloged in the brain somewhere. My mother has asked me "do you go in with a list of shots you want?" Most often, no. George's newborn shot in the wagon...that was pre-conceptualized...in part. The "keeper" shot was actually the "practice" shot. When all was said and done, that was my favorite. The wagon we had for over ten years, Joey uses it to haul anything and everything around the farm. The rocking chair we used I found in the adjacent barn. Even our Christmas photo...this is our sixth year with the same location. It happened by accident. We were walking north on Broadway from G Willikers toy store, Joey sat in front of the tree at Adirondack Trust and I took his photo. It was instantly the Christmas photo. It's neat to see how he's grown against the same background over the years.
2005 (almost 4)
Almost hard to believe it's the same kid when you look at them next to each other! Imagine what this will look like in 2015! George will be 4...Joey will be almost 14!
Though I'm a purger of "stuff"....photos I keep. I am looking at one of my Grandmother and Joey when he was maybe 1...great photo, great memories, great wonderfulness.
So please, keep taking pictures and keep sharing them.
Thanks:-)
great Christmas photo op - I can't believe how little Joey looks in the first picture and I can't believe Jake is going to be so grown up in such a short amount of time. that's why I love pictures, too. It's just nice to be able to go back and revisit.
ReplyDeleteI love photos as well! That is why I became a Creative Memories consultant back in 2003. What I love best now is Creative Memories digital Storybook Creator Plus. I can scrap an entire years worth of pictures in just two weeks! For Christmas, I will be ordering 6 digital books. Not only are they easy to design, but they look so professional when they are printed, they are cheaper than the traditional scrapbooks and I can order multiple copies and only "scrap" them once.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what you do with your photos, but I definitely recommend getting them in a photo safe album of some type. Of course, I recommend Storybook Creator Plus, but you can also download their free program (Storybook Creator). I have never used any other digital book site (shutterfly, snapfish, etc) so I can't comment on their quality, but I'm sure it is better than just leaving pictures in a box or on the computer.
I can't wait to see this year's photo!
Kate---it happens so fast! Jake looks older in each picture. With those little brothers keeping everyone busy you'll have to take lots of pics in case you are half asleep some days you can still remember:-D
ReplyDeleteDarcy--for the last 4? years I've done a Shutterfly book "A year in pictures" for grandparents/aunts/uncles/etc. I do Hardcovers for the Grandparents/great-grandparents and soft covers for the rest. (usually) I really like them. I also love knowing that the top 30-40 photos from the year are not here. In case something ever happened to our house, pictures would be the worst thing to be missing--that's my biggest fear. All else could be replaced, but not photos. At least some of them are elsewhere. (I plan on leaving a second thumb drive at the farm too..)
I think I'm also going to make Wayne his own book from the year. I had meant to do one when we got back from honeymoon-a-palooza, but it never happened. I think I'll incorporate those into a book with some pics of the boys. Good thing he doesn't read my blog:) lol