Almost any outing that you embark on you should be able to and should bring your camera. You never know what kind of memory, what kind of landmark you can record or what kind of beautiful scene you may be able to capture in time.
Like many of my passions, I definitely developed my love of snapshots and cameras from my Mom. My grandparents gave my Mom her first camera when she was a teenager. My grandmother said my Mom loved snapping pictures at a young age. Her favourite subjects are without a doubt her family. (It’s my favourite too!) She has a floor to ceiling book shelf packed full of photos albums documenting my sisters’ and my childhood. Really, it’s one of my favourite things when we go to my parents’ to pull out an album and reminisce. My love of photos must shine through me as my mother-in-law has named me the keeper of my Hubby’s family shots. I am very proud of this and look forward to sharing both my Hubby’s family photos and my family’s photos with my children one day.
A picture is worth a thousand words. As I am a sentimental fool I love looking at photos and picturing what is happening at that moment. (Easier to remember when I was there at the time the photo was taken) I love looking at photos of ancestors, before I came along and think about what the subject was thinking at the time, what was happening that day that brought the photo to happen, who took the photo; in the old days when photography was very rare, I like to think, did this cost my family money to have this photo taken, what inspired them to have the photo taken. My Dad’s Mom passed away when he was a young boy; we have only two photos of her: The first one she is healthy and vibrant, the second she looks emancipated and sad. The first one makes me happy; the second one breaks my heart. Such moments frozen in time can be deeply touching to the viewer, especially future generations.
You don’t need a fancy camera or be a professional photographer, obviously having fancy tools and skills will increase the chances of a perfect shot, but don’t worry about it, you can still achieve a decent shot if you try. The greatest thing about digital cameras is that you can instantly see how your picture turned out and pick and chose what not to develop. Gone are the days of wasted money on thumbs in pictures or terrible lighting. Once when I was a teenager my parents bought me for Christmas a film camera that could take panoramic shots. I was so excited. I took pictures all day long and used up two rolls of film, only to discover upon developing the photos that something was wrong with the camera: all of my Christmas family shots turned out with a weird black cloud, shaped much like a tornado that took up the top right hand corner of all of my photos. Gah!
As I mentioned, my Mom LOVES photos of her family. Over the years my sisters and I surprised her with photos of the three of us blown up. Sometimes the photos were taken professionally; sometimes they were causal, candid shots and others where we planned an outing with a friend to have them try their hand at being a photographer. An inexpensive, unique gift that means a lot; a fun day out; a creative outlet: plan a day to have a photo shoot! Bring a tripod if you don’t have someone to snap the camera for you, lots of cameras has timers. Bring snacks and beverages! If you decide an outdoor scene is perfect for your photo shoot think about going to a park or conservation area with a bathroom! If you plan on taking the afternoon you will need one!
Here are a few shots I grabbed over summer and fall, some in my own backyard and randomly around. (I have about a million family and pet shots too) I know they aren’t great but I had fun taking them and I rather like them myself. I am not a professional nor do I want to be, but I enjoy snapping a camera. (My Mom did the flowers in the antique teacups at every place setting, first for my birthday and then for Lil'sister's birthday. So adorable!) (Oh and I LOVE using a simple mason jar as a vase. I have tons of vases but I use a mason jar 99% of the time)
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