Sometimes, It All Comes Together

As a photographer, I love and adore digital technology!! Some of it....

I purchased some huge memory cards, so I can snap away heedlessly.... with little concern for space or cost. And snap away, I do. My son recently noticed this and asked, "But how do you know what to take a picture of? And why do you take so many?" Without much thought, I answered, "I take a picture of anything that catches my attention- the light in the leaves, the shadow of a branch, the sky changing color... and sometimes I don't capture what I want, but I keep snapping away because you don't really know what you've got 'til you see it on your monitor."

So, I may take 200 pictures on any given walk thru the park. And, really, I'm happy if 10% turn out worth keeping. I don't spend a lot of time editing. I may crop a shot; I may add some fill light to lighten a face or lessen a shadow; I fairly often convert to black and white. Once in a great while, I'll get all fancy and try to blur some edges or such.... But I believe great photos happen when they're snapped, not in the editing process hours, days, weeks, heck- years later.

I really hate looking at a photo in a magazine and thinking, "WOW!" only to see it's been photoshopped all to heck. Oh come on, that's just cheating.... So if you possess great technical skills (with editing software), what does that make you? A great technician, not an artist. I want to see what you saw in that moment when you clicked your shutter.

And once in a long while, it all comes together. You upload; 100 pictures cross your monitor; you keep a few, you delete a lot. And one pops up and you "woo-hoo" out loud!! You sit back for a moment and think, "yeah. THAT's what I'm talkin' 'bout!"