Sunday, May 21, 2006

I take the pictures...

...but sometimes not always exactly as I envisioned. I have a friend, for all intents and purposes, we'll call her....oh, I don't know - Kris. Kris has an eye, she has a way of seeing things that I would never have thought of...although the more I see through her eyes I am beginning to see differently through the lens.

I love taking photos, now more than ever before, since puchasing my Nikon D70s last July. I have taken well over 13,000 photos with my Nikon - sadly, my trusty compact flash card finally succummed to exhaustion. Most of those 13,000 photos will never go farther than my hard drive but each one is apart of a great experience. Each one is responsible for taking me a step closer to learning this art. I am completely self-taught, although I would love to have the time and money to be able to learn from a professional. There is only so much you can teach yourself when you start out knowing absolutely nothing about the subject and there is never an end to learning.

Didn't buy my first camers until I was 30 years old, a Minolta 35m when my first child was born but it's only been the last couple of years that I started taking pictures of more than my children and family. Apart from my children, I really don't enjoy taking photos of people. I much prefer scenery - flowers in particular. Not being too self-assured I find taking photos of people too stressful - flowers and scenery will never tell me I am doing it all wrong.

Recently I sold a photo, what a weird feeling - actually selling something. Does this mean I am an artist? Recently I was called an artist by an artist that I know and respect, I looked at that person and thought WOW, coming from you that means something. Knowing this person as I do, I realize that she sees I am doing something i have a passion for. It's going to take me some time to realize that I could be an artist. For now I will continue to take the pictures and continue to see how different things are through the lens.

Although, seeing is starting to become a problem. I have always been blessed with 20/20 vision. Seems the aging process does not give a damn about my passion. I have noticed within the past few months that my arms don't seem to be long enough, much to the amusement of my friends. I finally broke down and went for an eye exam about a month and a half ago. I was told I still had 'youthful eyes' and it was recommened that I not get glasses at that time but that very shortly I would be back. Well, I believe the time has come, quicker than I wanted it to. For normal, day to day stuff I could go a long time without glasses, really just need them for reading - most days, and I say most days because I have come to realize that I am having a problem with focusing - as in with my camera lens...hmmmmm, hard to take a decent photo when what you see as clear really isn't so clear.

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