Family Photographs

Remember my photo class? The one called "Finding your Vision Courage?" Well, it finally ended. After many weeks of shooting, editing, writing and crying. It finally ended. And I survived.

The hardest part? Writing the damn Artist Statement. Me. The one who started out with an interest in writing. Who discovered a passion for taking photos along the way. Struggled to write the damn statement.

And I know why. It's the same reason I always struggle with writing for classes. It becomes too personal. The thoughts that I keep bottled up inside me. That I never want to see the light of day. Are the only ones I seem to write about in class situations. Because if I'm going to write. It has to mean something to me. And the things that mean something to me. Are the things I don't like to talk about.

And of course we had to read our statements aloud. Or rather our partners read our statements aloud. And in my case. She read. While I bawled. Yep. Big heaving, gasping tears. Totally embarrassing. It sucked. And then to top it all off? My partner told me to basically cut out everything I wrote.

Later others in the class made me promise not to change it. And told me not to read it on the day of the reception. So I wouldn't get emotional. In the end, I did edit it. Basically making it longer.

At the eleventh hour BSD found out he would not be home for the reception. Needless to say I was crushed. But the reception turned out to be a lot of fun. Thanks to some very dear friends. Who came to support me. And stayed the whole two hours despite an absolutely gorgeous beach day passing them by.

A table filled with snacks and drinks kept the ballerinas and their friends happy. And my friend's father-in-law volunteered to keep us all entertained as our very own piano man. What a treat that was!

In the end I learned a lot. About myself. About my vision. About courage. I'm sick and tired of the photos I took in this class. But I look forward to taking more. So I'd say the class was a success.

Family Photographs
Growing up, I have fond memories of my father as the family photographer. The worn leather strap of his Leica hung from his shoulder throughout our family travels. He photographed our family, doing ordinary things in extraordinary places, and he brought that world back home for us through slides projected onto our living room wall.

Just like my father, my family inspires me to pick up my camera. Beyond the family trips and birthday celebrations, I am captivated by capturing the everyday moments. Those moments that I don’t want to forget: the way my youngest curls her blankie around her fingers before she drifts off to sleep, or the dozens of chocolate chip cookies we’ve baked together over the years; even a simple hand-scrawled note or a family game of cards.

The photographs displayed here are simple: a family doing ordinary things in ordinary places. This collection represents a season of our family life, literally and figuratively. Other seasons will come and go, and with my Canon hanging from my shoulder by its patchwork strap, I will continue to document our “ordinary” life. As my father did before me, I will leave a legacy in the form of photographs for my children. Simple. Ordinary. Extraordinary.


***
Note: The two photographs from the reception were taken with my dad's camera. *big cheesy grin*

Project 365: January 2012

I know you've all seen most of these photos already, but I am SO STINKIN' proud of myself for completing a whole month of this project. I have tried this for the past two years, and have never made it a full month. Maybe it's true. The third time's a charm. *knocks wood*

It's been a lot of work. And I hope, hope, hope that I can keep up the pace. I wish I knew more about layouts because I have no idea how to get all the pictures into a collage this size any other way. And the pictures aren't even in the correct order. Oh well. I did figure out how to make a really cool Flash player gallery of the month, but I have no idea how to upload that here. It sucks being so computer illiterate!

Anyway...thank you SO much to all of you who encourage me to keep going. Your friendship and support make my heart happy.

It's February. The month of love. This month ranks right up there in our book. I look so forward to all the pink, red, hearts and sappiness. Bring it!

 

Late to the party. As usual.

It's already January 5th. Way past the new year. Especially by blog standards. But I'm finally getting around to putting my "word of the year" out there into the blogosphere. I've let this party rock on without me for the past two years. And this year I decided not to be a wallflower. Party rock is in the house tonight.

I was waffling between two words. But I finally chose one.

Create.

I love this word because it encompasses almost anything. That is. Except pro-create.

Create...a writing piece.
Create...messes.
Create...a sewing project.
Create...memories
Create...a new recipe.
Create...a photograph.

Create...another photograph.

And how about another?

And maybe one more?

And if you keep this up. Maybe. Just maybe. You will be able to actually see a Project 365 through for a whole year?

And if you do. Maybe you can take those 365 photographs. And create a book. For your family. That they will drink in with as much interest as they do their favorite catalogs?

And in doing so. Hopefully you will create....joy.

Disclaimer: I plan to take one photograph each day. But I do not plan to post those photos daily on this blog. They may show up on this blog in one form or another. But this blog is for me. To post when and what I choose. I don't want it to become a monkey on my back because I have to post every day. Instead, I've joined a site dedicated solely to Project 365. If you'd like to follow along, you can do so here. Better yet, join me in this project by signing up here.