Photography has been one of my lifelong interests - sparked by a wonderful older friend of my parents who had the hard task of teaching me and my brother the piano, singing and elocution! (I suspect that's a great topic for another day!)
He used to run an annual photographic competition when slides were at the height of their popularity. There was also a print category but we used to set out about a hundred chairs for folk to come and spend the evening looking at all the photos and listening to why they were commended, third, second or first in their class. It was just like the annual fruit, vegetable and flower show but in the dark months of the year so we could appreciate the images in all their glory.
I got involved (at a crazily young age, I now realise) because I loved helping him - he was such a gentle, gracious person - and I adored organising things!!
However, as the years have gone by I have recognise how much I learnt at his feet - metaphorically speaking! How to frame things. How to avoid cutting the photo in half with the horizon. Lots and lots of little things like that.
I now carry a little camera with me all the time and I'm often seen taking snaps of the most bizarre things! I think today's is one of the most strange in recent weeks! It was so much more striking than it has come out!
But what prompted me to write this post was the fact that so often I am disappointed by what I see when I look at the image I've captured.
Frequently its a pale reflection of the vibrancy of the real thing.
Some memories can be a bit like that, we fade out the pain and grief or we brighten the darker tones of an encounter... Fortunately, we invariably enhance the good times and recall them as even better, not sure many photos do that!
He used to run an annual photographic competition when slides were at the height of their popularity. There was also a print category but we used to set out about a hundred chairs for folk to come and spend the evening looking at all the photos and listening to why they were commended, third, second or first in their class. It was just like the annual fruit, vegetable and flower show but in the dark months of the year so we could appreciate the images in all their glory.
I got involved (at a crazily young age, I now realise) because I loved helping him - he was such a gentle, gracious person - and I adored organising things!!
However, as the years have gone by I have recognise how much I learnt at his feet - metaphorically speaking! How to frame things. How to avoid cutting the photo in half with the horizon. Lots and lots of little things like that.
I now carry a little camera with me all the time and I'm often seen taking snaps of the most bizarre things! I think today's is one of the most strange in recent weeks! It was so much more striking than it has come out!
But what prompted me to write this post was the fact that so often I am disappointed by what I see when I look at the image I've captured.
Frequently its a pale reflection of the vibrancy of the real thing.
Some memories can be a bit like that, we fade out the pain and grief or we brighten the darker tones of an encounter... Fortunately, we invariably enhance the good times and recall them as even better, not sure many photos do that!
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