Excitement

I am so excited - this year Halloween weather for us is beautiful. I'm not a huge fan of the holiday, but can't WAIT to take some pictures!

So many subjects . . . candy, pumpkins, candy, costumes, candy, scarecrows, candy, spooky things, oh yeah, and CANDY. I don't like to eat it unless it is chocolate, but they are so colorful and fun and have great shapes. Plus I like to take pictures that show large quantities.

My niece and nephew will make great subjects as well. They are 3 yrs and 6 months respectively. She will be a cheerleader and he is going to be a puppy.

Which leads me to my post topic . . . what do you do with your pictures? Lately, I have been making movies for every holiday and putting them on disks for the kids to watch whenever they want. These aren't just pictures on a disk. They are put to music with titles and captions and transitions, etc. in Moviemaker. I'll bet a lot of you do scrapbooks with your photos. I would like to venture into that too, but just never seem to get around to printing out the pictures (I am so bad at that.)

So, what fun projects do you do and have you done with those fabulous pictures? Share it with us :)

Has It Been That Long??

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted here. But yes, I guess it has been about 1000 pictures ago.

I amazed by how many pictures I have taken. My poor old Konica (about 7 years old) has "rolled over" just like an odometer on a car. It no longer numbers the pictures correctly. I have to add 10000 to the number to know how many I have taken.

This got me to thinking. Do the cards ever wear out? Has yours? Did you know it was worn out before you shot a bunch of pics? How long do they last? If you know, I would love for you to post a reply.

But getting back to how many . . . I guess that really isn't accurate, as that poor old guy doesn't go underwater with me. We have a Sea n Sea (not digital:( ) for that. Maybe someday we will upgrade underwater but we need to upgrade our scuba gear first.

Now I am just reminiscing and missing all the pictures that are stored on my old hard drive from the dead computer. Those are more sentimental than anything. Graduations, births, birthdays, etc., that I have yet to try to have removed/restored. I heard it might be possible for $60/hr but, if they can't do it, and I go in thinking that they might be able to, I will be so sad. So I just keep waiting and hoping that maybe they will come up with something for lay people to use that is sure fire for retrieving and restoring data from dead computers.

Having said this, I better get an external hard drive soon :) I learned my lesson.

A Day Without Pictures

How do YOU feel with a day without pictures?

I didn't take any today. It was gray and I think I was too.

Sometimes, though, I get on overload and need the world to be gray and then I become introspective and reflective. (Processing time)

I shared a picture from yesterday (the freedom monument) with my students during writing workshop. Some were inspired and I was glad. Some were confused, and I was glad about that too. It made them think. That's what I want my pictures to do. Inspire - make people think and wonder - help them to see things differently - or want to do something new.

I take pictures to help people see.

So tell us, what is a day like without pictures? And/or why do you take them?

Feeling Weird?

Have any of you ever felt weird when you were taking pictures? How do you get over this?

I got some great shots today coming out of a meeting. I had seen a stone eagle monument on my way in and then met up with someone and didn't have time to take a shot. On my way out I was alone and armed with camera in hand.

I hunched up close to get an upshot, with the beautiful sky in the background and a flag blowing. I would have LOVED to lay down but thought that was going just a tad too far in my heels and nice coat. Meanwhile, people are still streaming out from the meeting ~ and of course, I could just hear them in my mind. "What is she doing?" "Is she ok?" blah blah blah That mind of mine just runs on.

So I felt weird and didn't get the exact shot I wanted, although they aren't the worst. What makes you feel "ok" when you take pictures?

Check out all the pics from this moment at morguefile.com

Contributor -jdurham

What I See (and the Reason Behind It)

You might have caught another one of my blogs. So why are there more than one? It's all about focus.

Reading, writing, taking pictures, scuba diving, technology . . . they are all focused and geared towards what you want (which in this case is me). And I tend to ramble and wander (in life and my mind) and I thought it better not to subject YOU (which in this case is you) to the ramblings. Read only what interests you. What are YOU focused on? I would bet it would be pictures if you are here.

Now, I am not a photographer and I don't do photography. I just happen to take pictures with a decent camera. Maybe someday I will be a photographer, but I am not that caliber yet.

But I do get to see a lot of things others don't. I guess it is my nature - a little more adventurous than some. Plus, I am a huge fan of INPUT. When they wrote the test for a visual learner, they probably were watching me.

Pictures can say anything. So what I see is maybe what my mind is saying. Hopefully.

I am a contributor to morguefile.com I am listed under jdurham. If you haven't seen the site, check it out. It's a great resource to find what you need when you need it. Pictures are for use but not resale, and it's nice to credit the person who took the picture and let them know how you used it.

I took the photo header and footer pics and stitched them together. I would love to know what you think!