Packages of Opportune Moments

Is there anything better than coming home from a long day at work and finding a package on the doorstep waiting for you?  Even if you were the one who ordered whatever it is, there is still a thrill in the arrival.

Last night was no different.  I received a package.  I knew it would be there, because I checked the tracking until it said "delivered."  As I sliced through the fiber tape and fought my way through the inflated air packaging bubble things that my son loves to stomp on (because they make the most satisfying BANG noise when the pop), I held my breath until I had in my hands the ultimate prize.

My brand new Canon Rebel T3 DSLR.

*sigh*

I have literally waited years to own one of these bad boys.  I have the Rebel TI SLR, which uses film.  I also have a Minolta and a Pentax K1000 (Japan), as well as my Dad's original Yashica, that doesn't work, but I will *never* get rid of.  I have relied on point and shoot digital cameras since my son was a baby to capture images, which got the job done, but isn't quite the same.  Trust me- you can tell the difference between a point and shoot picture and a DSLR picture. 

Now that I have one, my poor family will have no rest from the pop and flash of my camera.  And while they grumble and glower at me sometimes, they know that I am capturing our family history, seizing moments, that eventually, will be what's left of long and happy lives.  A visual documentation of laughter, stories, adventures, and all the varied emotions along the road. 

It was my Dad and Mack Hickey who taught me how to take pictures.  Mack Hickey was my art teacher in high school, who taught me about framing a shot, darkroom procedures, and all the other "professional" aspects of photography.  The one thing, above all others, that Mack taught me is that in order to be a successful photographer, you must view the world as if you were constantly looking through a camera lens, so that it becomes second nature to see the amazing shots.  Still, he cautioned, even the greatest photographer might only get 4 great shots out of 24.  It was all a gamble.



January 2012, right before sunset



But, my Dad taught me something different.  He told me just to snap pictures.  Not even to look through the viewfinder- just take the pictures and see what they become later.  You’ll get some plain, goofy, serious, out of focus, hastily posed……….but then you get the ones that completely capture the person and who they are.  This theory of photography works especially well in the digital age, when you can snap until the card is full.



Trail Running in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

I use both these theories every day, in photography and in life.  Sometimes, a decision must be framed out and set-up just so.  Sometimes, the opportune moment comes around and things just happen.

Irish