Annie and her mom, Wells, Maine.
There’s a reason we carry cameras. Memory. Plain and simple. For professional photographers, there’s other layers to it, of course. We make a living through a lens. For hobbyists, it can be the additional wrinkle of the sheer joy of the making of a picture, or the prompt the camera can be to climb a rock, or walk in the woods. For moms and dads, there’s this weekend’s soccer match, or the upcoming graduation. For the urban hipster, it could be an Instagram of tonight’s dinner at that new Italian place in Red Hook.
But no matter the density of involvement, it really comes down to the picture made being all that’s left of that much-planned-for great event. I mean, the bride and groom have just walked out of the reception hall to cheers and kisses and the wait staff is already clearing the tables and setting up for the next wedding, and they pretty much don’t even remember the name of that cute couple that was here just a couple hours ago, getting hitched. In the blink of an eye, your weekend/wedding/game/concert is over. What’s left? Memory, embedded now not in faded Polaroids stuck in scrapbooks with sticky corners, but in ones and zeroes and pixels, sitting there on a hard drive, whirring and blinking (hopefully) through the night. Remember that thing that we did at the shore by the place we used to go? We do, when we look at the photos.
Had some family time this weekend, and the stars of the show were of course, our great nieces, pretty in pink and already a pair of distinct characters. They’ll outgrow those pink sweatshirts real quick, but in this picture, they’ll always be a toddler with her baby sister. Pretty faces in pretty light.
And, in the case of the older one, an already serious appreciation of the power of the camera and her role in front of it.
And in the case of sharing a friend’s birthday party, a picture of her daughter became for me a picture about being a kid, on a swing, in the summer.
We live in an amazing time for these picture making machines of ours, by the way. I shot this after the sun had gone down, and there was nothing but that lovely, milky afterglow of early dusk. ISO 5000, at 1/60th @f4, on a D500 DX camera. I knew most of my frames would be out of focus, and they were, but there were just a couple, at the top of the arc of her swing, where the camera grabbed. As we used to say at the Daily News, there’s sharp, and there’s sharp enough. But you know, ISO 5000? Huh?
A great weekend to have a camera on my shoulder.
Annie greets the sunrise on the coast of Maine….hope everybody had a great Fourth, and took some pictures!
More tk…
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Love your blog, Joe! Thanks!
On the personal memories are worth millions to the shooter’s friends and family in years to come.
You are correct. The pix are sharp enough.
Lovely to have people you love and who love you.
Lovely picture to accompany the very spot-on and sensitive comments about the special gift we have as photographers…..we preserve memories for future viewers. Hope your 4th was memorable it looked wonderful.
Great simple and true words Joe!
There were over a trillion images taken last year. But not enough of those we love. Thanks for everything, Joe.
You were next door to Ogunquit where I usually am. Sorry to have missed you Joe. If ever you`re in the area again, send a post.
Thank you for sharing all these moments, it’s really inspiring and comforting that after all these years behind the camera you still feel the way you do about photography, and not only on the professional side of things. Hope you had a great 4th. Saw the video of the shoots in Peru, just fantastic. You really inspire me.
Record those memories while you can! Love your photos!
Great blog! Absolutely agree with the memories and how we capture and cherish them. Even those silly selfies with the grand-kids, Its still the fun in the eyes and the smiles that grab you.
I’m constantly amazed at your shots and like you mentioned about the ISO performance! Wow!! I know “A picture is worth a thousand words.” or maybe just one …
You are world renown for your pictures, and it shows. You have forgotten more about photography than I will ever know. But you are equally gifted as a writer. Your words inspire me be a better photographer.
“There’s sharp and there’s sharp enough” I know there have been a many of time I chose a ‘bad’ shot just to have the shot. I toss many photos out but there are those times even a bad shot is better than no shot.
Yet another heartwarming and excellent post with your usual high quality pics to match. Also glad you said some were OOF as I’ve tried without much success to take pics of kids on swings..
love analysis of the shot
Just love your story and picture. You really shared some great concept there in this post! Love your blog, Joe!
i have read the full story and seen pictures also babies are so cute excellent concept you have shared here.
Hi joe! Thanks for another ravishing post. I am a photographer and graphics designer. After reading your post, I am thinking i need to go out with my family for traveling. Thanks for sharing this impressive and exclusively photo.
You were next door to Ogunquit where I usually am. Sorry to have missed you Joe. If ever you`re in the area again, send a post.
I am really impressed with this picture. You really shared some great concept there in this post! Love your blog, Joe!
love analysis of the shot…………..thank you very much..
Wow!! Amazing images. So great and informative post here guy