Picture Day!

As I said earlier, I went to my friend’s house this weekend to take some nature pictures. As I went around snapping photo after photo, Patty searched for potential models to pose with the flowers. First, she found a tiny caterpillar, who was zippy and completely uncooperative. Then she found a Monarch caterpillar, who was kind of like working with one of those skinny models who never eats and is totally lethargic. Everywhere we placed him, he would just curl up and try to go back to sleep. And then we met Henry, the hoppin’ toad. He was a tiny fella, but he had some quick legs. He was a little skittish at first, but after a few shots, he really warmed up to the camera - eventually posing like a diva. After getting all the shots we wanted, we headed inside for a drink.

As we continued to talk photography, we laughed about how interesting it was that back in the day, taking a picture of a person, place, or thing was like freezing time. That photo captured a moment and told a story about that moment. But today, photography is all about illusion. If you take a family picture at dusk on a cloudy day, with Mom’s new hair color gone horribly wrong, Bobby’s blemished face, Harry’s poor sense of style, Grandpa’s bad attitude, and baby Ira screaming like a banshee - no big deal!

You can change reality. “It was in the middle of the afternoon on a bright sunny day and the sun brought out all the natural highlights in Mom’s hair. Bobby looks like a model, Harry’s shirt actually matches his pants, Grandpa was happy that day, and sweet baby Ira slept through the whole thing. Oh, and our dog, Scooter rose from the dead that day just to be with us. It was a glorious day!”

All that illusion talk reminded Patty of the crazy photo capabilities on her Mac computer. We had some serious fun distorting reality. I’m happy to say, that even on my worst day, I don’t look that bad. (That goes for Patty too!)