Weird Wired World

The Blog World is a weird world. Don't you think? People from all over read your blog (or blogs) and comment. Sometimes, you comment on their blogs. Sometimes you start emailing them and they become your friends. Sometimes, they disappear and you wonder what happened to them. Are they okay? Did they find something else to occupy their time? Was it just too hard to find time to blog?

I've thought of stopping before. I have way too many blogs - a triathlon blog, this blog, and my photoblog blog. I can't keep up with all of them and the triathlon one has suffered the most. This one is getting sporadic but I haven't given up on it yet. Mostly because I like to ramble and Photoblog is more a visual place than a wordy place. Although I am wordy there because well, I don't know how to be otherwise.

One of things I like about the blog world is that, often, comments make me think about what I'm doing and why. Today was an interesting day comment-wise. On Photoblog, someone said "you're a harsh self critic" because of my post of these duck photos. I had said that I wasn't happy with them because the depth of field on both of them wasn't enough. And that top duck photo should have been sharper around the eye (what I think should be the focal point). The funny thing is that photography is the one area in my life where I first allowed myself to not be perfect. It was photography that taught me it was okay to make mistakes. Still, when I look at these photos, I see a missed opportunity. I don't think that's harsh, I think it's being honest with myself. I can't get better if I'm in denial.

And then Bolder asked me "are you a great photographer? or, are you just blessed with great content, gear, and light???" I told him both. I admit I think I'm good. If not, I wouldn't be posting my photos anywhere. Even these, which I think are not perfect, had potential to be good. Does that make me conceited? I have moments where I think I'm kidding myself. You never know. Your friends and family could be humoring you or not want to hurt your feelings. All I can do is try and keep trying when I make mistakes. The next time I take photos of ducks, I'll remember what I was trying to do this time and make the proper adjustments.

If you look at the bottom photo, you'll see one of my book shelves. About a 1/3 of the books shown are books on photography. I have another shelf with just as many, if not more. And a stack next to my bed. I know all the techniques and "rules" of photography. But does that make me great? I don't really know what "great" means. I read an article this weekend where they were talking about the difference between amateurs and pros. According to the article, the difference is that amateurs will take one pretty shot, but the pros will tell a story with their photos. Maybe that one shot is technically correct, but does it have that certain something, that je nais se quoi? I don't know if I buy that definition or that I necessarily want to be called "pro". Definitely Photographer. Maybe Artist. Genius would be nice. :P But I do know that I like to tell stories and if my photos tell a story, all the better. I'm sure you would rather look at a great photo than read these ramblings! But thanks for reading and for commenting. You do make think.

P.S. Really if you look at these photos, I guess the bottom one tells the greater story because it gives you a glimpse into my life - the photo books, Calvin&Hobbes books, photos of my sister and nieces, some of my favorite novels, Pooh & Tigger. Memories, reading, laughter, learning, love. Do you know me better now? Yes, I'm still a 10 year old girl, trapped in a 38 year old body. :P