Another Side to Photography?

Now here's a way I hadn't thought of photography before (and I spend a lot of time thinking about photography!):  I've been reading Kate Morton's The House at Riverton (Washington Square Press, 2006, p. 301) and came across this paragraph:

It is a cruel, ironical art, photography.  The dragging of captured moments into the future; moments that should have been allowed to evaporate into the past, should exist only in memories, glimpsed through the fog of events that came after.  Photographs force us to see people before the future weighed them down, before they knew their endings.

A poetic and insightful thought, it struck me when I read it.  I found it profoundly sad to think of photos in this way.  It was a new perspective for me, to imagine looking at future photos and wondering whether those moments were meant to be preserved.  Wondering, if, in fact, that sadness would be found in the memories.  I always have more a feeling of nostalgia when I look at old photos, a feeling that time moves too quickly.  I feel, instead, that had these photos not been taken, perhaps some memories better remembered might be forgotten. 

Isn't it a wonderful thing that we do not know our futures, our endings? 

Life is beautiful, to be treasured and remembered.  Photos should bring a smile as we recall happy moments, snapshots of our lives that stop time in a way only photos and words can.

Every Room in the House

It had been awhile since I'd had even a minute to make some pictures.  Last night, while the kids were playing, I took my camera into the bathroom.  The intention was to take some shots of bubbles, but the one I ended up preferring was this:

The bathroom lights, reflected on the metal shower rings, create a pretty bokeh effect.  The warmth of the incandescent lights also gives a cozy feeling to the photo. 

Once again, I have "found" art in the house.  It often happens like this, in the least expected places.

It's that Time Issue Again...

The unfortunate thing about the end of the summer is having much less time for my photography.  I'm back to teaching full-time, and can barely keep my eyes open once I'm done work, kids' homework, supper, clean-up, and kids' bedtime - let alone pick up my sadly neglected camera.  I will have to be sure to make time on a weekend here and there to get some shots of the soon-to-be-here fall colours.

I did sign up for the IODE Craft Fair, though.  That's coming up on October 22nd, and I will have plenty to do to get ready for it.  Making lots of Little Tips booklets to sell, and even working on translating them currently.

As the calendar fills up with meetings and activities, the dust thickens on my camera bag.  Maybe I will have to pencil photography time into my agenda!

Back to School/Work

First day of a new school year...  Here's wishing all teachers have a fantastic year!

This is what I did for my classroom:

I went in yesterday when it was nice and quiet, and took macro photos around my classroom.  I then created a SMARTBoard lesson, where I numbered the "mystery" photos.  I'm going to have students guess what the pictures are of, and where the objects are located.  This could be done throughout the school, as well.  Makes for a great first days lesson and helps familiarize students with their new class/school. 

Now in 5 New Colours!

I just added 5 new colours to the Little Tips booklets!  From now on, anyone who orders can pick from favourites below, or even request a custom colour.  Sometime in the next couple of months, I am also hoping to have them translated to French.

The original colour is green, which goes with my shop.  Love the new colours, though, and might make a pink one for myself!  Find them here:  http://www.photoworksbydawn.etsy.com/

Shutter Bug

Many thanks to Sara K from SaigeWisdom for sharing my Little Tips booklet on her blog!  It's always great to be featured, and this one's no exception.  Sara's blog is beautifully done, and she shares Canadian shops weekly.  Be sure to check it out!

Thank you!  :)

Lost Without My Ideas

I hadn't mentioned this before, but I had lost my "idea book". 

It's basically a little scribbler that I carry with me so I can jot notes whenever an idea comes to me.  I even have it sectioned off for my blog, photos, poems, and other thoughts.  Not that I couldn't have created another, but when it disappeared, I felt as though the ideas had gone with it.  Many of them I might have remembered at some point, but I worried that others would be gone forever. 

Almost two months without it.  The last time I remembered seeing it was in a hotel in Halifax; I couldn't remember leaving it there, but I couldn't remember not leaving it there, either.  I pictured it having fallen behind the desk, to be found some day by the cleaning staff or a future guest.  My thoughts exposed - imagine!  Of course, those random ideas could hardly have been deciphered by anyone, let alone someone unknown to me.  More likely, my half-poems and blog titles would have been tossed out with the leftover pizza.

Fast-forward to last night, when I was looking for paper in my "bills" basket to write good morning notes to my kids.  There, in the midst of all that considerably un-inspirational paperwork, was my idea book.

Do you know how, when something good happens, you feel like calling someone to tell them about it?  Well, that's how I felt - quite celebratory, in fact.  I didn't, though - someone might have thought I was losing my mind when I told them I had found my thoughts!