Photography Philosophy

(yummy strawberries I ate last night!)

I know I mention the wonderful Ali Edwards every other post, but she is simply amazing! This is from her post today on photography. It perfectly explains how I, myself, have tried to evolve my photography skills over the last year. Although this is her post, I feel like I could have written this about myself. The only exception is that I'm not as "ruthless" in deleting some shots like I need to be. I think this is great advice for anyone, even non-scrapbookers.

What do I think about when taking photos?

I look for emotion. I look for life. I look for connections between people, places, and things. I look for things that will support stories I currently want to tell and others that will spur me on to telling new ones.

I take a ton of photos and then a ton more. I am not overwhelmed by them because I am ruthless in winnowing them down to the best five or less in a series of shots on the same subject. I don't need 50 photos of Simon playing Star Wars because it is entirely possible that I will take 50 more shots tomorrow. Read more about being ruthless below.
I am conscious of light (the lack of or the excess amounts) but will take the shot even if it doesn't seem like it will come out because interesting "accidents" occur all the time.

I am conscious of wanting to "be in the moment" as well as "capture the moment."
I like photographing objects in my environment. I also like the way things connect with one another - the place where the sidewalk meets the grass, etc. Today I will be heading over to our local farmer's market for my first time this spring and plan to take a bunch of photos.

I am often thinking of the story I may be able to tell with these photos as I am taking them. This often leads me to take different photos than I may have anticipated in the beginning as I allow myself to follow the story.
I move around with the camera. I get close and I move father away. I will walk to one side and then another. Moving around makes it more likely that I will get a shot that will speak to me emotionally.
I am completely happy to not have my subjects looking at the camera. I don't always need to have them looking straight into the camera to tell a story. My goal is not to invade the environment with my camera but rather to blend right in in the most unobtrusive way possible.

Read Ali's entire post HERE.

I took these photos tonight in our backyard. I thought with the severe weather headed our way, they may not be there tomorrow! :(