The Art of Photography

I've been surrounded by talent almost my whole life, the talent of taking great photographs, yet it hasn't helped me one bit. I'd shake their hands, touch cheek to cheek, even beg but alas I still don't have the eye. It's an eye that creates beautiful photos that speak to us. My talents lie elsewhere but gosh me oh my I wish I had the eye.

When my Dad was a young man he was quite interested in taking photos, he married young, had kids right away (5 of us) so photography took a back seat. Here's one he took when he first got married that I absolutely love. These are both my grandmothers. This photo says so much and I think it's very special. This photo was taken in the late 1940's

My ex-husband's daughter Danielle  has a great talent for photography and back in the day when she was attending college in New York at Parsons she had an assignment to take mother daughter photos. Erica and I were elected as one of the photos she was doing. Now this was back in the early 90's and unfortunately I don't have the photo any more but I can tell you that she captured the essence of the relationship between my daughter and myself. At the time it was a bit hard to look at and I learned then that photos don't lie. With a click of a button she was able to show the world just how it was between mother and daughter.  Of course in the 90's my daughter was a teenager and you know how that is. Today that photo would look totally different. You can learn more about Danielle at her web site or see some great photos here or follow her on Instagram 

This is Danielle. Is this not a great shot?

Now my son is also talented taking photos.Here are a few of his photos of NYC taken with his smart phone. He's worth following on instagram and his web site  

So now you get to see the difference, the difference in their photo taking and my ......snapshots. Snapshots are what normal people take, normal people who don't have the eye.

My first real business was creating soap and I was pretty successful doing that. It was an on-line business and for that you needed good photos of your product and there was the stumbling block.  Here's some examples of those photos.

Focus was one of my biggest problems and staging was another

This was a banana soap but like always it's out of focus

I thought the soap on a granite tile would give it pizazz!

This photo is pretty good but it's one in about 1000

This picture I like and it's different, sort of artsy. This photo was done in a white box made from foam board. Here's a great tutorial on how to make one for yourself.

None of their talents rubbed off on me so I'm stuck, stuck having to take, retake and retake again photos of my products for Etsy. (I sell pillow covers now.)  This also tests my patience but that's another story. I wish I had the answer on how to get great photos each and every time but I don't.

Right now because it just doesn't pay to buy a good camera I'm taking photos with my smartphone. I would gladly spend the money for a good camera but I know that it wouldn't help me create great photos, I don't have the eye for it yet. My son made me put the yet in there he has more hope for me than I do.