While we’re on the subject of cameras and photography (from last week’s blog) I also love the joy of accidentally capturing a perfect picture. A sunset, a rose, a laughing child – whatever it is that you manage to capture that is so good it looks like a professional photographer’s masterpiece. The detail, the color, the movement, the tilt of a head– It all creates that exact moment into a forever moment. These photos cause a different kind of memory. A split second in time captured, so we can relive it every time we see it. Feeling again that moment when the colors of a sunset gave peace. Or the surprise or shocked terror of a jagged ribbon of lightening flashing to the earth. Or the pure joy of a child’s laughter. We can hear the rushing waters or feel the heat of the day (blog pictures). We remember how we felt.
However, if we are going around taking random pictures of people, hoping to create some art, we should remember that some people are camera shy, while others have religious or cultural issues with their picture being taken. In some cases, including many Native American cultures, people are fearful that photography endangers the human spirit or soul, or that a soul can be stolen (wholly or partially) and imprisoned. Certain Mayan cultures are especially fearful when infants are photographed. Infants’ souls are considered too fragile and susceptible to potential paths of being separated from their bodies. As these fears are based on religious tenets there is no medical term for a fear of being photographed.
Being camera shy is another matter and fairly common. More and more, we are a camera- clicking culture. If camera shyness describes you, it’s been suggested by others with the same issue that you should practice being in front of a camera. Also, try and identify the reason for your fear. You can try a relaxation technique to use prior to a photo shoot, like yoga, dancing or deep breathing. If you don’t like how you look in photos, build your self-esteem with positive self-affirmations when you look at pictures of yourself, or remember (this is my favorite!) how happy you felt when the picture was taken – and limit the time you stare at yourself in photographs (don’t we all look at ourselves with a critical eye?). Don’t dress for the camera, dress so you’re comfortable and find comfortable environments to be photographed in. Remind yourself that these pictures will one day be happy memories of your life and the people you love. And, don't forget, the people you love will want to see pictures of you after you've gone. Remember the reason for being photographed.
I’ve always had an eye for what I want to capture, but I could seldom achieve it. Thanks to the awesome every-day-people cameras available these days, I can be a pretend real photographer and make a few masterpieces along the trails of logging our lives in pictures. (Yes, quite “accidentally” as I said in the first paragraph of this blog! Not a professional.)
That part of us I have written about in other blogs that needs to create makes these masterpieces special in more ways than the joy we feel when we look at them time and again. It feeds our souls with emotion and also with the pleasure of getting to create something of worth that gives to joy to any observer. Being a professional photographer must be a little magical. I’m glad I occasionally get to feel the magic.
Next week: a special 4th of July moment – How Tall is Too Tall?
San Francisco from Alcatraz
A double bridge in Scotland
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