Random thoughts on photography.  Sometimes I think about the space that fills a photo.  The actual square footage.  Whether it be a 4×6 or a 8×10, that is relatively a small area to tell an entire story.  And it’s only reflective of one of our senses but in actuality, you are attempting to tie in all your senses into one picture. Photography is a strange beast.  Like a mirror.  Everyone sees something different.  Sometimes you are attempting to capture an emotion.  Sometimes to conjure one.  Sometimes to build a graphic.  Sometimes to hold a precious moment in time.  Some photos are meant to be part of something bigger….an accompaniment to the main event.  Sometimes photos, when paired together are stronger side by side than their individual parts.  Some photos, when paired together create a more offensive scene….or can create a sense of balance that would be missing. I think we are all photographers….memory gatherers of some sort.  People say that they aren’t photographers, but I beg to differ.  We just don’t always have a print or a file of that particular memory.  It’s in our minds.  Our hearts.  The fondest things in life and the hardest times.  The moments that struck us with such force that they are permanently etched in our vault.  The things we see clearly in our past, even with open eyes, the moments we save, filed in our emotions, our familiar smells, that sweet tune that makes us remember.  We remember…much like a photo…or a series of them…a sequential art of imagery that is engrained in our brain. I remember my first camera.  I remember the first photos I ever took.  I remember looking at the pictures and knowing that they were merely a slice in the time that I stored away mentally.  It’s strange to me to still have those memories – my grandmother’s house, a Christmas tree and a grouping of porcelain dolls, the smell of nut roll and peppermints, my uncle’s smile.  It reminds me to take more photos…because the things I remember are the things I take pictures of.  Not so that I can access those physical snapshots….but so that I can access the memory of them. One day I want to do a series.  A series of series.  Of where I live.  My favorite town.  My children’s shoes.  The jobs my hands do. My mother’s face.  My father’s posture.  My bed.  Moments when I cry.  Strangers’ everydays.  Splashes.  Light.  Reflections.  Doesn’t that sound fun and amazing and just worthy of remembering?! I considered not posting these photos because they aren’t anything in particular.  Just a day.  Just a strawberry picking adventure with my sister and our six kiddos (with one on the way….her not me!).  Cole was in school.  The day was very damp and overcast.  The strawberry special was pick two get one free.  Buckets were given to each little.  There were mushy lanes, dirty hands, a lot of “no don’t throw the strawberry!  no don’t eat the strawberry!” and it was just plain simple beauty.  It’s the kinda day I will remember just simply because of these pictures and a day that could have been forgotten….but I chose my camera 🙂