Photos Record Memories

 

Last week I wrote about looking for photos to submit at the Lake County Fair. Most of my photos aren’t competition-worthy, though, and that’s fine. In fact, I rarely, if ever, take a photograph solely with competition in mind. I take photos primarily for one of three reasons: 1) to record memories, 2) to preserve a beautiful or interesting physical image (e.g., flowers or scenery), or 3) to document my research. When I get one that’s competition-worthy, it’s simply a bonus.

I’m going to spend the next three weeks blogging about those other reasons for taking photographs. I’ll start with recording memories.

First, though, a word about cameras. When I’m on vacation or a field trip where I expect to take photos, I take my Canon Rebel T8i. I won’t go into technical details other than to say it is a digital camera with exchangeable lenses that take great closeups as well as zooming in on animals and objects hundreds of feet away. It’s the type of camera that is used by many hobbyists but not by professional photographers.

That said, there is nothing wrong with taking photos with your cell phone, which create some great images these days. There is a saying among photographers that goes like this: “The best camera is the one you have with you.” If I see a photo I want to take and don’t have my other camera along, I don’t hesitate to use my cell phone. In fact, there are times when I actually switch to my cell phone because it creates a better image under certain conditions. I even know some serious photographers whose only camera is the one on their cell phone.

So if you don’t have a fancy camera, don’t worry about it. Take the photos you want anyway. Those cell phone pictures are a great way to record your memories.

Roland and I travel a lot, and it’s nice to keep a photo record of each trip. The photo at the top of this post shows us in front of the Coliseum in Rome. Or here we are with the kids and my older brother on a trip to the Middle East in 1998. Obviously I didn’t take the picture, but the guide took it for us on whatever camera we had at the time.

Then there are memories of other things we did as a family, including sailing. Here we are with our first sailboat. My brother belongs in the picture, too, since he is the one who got us hooked on sailing.

Of course, not all recorded memories have to include people.  In fact, most of our vacation photos don’t. This one of Florence, Italy, is an example.

Photos such as the one above often serve a second purpose besides recording memories—they preserve beautiful or interesting images. That’s the subject of next week’s blog post.