Thinking about Eamon Mac Mahon

Kiwi, our dog

I recently bumped into a documentary show called "Snapshot" on television about Eamon Mac Mahon. (check out his website at www.eamonmacmahon.com) Besides being incredibly impressed with the quality of his photography and the extensive variety of his work, I was also quite taken with the portrayal of his character.

One of the comments that was made (and I am very loosely quoting as I am not sure if I wrote it down correctly because I couldn't find paper right away-but the jist of it is correct) was:

"You can always see what a person thinks of another by the type of photographs they take of them."

I was really struck by this insight; so much so, that I went back and had a look at pictures I had taken over the years and recently.  It was with a huge sigh of relief to realize that pretty much all the pictures I have taken of people have been, maybe not exceptional, but definitely decent and respectful.  I did have to laugh when I found a couple I had taken of myself and realized that they were borderline awful - Now, I had to ask myself if is this a reflection of my opinion of myself?  Or was it that I just have really short arms and my camera doesn't focus all that well on such a close distance?  Hmm.  I think I prefer to go with the short arm theory.  lol

How do your photographs stack up?

Pictures ad nauseum

As you may have noticed but I have started to include more pictures on my last blog and added a new background picture taken of my garden to my title area. I finally broke down and bought myself a new little Kodak camera a week or so ago. I am finding that I am quite pleased with my little camera and have been snapping everything and anything. I have always liked taking pictures and love when they actually turn out! (Doesn't mean I'm good at it. lol)

I have taken pictures of literally everything just to see what this camera can do. It can take a picture of my dog sitting on my lap -a distance of 8 inches - a bit overexposed because of the flash but I was surprised that it was as clear as it is. Its zoom capabilities are definitely limited. I was impressed, however, that it can take relatively decent still shots from the side window of the vehicle of the side of the road when we are travelling at 100 km/hr (60mph). Distance/panoramic shots are sadly an issue but otherwise I think that I will persevere despite this and keep the camera. It is smaller than a blackberry, came with its own case and 4gb memory card so not only is it easy to slip into a pocket and take along when I head out but can store a huge amount of pictures. I also really like how it came with only one cord and a small adapter that can be used both for transferring pictures onto the computer and for powering up. Not too many negatives with this one. The screen is also large which makes picture viewing very easy. I like the smaller buttons it has as I won't accidentally turn on the camera when it is in my pocket.

I know I am going to enjoy having a camera once again. It will be fun to be able to take pictures of all the wonderful things and people in my life.