Friday, March 18, 2011

Photos are tricky.



Once again it's twenty minutes to midnight and I'm this close to failure. I was browsing through more boat photos (I took about a million of them and then never did anything with 'em) (story of my life), looking for something, anything, to share when I came across this photo of my kid sister. (Who, by the way, turned 16 and got her driver's license since last I wrote about her. Which is just plain scary.)

It speaks to me. I don't know why. It certainly isn't perfect by any means and after staring at it for what feels like forever, I can't tell if her skin looks totally red and discolored or if it's just my imagination. But, nonetheless, I love it.

Of course, then I asked my mother, "What do you think of this photo?" and she came in and looked at it and kinda shrugged like "meh" and then said, "Well, I wouldn't tag her." I rolled my eyes and told her, "I wasn't planning on putting it on Facebook." But then, a few seconds later, "Wait. Are you saying it's awful?" I asked.

She assured me that wasn't the case, but I guess that's the thing about photos. One person's "I love" is another person's "meh." (Or, even worse, another person's "don't you dare post that photo of me!") Makes me realize that I should stop caring so much and just post whatever photos I love. Regardless of what anyone else might see or think.

5 comments:

  1. MichelleSGMarch 19, 2011

    Those last two sentences, run with that. Personally from a laymanspointof view, I think it's a lovely picture. Remember also the color balance is different on everyones screen. There's no red in her skin tone on my iPad. It's got more of an amber hue from the sunshine. The sunlight is in a good spot so as only to highlight the picture and not detract from it. There are a bunch of positives I could come up with in this photo. Here's some advice I give myself every time I even think of my mom, don't listen to you mother. Spoken from a mother.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think this is a beautiful image of your sister. Her skin tone is fine on my monitor....it probably looks red to you because your monitor may need to be color calibrated.

    I am so familiar with scary...I taught two daughters to drive and still have to ride with the almost 17 year old once in awhile. My least favorite phrase while I'm riding with her ~ "mom, I got this"....usually comes after we go around a corner on two wheels. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. smalltownsmalltimesMarch 20, 2011

    I love the photo. Like all others that you take, it tells a story. I look at it and I imagine your sister thinking young, witty, sisterly things. She looks comfortable and honest and slightly tired of having her photo taken. She looks like she loves you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AngryAsianMarch 21, 2011

    this might be a long comment. you've been warned.

    do you watch the current Top Chef? the contestant Richard Blaise has said many times this season about how he NEVER likes anything he makes, even the dishes he wins. this past weekend, i snapped shots of baked donuts & randoms, and hated all of them, and it made me realize that like Blaise (good lord, do i really have the gall to compare myself to this genius chef??) i rarely like anything i create or photograph. and that's ok. cus there is always someone else who'll like it and sometimes that's enough.

    you & your sister have the same complexion, freckles and moles. it's a lovely shot, she's very pretty. and as long you like the picture, thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. -->I like this photo a lot. Her eyes really pop!

    ReplyDelete