February 06th, 2017

The majority of the time,   I can take a fairly decent photo of most things; a bird, a sunset, a bicycle. But for whatever reason, I cannot seem to properly photograph a person.  See above.  Taken at the same time, in the same direction, a blue glass on our table and my sister.  The glass is crystal (excuse the pun) clear and perfectly li. My poor sister is washed out, poorly lighted and blurry.  She posed very nicely, what a pretty smile and still...not so good. It's baffling to me.

It's not that I don't try, I do.  To be totally honest, I take a lot more photographs of things rather than people and perhaps that does factor in. But anyone would think that two entirely different people took those two  photos above. Or at least used two different cameras.  Nope.    I can't even blame the venue because about one minute after I snapped the picture of her with my phone, she asked for phone and took this picture of me (below). Same phone. Same day. Same place for heaven's sakes. Then she returned the phone to me and I took a photo of our dessert which came out perfectly. Definitely not the phone (i.e. camera)

I have noticed that when I try to snap a picture of a person, I am not as patient with myself.  Always concerned about wasted someone else's time, I think.  Whereas, when I'm taking any other pictures I will sometimes check it from different points of view, look at it through the lens, change the perspective several times before I ever click that button. But with a person, sometimes I'm not even waiting to be certain that they have their photo-face on!  And to be kind to the person or persons involved, I will not feature those pictures here today.

Maybe I get more nervous when taking pictures of people.  I mean, a tree or a bridge doesn't ask to see the photo afterward, but people almost always do.  They are tickled to see a picture of themselves even if they say that they "always look terrible in pictures". Actually especially if they say that I'm afraid for them to see any photo of them that I've taken because I am so bad at it, it seems to confirm their fears.  And it's just not so.  They photo I'm framing in my mind is perfect.  The person looks absolutely beautiful.  And then I click that button and....not so much.

Taking photos of Tim do not count because he finds it nearly impossible to just play it straight in a photograph.  In most of my photos of him he is making a face. So no, that photo is not going to look good.  But he knows it and I knows it. And that's just fine. He is silly so it's a silly photo.  Sometimes I will even "silly-photo" with him. It's fun.  (that's us on the left silly-photoing it up)  But Joy and Bob (on the right) are posing perfectly.  It should have been a terrific picture.  And it's not and I'm sorry.

I will be fair to myself now and say that some people simply do not photograph well.  Not the case with Joy and Bob, so that is NOT a valid excuse for me there. But for instance usually me.  I'm perfectly fine until a camera is aimed at me and then something happens. I'm not sure what, but I transform into something demented.  It is only for that split second that the shutter is depressed and my image is captured. But it happens almost every single time.  As much as I'm trying to play nice, cooperate and relax, instead I get gargoyle-ed.  A good picture of me is an aberrant phenomenon.

So if you are some innocent stranger who asks me to please take a photo of you in front of the fountain or posed in from of the surf at the beach, this is your notice.  I will hand the camera off to Tim if he is with me.  This is in your best interest!  If he is not with me, I am a good sport.  I will TRY to take the requested photo.  It will not turn out good.  Just saying.  Meanwhile, I will continue to practice on any sole willing to have a bad picture of them taken, despite my intentions. But mostly I think I will concentrate on taking pictures of things that don't have to worry about posing.  Those pictures almost always turn out.  Probably in spite of me.