Share your pictures – the old-fashioned way
Online picture sharing is almost a given these days, so I won’t presume to suggest how you might undertake it. But I will suggest that giving a nice framed picture to family or friends will make both of you feel good. Equally good, maybe even better, are the self-created photo books you can make on a variety of websites (Blurb, Shutterfly, MyPublisher) and with retailers. These are taking over as the new photo albums – particularly for events, like a family vacation. So be it a greeting card, framed print, photo book, photo mug, or other photo product – put your skills to work by giving a small but welcomed gift to somebody who will enjoy it.
Take control
If you ever read those online job satisfaction surveys, you know that the most important factor in job satisfaction (and I’ll say photo satisfaction) is having meaningful control. Don’t hesitate to take control of your photo situations.
Choose more situations that offer you greater control, such as still life and portraiture. You may prefer “found” still lifes, but I also regularly arrange flowers, fruit, seeds and other objects on a table next to a window (that’s my light source). I even bring indoors milkweed pods, sunflower heads, and assorted other wild things (you should’ve seen/heard the day a couple hundred baby praying mantises hatched from a one-inch cocoon in the living room). My friend Gary likes to photograph old hand tools, particularly hammers. The point is, whenever you gain control of the photo situation and can express your creativity, your enjoyment will improve.
story and photos by Derek Doeffinger
