The enjoyment of photographs

Dalavich Church - Argyll
Photo by Jeanie McBain

In my younger years I took photographs for granted. I used to hate it when my grandmother’s and aunt’s got the photo albums out.  I wasn’t interested in them at all, but I had to pretend to be.   Not because I had to pretend but I did it because I loved them all dearly and I wanted to please them.

I pretty much took my surroundings for granted too.  I hardly noticed the beauty around me until I reached my late forties and almost lost my eyesight.   I was lucky some of my eyesight was saved.  It was after the operation I began to notice the beauty of my surroundings and everything I looked at mattered to me.  It wasn’t a conscious thought, it just happened that way.

It was at this time that I decided to see as much of Scotland as I possibly could.  I went to some wonderful places and saw some stunning sights.  However, I never thought to take a camera with me.  With my partial vision I felt that taking photographs were for people with proper vision.

A couple of years ago  and much to my surprise my husband bought me a Fuji-film camera.  The photos that are on this post are the first photos I took with it.  They are far from perfect but they gave me some confidence to take some photos.

Wallace 15-10-2012 024

This photograph was taken in the Dalavich Village green, I tried to pick up the autumn colours.   I couldn’t make out the hedge growth properly but I new it was colourful because I had been over there to see it.

Most of the photos I took are in and around the village.  Some photos were just aim and shoot then hope for the best.  They turned out fine, well fine for me anyway.

I haven’t used my camera since I moved to Kilmarnock, but hopefully I will start using it soon.   There are plenty of beautiful spots around to photograph.

I have learned to appreciate all the beauty this world has to offer.  I hope to start capturing all the lovely things I see.  All I need is a bit more confidence with the camera and I am sure I could produce some good photographs.   It’s going to be a journey of learning but seeing all the beautiful photographs that others have share on social networks has made me determined to gain more confidence in using my camera.

Wallace 15-10-2012 021 I have often dragged my husband outside to look at the evening sky filled with the glorious colours of   sunset                                                              or the moon surrounded by clouds.  If I am out anywhere I will stop and take in a view that catches my eye I     don’t want to miss a thing.  So it makes sense for me to start using my camera more often.  Confidence is the       key and I often get frustrated if I can make things our properly.  But it is really something I would like to get                                                 comfortable with.

I am familiar with the camera so I suppose that is quite helpful and it has a 3″ screen which also helps.  Some photographs may still end up hit and miss but that situation cannot be helped.   All I have to do now is to start getting out and about in my neighbourhood and take some pictures.

In the meantime I will carry on enjoying the beautiful photographs that some of my followers post on Twitter and Facebook.  It’s a delight to see them.

You can click on all my photographs to see them larger.

Wallace 15-10-2012 015

Wallace 15-10-2012 018various and spider 003 Argyll and Bute-20121023-00036 Argyll and Bute-20121023-00040 Argyll and Bute-20121107-00078

first photos with new camera 026

Argyll and Bute-20121105-00057

Author

Please feel free to leave a comment.