I had to get out of the house today. Dark, dreary, December day. Forty degrees and four thirty by the time I made it to the farm with my dogs.
So I want to show you what it really was today. Not a "better" version of the colors of the day. It was dark and cool. But I like this weather now. I hated it five years ago and now I look forward to the winter months. I actually enjoy being out in the winter far more than summer.
But, you have to change how you think about the seasons and your world before you can learn to like this weather.
I'm sad about the loss of the two Collie girls; I miss Lassie and Wren.
The merriment will continue as they chase rabbits and smell the air for prey.
Ozzie is still going, despite his grey muzzle and grumpy temperment (towards Pumpkin).
So I really didn't get any shots that I loved today. I didn't expect to though. I used my Tamron 24/70 f/2.8 lens because I was lazy and I figure that it will become my regular landscape lens. I did notice today that this lens has a lot of vignetting.
So I read this article yesterday; "The World Would Be a Better Place If We Stopped Taking Pictures of Ourselves" by that Matt Walsh dude. I don't know. I guess now that we're all carrying around cameras 24/7 we do take way too many pictures. Words like "obsessively documenting" and "unchecked egomania" - written by a blogger who has gotten a lot of attention for his opinions. There is some irony there? Right? My little blog is filled with what I hope are nice images of my state and places I've been. There isn't a lot of political ranting and discourse about how horrible I think other people are in society, yet I get by with maybe 100 views in a day. I no longer plug my posts on Facebook constantly and I really don't continually post links to gain readers. I think it's a visual diary. Yet, I know these images, do not represent the whole of my reality.
So Matt Walsh (who I really have no issue with - because his opinion is just as valid on the internet as mine)- wants to do a #nomoreselfies hashtag. Which - cool- right, yet the internet is suited for us introverts whose voices may not be heard without it. We can sit back quietly in a group of loud, obnoxious talkers and observe them. We can take a selfie on Facebook and feel confident. Yet, yes, it's overdone. He is calling for us not to take selfies at Christmas - so I read this last night after I posted a series of "self portraits" on my blog (and changed all my profile pictures of course). But, I was rather proud of those selfies, because I had to connect my camera to the wifi and connect my iPhone to my camera, set up a tripod - determine which equipment to use and still managed to throw some decent shots (of myself - gasp) with lovely Christmas Tree bokeh.
Yes there is still activity on the well on my Parents' property. Yes, I'm sick of it. It needs to go away, it has been fracked already. No, I didn't write a long diatribe about fracking. Yes everyone still has water. I want the silence - I want these wells to be drilled and just the normal traffic. I'm tired of it. I'm grateful for it economically but I'm tired of all these people and noise in my quiet!!!
Walsh uses the argument "NO ONE CARES" chastising people for taking too many selfies. Yes, that's been my argument all along about WHY it's okay to take selfies or chat online. No one really cares, so what is the big deal. Clearly he cares enough to write a blog stating how no one cares. No, I don't care if you post ten or twenty photos a day on your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I really don't. If I don't want to see what you post online I'll hide you. If I don't want to read your blog I won't. If I don't want to follow you on twitter I wont. But, If your image matters to you- you do care and that's okay. People hire me to take their portraits, because it does matter. They care about their image and appearance or they wouldn't bother.
But, it strikes me as funny when people tell me not to share their images because they are gifts for others. I guess parents and grandparents would like the gift of a great photo of their grandchildren or children, but other than that- I don't know how I would feel about a photo of someone else being a gift.
So the #nomoreselfies hashtag is interesting. Social networking sites are addicting. I've often wanted to pull the plug on my internet world. Yet, then I'm like who would I talk to? Most of my friends are only online. I don't really "hang around" with a lot of people. So the internet is my world. It is my place to express my opinions and have a voice. I love the internet. I've been online talking to people since before 2000, back when we had excite or angelfire email addresses and when AOL was cool. I've been taking digital photos since 2001. I love the digital age. I love that I can stream music, I love that I can watch streaming television. I love that I can carry the world in my phone.
I've lamented about the internet being democratized with the smart phone. The fact that everyone of any level of intelligence is now online spouting off their opinion. It is no longer the realm of us introverts, misfits, academia and geeks. The internets voice is now a loud, rowdy mob, hellbent on destroying the lives of people who dare say something that the masses disagree with. It is a "us" vs. "them" world. The internet is a unites and polarizes. It is filled with soundbites and blurbs presented as memes. Brainwashed by listicles telling us how to make our lives better, or what we're doing to make our lives worse. We read these silly little blogs, the opinions and we take them as fact. We take a quiz that tells us what kind of souls we have and share it with our five hundred friends. So while I agree to some degree that #nomoreselfies would be a cool experiment. I will continue to live my well documented life.
So, take your selfies. I don't care. THINK about the information that you are being fed. Turn it off sometimes and go for a walk. One thing about my photography is I do turn it off. I go outside, I spend time alone. I think. I go home and I edit photos, I'm not listening to the crap on cable or network television. Sure I'm "taking pictures" - I'm taking too many pictures. I'm documenting my world for the brief time that I'm on this earth. Maybe someday, someone will treasure the images of the world in 2014, just as I treasure the image of my Great-Great-Great Grandparents.
This 100 year old image that I first viewed this summer. Would I be obsessed with seeing their "selfies" or family photos from ancestors who I never knew but as a headstone and a name on the family tree? Yes, I value this image. Images matter, our images matter. Our selfies will matter to someone someday. Yes, our cell phone photography is often narcissistic and silly. But, so is the internet, so are these blogs, so are these opinions that we share.
Walsh said that we would be "living" if we stopped taking so many photos. Yet, I've found so much living through photography. I've found a purpose. I've found a hobby. I've found a new way to view the world. I am living. I am a photographer. I am living - I take selfies- I am living. I have a "life" - I have a life well documented. I need my artistic outlet, I need my craft, I need my income. I am alive and photography has enhanced my life whether or not you want to look at me or my images.
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