One picture is worth a thousand words. I always thought this came from some ancient philosopher but it actually was an advertising executive in 1921 who first coined the phrase. He was referring to book jacket covers and how the picture on a jacket was the best opportunity to convey the story inside. Anyone who loves photography will always have an eye out for the photo that will capture so much more than just the obvious picture. I am one of those people but never owned a great camera so any awesome shots I took were few and far between (and almost by mistake!). At one point, in the ‘80s, I decided I should always have a camera with me because I lost an opportunity for one of the best shots I had seen up to that point. I was driving from our house on Skyline Drive and had just come into Scotch Bush on Route 30. It was snowing and most everything was white with some splashes of black from the buildings around. Just before I turned on the little side road, I saw something red on a roof of one house. It may have been part of a chimney, I’m not sure. But I so wished I had a camera to take that shot - with everything either white or black except for that tiny piece of red on the roof.
There have been many other beautiful photo opportunities over the years as well. This view greeted me after I turned on Fort Hunter Road and was nearing our library one morning. What a surprise! It looked like a huge ball of fire shooting out of McKinney Hill but it was actually the sun coming up with the atmosphere just right to channel the rays straight to the clouds.
And this one was take on Christmas Eve 2009. The air was perfect for a hoarfrost to form on the trees. My Dad had to explain what this phenomenon was as I had never seen anything like it before. This is not a black and white photo - it actually looked like this when I took the shot. It was a fascinating sight!
Of course, flowers are always a good choice for photos. I love seeing wildflowers with their competing colors - always reminding me that there’s nothing more beautiful than what naturally occurs around us every day. This picture was taken on what is now our front lawn:
With cell phones now, carrying a camera around has become the norm and the quality of those shots can be as beautiful as one taken with a very expensive camera. Photoshop makes it easy to enhance an otherwise less exciting photograph as well. But, rarely, a beautiful and interesting shot will present itself and you just know it will be good without any enhancement at all. That’s when I appreciate the technology that's always sitting in my back pocket.