My Problem With Pictures

You’re in for a little self-reflection today. I’ve recently realized that for someone who writes a blog, sometimes I’m awful at taking pictures.

I’m not sure whether I’m mad about this or not.

This came to light in the wake of my Iceland trip.   I was showing the pictures to some relatives when someone said, “did you see anybody else in Iceland or was it just you and Katelyn the whole time?”   I was momentarily confused but went through my pictures and realized that there’s almost nobody in any of the shots.  There are several of me in naturescapes, several of Katelyn and I, and then a whole lot of scenic, what I like to term, “Asian tourist” photographs.

Then, I remember during the trip Katelyn and I were both frustrated with our photography skills.  I was really good with pictures walking around immediately after landing in Reykjavik, but that weekend, when we explored the city, went snowmobiling and white water rafting, did the beer tour and went out for two wild nights, was pretty much a bust picture-wise.  The Reykjavik nightlife was one of my favorite parts of the trip and I have nothing to show for it.  I could describe it but the whole “pictures are worth 1000 words” adage is true (expect for portions of Iceland where pictures couldn’t even do it justice).

I like to make myself feel better by saying that sometimes I’m just having too much fun; pictures are the last thing on my mind. I’m just too busy L-I-V-I-N as Matthew McCanaughey’s  Dazed and Confused counterpart would say.  This is partially true.  Some of my best nights out have absolutely no photographic evidence (which is some cases, I’m very happy for).  Sometimes I legitimately don’t want to destroy the moment by asking people to get together for pictures constantly.  Part of this though might just be an excuse for being lazy.  While blogging isn’t my job, I should be more cognizant of the fact that it is a hobby and therefor need to take more pictures than I normally would, if it’s something I’m considering writing about. I think about the blogs I like, and a lot of them, not all, have beautiful photographs.

My other problem with pictures is that I don’t necessarily like to impede on my friend’s privacy.   I’ve said it before, but I have a great group of friends that I’m lucky enough to travel and go out with on the regular.  That being said, it’s my choice to blog and not theirs and more often times than not, when we’re out, there’s pictures of all of us, not just me.  I don’t feel comfortable posting their pictures over the internet, nor do I want to be constantly bothering them and saying, do you mind if I put this on my blog.  I usually just throw them up on Facebook and am done with it.   I have less then 300 friends so in that realm it’s pretty secular and confined.  If we’re doing something work friendly I usually don’t have a problem, but this day and age it almost seems dangerous to put pictures of people drinking up for public consumption.  It’s stupid, but it’s reality.

Does anyone else who blogs come across these issues?  Any suggestions to help me out?