Tag: Macular Degeneration

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #206 Treasures

This week Aletta has chosen the topic Treasures. It can be wealth or riches like precious metals, money, jewels, or anything a person values greatly. I started out thinking of things that surrounded me in my home. I have a number of things that I collect: spoons, bears, and heart-shaped stones. I also have many things that my mother collected: crystal and tea cups. But after thinking about this topic I came to the conclusion that what I truly treasure are the memories that come with every item. Where I was, who I was with, and my experience. Or in the case of my inherited objects just thinking about my parents.

That is probably why photography itself is something that I treasure. It is not just capturing the perfect image, though that is an added bonus, but the experience, who was there to share it with, and taking the time to take in my surroundings. A quiet time, a fleeting moment, and a time to reflect.

But in order to appreciate much of these treasures, I depend upon my eyesight. I have inherited macular degeneration from my mother. By eighty her vision was severely limited, and this loss caused her to be dependent on others. The adjustment was hard. So far, I am doing well, but I can tell my left eye is not pulling its full weight. The human body adjusts and I have no limitations yet. So I am treasuring every moment I can get out with my friends and take photographs. I joke with my friends, and say when I can’t see can I still go out and pretend to take pictures?

Spring day at Hermitage Crystal Gardens
Reflection at the Peace Garden
The natural world

I absolutely treasure my dogs. I waited so long for my first dog, Liberty because I wanted the time to be right to care for her. Charlie came next after the time had passed, and then I waited till he was born. But after he crossed over, he sent me my Moxie Love so I wouldn’t be without this companion. I am busy working to train Moxie so that she can come with me when I am out and about. My goal is to take the AKC Good Citizen Test at the end of the summer. In the future, I would like to visit assisted living communities.

Liberty Love – my first dog
Charlie – my Australian Labradoodle
Moxie Love – my Golden girl

There are families that have the quintessential family portrait, then there is my family. Currently, everyone is scattered. I have two married children and seven grandchildren. Grandchildren range in age from 2 years to 25 years old. Each child is a treasure in their own way. Maybe one day I will have a full family portrait, but I will not hold my breath.

This is a challenging blog to write. It does make me take time to appreciate the treasure time and the world around me. It is easy to get off track and think about day to day life. What do you treasure?

Online, Prints or Albums?

How do you like to look at your photographs? In the past the choices were print or slides. The prints were placed in albums and carefully labeled, or at the other end of the spectrum left in a box or trunk unmarked. Some photographs become part of the household display in frames on the mantle or hung on the wall. There have been instances when film was found undeveloped. The discovery of Vivian Maier, a noted street photographer comes to mind. If you aren’t familiar with her work the documentary, Finding Vivian Maier is worth watching. Many WWII film canisters have been found. Slides often in containers without a projector available.

I began my digital connection early with a 3mg pixel Sony Mavica on mini cds in about 2001. I liked the idea of seeing results immediately, but the digital world had a long way to go before I could use it consistently. The shutter lag, and resolution were not up to the task. I probably have the disks, somewhere. But the technology changed and even my iMac doesn’t have a CD player. My digital switch came in 2004 with my first dslr Nikon D70. Followed by D200, D7000, D600, D7100, Panasonic point & shoot, Olympus OMD-E5 mirrorless, and Fuji x100f. I use one of the highlighted cameras depending on my subject matter, and how much I want to shlep. They each serve the purpose and I can get great image from each one.

My photo collection in Lightroom CC is about 35500. I have used Adobe Lightroom since it began, and the changes also grew with the improvements in digital photography.  I retired from my teaching position and high school librarian. I have the need to be organized, and I like to  to have a place for everything. That includes cataloging my images. Lightroom (LR) originally was created to keep images organized. Photoshop was to take care of processing. I’m very glad the two work together now. I have keywords for my images going back to 2004, and my needs change. And crazy as it sounds,  I like to catalog my images. When I am stressed I often review, redo, and remember my photo journey. While making these changes I get to look back over my work. I enjoy this time. I review my growth, impressed by some of my earlier images, saw camera improvements especially in noise reduction, and the improved LR can assist with  changes.

I like to see my photographs enlarged and hanging around my house. Though these are not family snapshots. Many of the images were taken a while ago when I was enrolled in photography classes at the local community colleges. I use Nielsen Bainbridge frames, and I use Bay Photo service to print. Now in my new house I may change out some of these prints.  I also have a couple of photographs printed on metal from a local company with nice results.

I also like to be able to browse through albums though I haven’t kept this going as much. Shutterfly allows me to print books, and I find it easy to share my work. For an online presenceI like the way my work looks on my Flickr site. Flickr recently partnered with SmugMug and I hope that this will prove a positive move. I used SmugMug many years ago when I first started my very brief photography business. Family stuff happened. Now photography is for my pleasure!

Back to my original question. I enjoy my photographs in a variety of ways. In the back of my mind I need to think about my eyesight. My mother lost her eyesight due to macular degeneration. Unfortunately, I also have this condition. So far the dry version has a slow progression, and has not impaired my vision. So using a variety may help me in the long run.

So what do you do with all your images? I hope you enjoy them, and have fun creating.