Sibling Assignment #158: It Is Not Just a Camera

I gave the sibling assignment this week. "Write how photography has enriched your life." Sister Carol's post is here and brother Bill's is here.

“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” 
― Ansel Adams

I really love this quote by Adams. This quote is a reminder of how photography has enriched my life. Photo images are a way of combining old black and white photos in the album at Mom's house with comparable digital images taken more recently to enrich our family history from photo album pages, to antique picture frames, to digital slideshows.

Words in books inspire me to reflect on a sense of place. Whether is it Norman Maclean, Terry Tempest Williams, or Kim Barnes I want to be where they are, I want to capture the images, and bring places to life. I love to study a specific location, look for shadows and light, and take pictures of  a moment in the place along a river, in a meadow, or when the sun is peeking through the clouds.

I can think of a hundred musical arrangements that evoke strong emotions inside me, motivating me to capture images with my camera to match that. I loved it when our sibling assignments in the past included creating photo slideshows with background music. When you string a series of photos together the combining of music is just natural. Here is an example of one put together a few years ago.

 Most of my photos are taken of places vs. people. The only reason for that is the people I love and want to photograph are not around often. When I surround myself with people I love, I can't stop taking photos.

It is not just about the camera. That is why I truly love photography. It is all this: the pictures, words, music, and people of my life.