Fun Photo Project

One good reason to simplify your life is to have more time for fun things and not waste so much on crap that really won't matter in the long run. One of the things I remember growing up is my dad taking pictures - lots of pictures. He shot slides, and every so often we'd have a Slide Show night. He'd set up the projector and we'd spend an hour or so enjoying the family pictures. Sometimes my mom would make popcorn. I want to take more pictures so my kids can remember what their childhood was like after they grow up (heck, I want some memory aids too:) ). I've got a 365 Photo Project going on Flickr. Lots of fun but I don't have enough time for it - sometimes it feels like a chore to get a picture taken and uploaded every day when I've got so much other crap that I have to take care of. BUT... I'm saving memories for my kids, and my younger son really loves it when I let him have the camera for awhile so he can take his own camera. I think when he gets a little older a photo journal project would be a really fun father-son project. So I need to simplify...

Black and White

I've never been a great photographer but one of my favorite classes in high school was the photography class. The best part about the class (besides the fact my parents bought me a Pentax ME Super) was that we shot in black and white and did our own film developing and printing. Now I do most of my picture taking with a digital camera but I'm really starting to get jaded - too expensive and too many new models coming out all the time. I recently bought a Holga 120 and I've been having a lot of fun with it. So simple - Fixed aperture and only one shutter speed:) The only drawback is having to get the film developed because that's kind of expensive. If I shoot black and white though I can develop and print myself - just like back in high school. Now all I need to do is get my garage cleaned out enough to make room for a little darkroom.

Holga!!!

Got the first two rolls of film from my Holga 120 back today. I really enjoy shooting with film - paying for each shot really makes you slow down and think about the pictures you're taking:) Not all of the pictures came out good though and I really wish I'd taken notes while I was taking the pictures. Here are a couple that turned out OK:

Mom and Dad

Seems like the older my parents get the more I miss them when they're not around. I know they won't live forever and I want to spend as much time as I can with them before they're gone. I also want our son to have enough time with them to remember them... Sometimes I think I'm so damn selfish for waiting so long to have a kid. I just hope I can make it up to him by being as good a father as my dad is. That's a pretty high standard:) I wish I could give my son the kind of life my parents gave to me and my sister - living in a small town and always having time for the kids. Sometimes life just seems too complicated. Running here, running there, always worrying about improving our incomes and saving for the future... I need to talk to my wife and see if we can slow down and be happy with less. Don't know though... for her it's not about having things but about economic security. These days who can blame her? I need to simplify though, I'm really starting to feel burned out.