Photography - more popular?

Photography seems more popular today than it did in the 60s. It is possible that what seems like more popular is actually an illusion, because the internet allows you to browse into the scrapbooks of more peoples lives than say the small social circles and relatives you hung around with in the 60s.

People are becoming more comfortable using digital cameras. It wasn’t that long ago when you had to untape the end of a roll of film and thread it into the spools of your manual camera. The 35mm film came is a cartridge with the raw film sticking out of one end. It still does. The sealed plastic Kodak instamatic cartridges were installed into the back of your camera and were a breeze to use - you popped it out - stuck it into a mailer and sent it off to the manufacturer or dropped it off at the nearest drug store.

I browse the photo servers for hours looking at photographs of the south western United States and any thing else that are posted there. There was a time when professional photographers had the best eye for light and composition. From what I have seen, I give a lot of credit to the amateur photographers who have posted samples of their work on the internet - I’m impressed and thankful you have shared your creativity with the world.

Polished Stones

When I was a youngster, I enjoyed walking along small creeks and streams. I was always astonished by the shapes and sizes of various boulders, stones, and pebbles that have tumbled around in the water currents for centuries.

Various layers that make up a stone becomes polished and interesting to study. I don’t know how many times I’ve walked away from a mountain stream carrying a polished stone in my hand.

If you have never held a polished stone in your hand, you may be surprised how habit forming this experience will become - you may not want to let go.