"Oh...He's Always Taking Pictures"

I can't remember exactly where I heard it, but last night my daughter explained to someone that I take a lot of pictures. I think her exact words were,

"Oh, he's always taking pictures."

And it's true. Putting a quality camera in something as portable as a modern cellphone is like a dream come true for me. I used to haul around a small Kodak digital camera. It did a decent job, but if you can put a better camera in a phone that is also a computer with photo editing functions and access to the internet, it's the best scenario of all.

After our show last night, a few cast members, along with friends and family, went to a local eatery, Iggy's. The restaurant is a few blocks from the theatre and a place where we regularly go after weekend shows. 

While my daughter and I waited for our "to-go" food, I stood and took a couple of pictures. They were panoramic shots so most didn't work out--weird shots of people's faces blurred because they moved as I panned from left to right. I did get one good shot. It's the photo above.

I like the picture. It captures the feeling at the two tables. There's probably four or five distinct conversations going on at the same time. I believe there were three sets of parents and children, two married couples, one cast member boyfriend, one cast member sister, and one stage manager in attendance. Sometimes there's more, sometimes less, but whenever we go, it's a good time. So, me taking pictures seems as natural to me as ordering food to go and leaving for home early. 

There might be one more of these get-togethers before the show wraps next week, and if/when we do shows in the future, I'm sure we'll invade a restaurant as the traffic flow ebbs, have the staff push several tables together, and enjoy each other's company. And if/when we do, I'm sure I'll be taking more pictures. 

Sometimes No Picture...Is Worth A Thousand Words

Yesterday morning I found myself sitting on the front steps of our house.

And I didn't have a camera.

You may be thinking, so--do you need a camera everywhere you go?

The answer is, no. I don't, but since early 2011 I've taken and posted at least one picture on social media every single day. That's almost 2000 photos. And when I found myself outside Saturday morning, I thought about how I was feeling and maybe I could compose a blog post about the morning, about how the recently mowed grass smelled, how these are the memories my children will carry with them into adulthood. The sun had not yet crested the mountain and I had a few minutes before I had to go to work.

It was one of those moments that speaks to your soul. And my first thought was how I didn't have a camera to chronicle that experience.

I considered posting this blog post without a picture, but I caved and went outside later in the morning and snapped one shot, one photo. Of course, there's no way any picture--even if I took it while those thoughts swam in my head--could give you, the reader, an impression of how I felt just sitting on the porch of my house early on a summer morning.

Maybe I take and post too many pictures. I think I need to just sit and experience the world around me without worrying about how I can turn those memories into a blog post, take time to turn off the electronics, let those quiet times feed my soul again. And if I do, you probably won't be reading about those times here.