It's pretty rare that I go anywhere without my camera. As such, I've got lots of photographs in my computer. What may not be so obvious, however, is how many end up in my computer's trash can; for every shot you see on this blog at least five get dumped. My shooting strategy is based on the sheer law of numbers mixed with a pinch of instinct: if I take enough shots I just might get a good one.
I took an embarrassing number of pictures during our trip to Hawaii, partly because I knew it would be a long time before we would be there again, but mostly because my daily shooting mantra is "my kids will never be this young again." Before leaving the island, my Mom suggested I submit one of my favorite images to a photography contest being held in the free island guide magazine we received at the rental car checkout desk at the start of the trip.
(Before I go any further, it must be said that I'm lucky to have one of those moms that thinks pretty much anything her kids or grandkids create is nothing short of legendary. If Finn colors a picture or spells a word, the Guinness World Record folks are likely to hear about it. If there were a contest for the Best Poopy Diaper, she'd surely submit one of Shea's most spectacularly soiled Pampers, confident in her granddaughter's super poopability. This is why I always take her well-intentioned compliments with a grain of salt the size of Gibraltar; she's completely biased.)
That said, I still took her advice and submitted four of my favorite shots to the magazine's "Share Aloha" photo contest. And guess what? A month later, I learned that one of my images--a shot of two rock stackings we saw at sunset while visiting Ed and Amy in Hilo--had been chosen as the first-place winner for the month of February for the Big Island.
And the best part? A cash prize of $100--just enough to cover the cost for some extra computer memory capacity to be able to handle the next 5,000 photos I'm sure to take this month. 
Oh yeah, one more thing: Mother knows best.
1 comment:
Congrats! I have to agree with your Mom, your photography skills are quite good. I, too, take a million and 30 pictures a month of my kids (i have 3, so it's REALLY bad), and delete probably less than I should. Glad to hear someone is supporting your habit!
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