Photo Wednesday: Nothing Like a Well Loved Toy

I have been thinking a lot about the photos that I have picked up for these Wednesday posts and why I love them.  The reasons have always been so varied but one thing for sure is that they all make me smile, remind me of great moments, and even tweak my heart a little.  They are photos that I look at over and over and ones that I want to share with everyone.  This week's photo is one of those.  It is of Kaitlyn (one of my adopted nieces and daughter of one of my good friends) and her favourite stuffed animal, Bunny Brown.  Bunny Brown has been very well loved and very much reminds me of the Velveteen Rabbit.

Every time I look at this photo I get something different out of it.  When I first took it and was looking at it on the camera I thought it was cute, much like many of the photos I took the day we visited Discovery Wildlife Park for the first time.  When I uploaded it on to the computer and pulled it up to the size of my computer monitor I realized that it was a really special photo.  Then I went and had it printed as an 8x10 for a scrapbook and that is when I fell in love with it.  Part of it is the colour - I love the way the pink pops out (nothing like choosing your background...of course now I recognize the need for a good background but I will admit when I took the photo it wasn't even a thought in my mind).  I also love that you can almost feel the love that Kaitlyn has for her rabbit. 

The coolest thing about the photo in my opinion is that now when I look at it I also feel some nostalgia for my own childhood.  We all have a favourite stuff animal or toy (or in my case a blanket) that we loved to carry around.  My hope is that when Kaitlyn is much older I can present her with a version of this photo and it will bring back all the great memories of a simpler time.  It will remind her of a friend that kept her company, protected her from the world and learned all her secrets. 

365 Photos = 365 Captured Memories for 2013

Last year on January first like a good Creative Memories Consultant I was online and checking out to see what was happening for resolutions and photographs, trying to steal ideas that I could bring to my parties or to my own photos and I came across the idea for taking a photo a day. As I looked at digital stuff that people had done for the year before I thought how cool they looked. On a whim I decided to take up the challenge. I was going to take 366 photos (2012 was a leap year) and going to create my very own photo a day book.

This was the first photo I took (and considering I have spent the last week incredibly sick it makes me laugh now that how I spent my NYE is in fact how I’m spending the end of the year) I joked that I would be happy if I made it to February but truthfully figured I would be able to keep it going until the spring. The reality was I actually made into October having only missed a handful of days when for whatever reason I gave up on the idea. Now sitting here on Dec 31 I’m kicking myself for not gutting it out for a few more weeks but that has just fired me up for this year.

It might seem like a bit of a silly challenge or resolution but I can tell you that my goals of becoming a better photographer and paying more attention to the little details that happen around me that got me started last year were more than met even though I didn’t finish the challenge in 2012. I learned a great deal as I tried to stretch my brain to find interesting and beautiful pictures to capture the moments of my day to day life. I endured a bunch of teasing from my family for taking way too many photos of the cats but when I look at the photos there were a lot of really great moments captured that I never would have paid attention to but got me really excited at the time (From the announcement Wil Wheaton was coming to Calgary Expo, to adventures in my first Union rally, to the birth of a new baby, to even something as silly as that really cold morning – and let me tell you trying to photograph a thermometer at 6:50am before going to work is more challenging than you would think).

Although I had goals that I expected what has surprised me is the unexpected benefit that I found in the last two weeks. As I have been dealing with the passing of my cat, Molly, I realized I actually caught on film a lot of the things she did that made me feel very special. They were little moments like her cuddling against my chest or Molly curled up in her favourite chair. At the time they were just a photo for the day to meet my challenge but they now mean so much more to me. In going through them I was able to sort through some of my emotions and remember the really great things about my cat. I have also changed them into a beautiful memory book that whenever I’m missing my cat I can go back and look through and smile.

So my challenge to all of you this year is pick up your camera, your cell phones or anything that you are using to capture memories at least once a day and capture a moment. I will do it with you and try to keep you motivated. This time next year you will have 365 memories captured. To make it even more special anyone that completes this challenge and is willing to give me your photos I will create a digital scrapbook to display the photos for you. (It will be up to you if you want to buy the book but I will put it together for you.)

Let me know if you are taking up the challenge. Let me help keep you motivated as I try to keep myself going. This year will the year I get it done! I wish you all a very Happy New Year. May all your resolutions be met with the same determination on Dec 31st 2013 as they were created with on January 1st. 2013 will be the best year ever!