Friday, September 30, 2005

Another image of the mundane

I feel somewhat compelled to take pictures of routine items that are often overlooked as we go through the paces of everyday life.

Why I do this is more due to my lack of photographic skill than anything else: very soon after I got my first camera, I became frustrated at how long it took me to compose each picture. I was new to the world of photography, and as a result still wasn't comfortable with f-stops and shutter speeds. My camera had a zillion buttons on it, and each one of them demanded to be set just so before I could take the shot.

Needless to say, I was so busy fiddling with the thing that fast-action pictures were out of the question for the first couple of years. So I sought out stuff that didn't move - and wouldn't disappear in the minutes it would take me to set things up.

These days, I'm a lot more comfortable shooting quickly, and following our munchkins around has helped me become a much better fast-action photographer. But a part of me still enjoys creeping up on more sedentary subjects. They give me the time to come up with perspectives that might remain invisible if I didn't take a little more time.

In the end, the pictures still take that same fraction of a second to commit to memory or film. But I still enjoy the peaceful few minutes it takes to think about what - and how - I'm going to capture the scene.

Your turn: What other mundane images - aside from my minivan's tail light, of course - merit your - and my - photographic attention?

Click on the picture for a higher-resolution view.

43 comments:

The Mistress of the Dark said...

I'm one of those weirdos that take pictures of food :)

Have a good weekend :)

Zinnia Cyclamen said...

I like pictures of food, too. And if I were a photographer, I think I'd take some pictures of broken things, close up. I'm not sure why. There's a kind of poignancy there. Can't explain it really. But maybe you'll get it anyway!

Kristen said...

I love signs...and billboards that are just odd...Im also a big people watcher so parts of people is cool...not like the whole body cause well that would be stalkerish..

Kristen said...

ooo i forgot...I love pictures of bathrooms! haha...weird i know

kenju said...

I love the juxtaposition of things you might not expect to see together.

Spock said...

It's a very good picture though!! Lately I take more pictures of my cat & other animals than anything....BTW don't go by my blog if you're offended by dead mice.....

Spock said...

OOPS! Here from Michele's!!

Tammy said...

My hubby takes pictures of some rather odd things...somewhere around this house is a picture of a box of raisins....very weird!

Pieces of Me said...

Here from Michele's...I always love your pics!! They are so neat! I love pictures...But mainly I love pics of Des and the family!! I hope you are having a great weekend...TTYL

Jean-Luc Picard said...

I tend to like to 'set up' a proper photograph. Naturally, by the time I am ready, the incident is long gone!

Here via Michele.

MaR said...

great tail light picture! I took many pictures of my son (now 17) when he was little to share with the all 4 grandparents abroad. I need to get a new digital camera, I am using my son's rejected one after he used it for like 2 years, so it is not state of the art. I love to take pictures of plants, flowers but mostly plants with huge leaves.

kenju said...

Good morning, Carmi! Michele sent me back.

November Rain said...

my husband has a digital camera and is big in taking pictures

here via Michele btw

Kim said...

Hello, Michele sent me.

Gosh, I don't think I'm a very good photographer at all. I point and shoot and pray that I got something worthy. I don't even attempt to set up the shot. LOL! My brother in law, now he is an awesome photographer, and he amazes me. If you look at my Flickr pics, there are a few of his shots on there. You can't miss them, they are the professional looking ones. ;-)

moonbatty said...

Great shot. :) I'm here via Michele's.

I like "mundane" pictures because they call out the details of the things we forget to look at, or that we'd otherwise pass by.

I like pictures of mechanical things, personally.

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Go take a photo of the inside of your car engine while it's running.

I'll wait here.

(I'm transported from Michele's.)

Chatty said...

one day I took a super up close macro of the switch on a lamp. I was bored that day, but it came out pretty cool! LOL

Michele sent me today!

ribbiticus said...

great taillight pic! i also take a lot of pictures of random things that catch my eye - a little baby, a graceful tree a beautiful cloud formation. i even use my cameraphone at times. thanks god for the digital camera! michele sent me. :)

Claire said...

I'm not a particularly good photographer. I've got a simple point and shoot camera which only really comes out for special occasions. Although having a camera on my phone could propel me to take more random and odd pictures!

Here from Michele's...Hi!

zazzafooky said...

Try odd angles, play with black and white, ... Doors and strangers are good subjects of interest.

Here from Michele's

scrappintwinmom said...

I love pictures of sunsets. Then again, that is somewhat time-sensitive. I take pictures of odd road signs too. Here via Michele's today, and I loved your pic.

Minerva said...

Loved the pic...
Doors/windows and different textures like peeling paint... Yes, I know I am interesting...*grin*

Minerva

Michele sent me..

Marcus said...

Michele sent me too.
Pics of people are my favourite.

Christi said...

Hey just wanted to say thanks for stopping by my blog today.

I love your blog. The pictures are always great, and I love how you have us all interact with you =) Clever, clever boy.

As for my own photographic preferances, I'm very mainstream. You know, posed pictures of girls acting like they love each other, black and white pictures of a bridge, a pretty mountain in the distance. I'm very into immediate satisfaction. If it looks pretty right away and makes me react positively at that moment without having to ultimatley think about it's affect on me or it's reason for existance...I'm happy =)

Twisted Cinderella said...

Very cool! I love to take pictures of old buildings. I love the character of them.

Michele sent me

Ciera said...

Hey Carmi! Here rfom Michele's. I'd never have thought to take a pic of a tail light...it's really kinda cool. I don't know if it's mundane or not, but I like the photos of flowers that have dew drops on them and you can see all the other flowers reflected in the drops...{shrug}

Shelagh said...

Hey there, Thanks for stopping by.
Love the light, those colours always pack a punch!
Shelagh
http://www.livejournal.com/users/blueberrymoon

Carmen said...

I take lots of pics of my (lots) of kids.

Here via Michele's today, although I would have come by on my own.

Twisted Cinderella said...

back again, Michele sent me!

princssis said...

Hello, Michele sent me.
Great picture. I'm not quite as creative.

rashbre said...

Really low photo angles can be fun, too. From foot height.

Huw said...

At the risk of sounding rather odd, I quite like taking pictures of different (unoccupied) children's swings.

OK, I took the risk and didn't pull it off.

As is the fashion, Michelle guided me in.

RC said...

Beautiful picture, Carmi!

The last time I tried to take a picture it was of my grandma, but then my big brother digitital camera fell into her bath water and got whiskers all over it, so I gave back the hairy camera back to my big brother, then ran for my life!

I hope you have a nice weekend, Carmi! Nice to see you on my blog again!

utenzi said...

Michele sent me, Carmi. Good Saturday evening to you!

I totally agree with you vis a vis the use of common objects for photography subjects. One of my favorite pictures is one I took of the inside of a peanuts wrapper--the kind you get out of vending machine. It's some kind of reflective foil and the flash made it the the peanuts inside look amazingly high tech. The plastic covering on the "car blinkers" that you took is really cool, Carmi.

Angela said...

This isn't very original, but I love, love, love pictures of flowers. Especially brightly colored flowers after a rain... beautiful!

Style Me Organized said...

i too like to take photos of the ordinary. i really quite like this one. very interesting.

here via the lovely you know who

Carol said...

How about broken parts of a van, appliance, whatever-this could be a symbolic look at the fragility of our society. Really!

Carol said...

Oh, Carmi
Michele sent me...

kenju said...

Here is am again, Carmi, via Michele's, as usual. Are you still sore about getting skipped over?

M. C. Pearson said...

Love the shot. I adore black and white photography myself. Icicles are fun to shoot. I once captured some awesome images after an ice storm.

Hopped over from Twisted Cindy.

Plain Jane said...

Lack of photographic ability?

Fiddle faddle.

Plumkrazzee said...

Old architecture. Rain gutters, windows, rooflines, crumbling flower beds. Here from Micheles.

oregano said...

Michele sent me.