a Sweet Life Saga

We are trying something new at our home….time without television. Instead of waiting until the “new year” to try, and fail, at yet another resolution, we decided to give it a go now. I feel that as parents, we sometimes use our television sets as babysitters. It occupies their time and keeps them out of our hair. Unfortunately, I believe we are creating unproductive and unimaginative children. When we were little, we had to go outside and play. It’s very rare that you see children outdoors playing. They are usually inside, parked in front of a TV playing a video game or watching yet another program that is not suited for them. Prime time TV schedules have plummeted, with those shows that are not rated for children being shown at a time when they are surely watching. We’ve had enough. Instead of spending time “vegging” out in front of the TV, our children are spending time learning about something we feel is not taught in school….what it means to spend time with your family. ...

“Anyone can take a photo but not everyone can be a photographer.” No, this is not my personal mantra, but it is a quote I’ve heard several times over the past few weeks. Specifically, two of my photography instructors have repeated it many times in class. Yes, I still take classes. It’s called CPE – Continuing Photography Education. In this digital age, most people don’t feel they need any particular photographic skill to shoot a GOOD photo. And they are right. While the combination of having a digital camera and (name your preferred photo enhancing software here) produces many good images, it takes a lot more knowledge to produce a GREAT image and be a photographer. In our society, most people who own some form of a digital camera fancy themselves a “photographer” (especially if their digital camera costs more than their neighbor’s digital camera), which is quite different from “someone who likes to take photos”. My good friends Merriam and Webster define photographer as follows: ...