Photographs and Memories

 

 

Over a decade ago when video cameras were getting to be more accessible, my cousin, who was trying to talk me out of buying one quipped, “Pictures in the long run are better than videos. They capture one single moment which allows you to unlock the memories in your mind. ”

For some reason, her words stuck.   So much so that when a friend of mine gave me an SLR camera several years after,  I began tinkering with with.  Note, that I have always been an automatic camera person in the past.  Point and shoot I think is how they referred to what a person like me would do.

But in this case,  I did try to understand the settings.  I began understanding the importance of shutter speed and light source. i tried to appreciate proper framing and much more to my family’s dismay, I started to plan every shot before I took them.

I understood why my wife and children would frown when I set up a shot.   It was, I am sure, irritating.  Before a trip, I would already tell them that when   I ask them to pose somewhere that they should just go and prepare.  I would remind them to smile when to make a shot look good, look far if the concept  called for it or pose candidly (this they hated) if I was feeling creative.

Since then we have produced over 10 picture books which featured moments in our lives.   My cousin was right, every photo does capture a moment.  A moment that elicits various emotions for each one of us.  More than just reminding us that we have been some place or have done something together, the photo will forever be evidence of how life is really joyous, how family is all about love.

Today, I cannot find all those videos we took with the video cameras we had.  The still pictures, however,  are either kept in a disc, found in a hard drive or stored in the cloud and most have been printed.

“Pictures are better than videos”.