Kodak moments

 

To those with an eye for photography, the lighting is far from perfect in these photos.  The viewer has no connection to the image so they may critique it.  But I see the events before and after the shutter button was pressed.

Pictures can take us back in time.  They can trigger memories and feelings stored away in our psyche. If you look at a familiar picture say of your child or your vacation,  chances are youʻre not judging it for first place ribbon potential.  Instead your mind begins playing like a movie as you recall the time surrounding when the image was captured onto a disk or film negative.  Younger readers may need to refer to Websterʻs to understand "film negative".  Aged myself with that statement, I suppose.

The first photo was taken from the gravel bars of the Teklanika River in Denali Park in mid-August at around midnight.  It was during a three day trip with Ti and her daughter, Des and my son, Connor.  We had finalized plans a month earlier and were excited for time to pass so we could head out to The Park.  As luck would have it, the dynamics of family life in my house changed dramatically the week before our trip.  Nevertheless we ventured on and enjoyed ourselves.  So for me the moon rising photo reminds me of how the world is calm even when life may jostle you around.  It reminds me of my precious son as he hugged me tight during a hike earlier that day and said, "Itʻll be okay, Mom".  Kids see through whatever facade you put up to protect them from your worries and pain. It reminds me of untapped strength in myself and those whom I hold dear.

 The sunset picture was taken while Connor and I drove six hours home to Fairbanks from Anchorage recently. He hooked up his iPod to the car stereo and we sang along to everything from Black Eyed Peas to Godsmack to Keltik Elektrik.  We made the usual stops along the way  for munchies and restrooms.  He even worked on his homework!  The autumn colors were the most spectacular theyʻve ever been north of Broad Pass.  I decided, however, that we wouldnʻt make photo stops since Connor had school the next day.  He was tired and we had two more hours to drive.  Yet as we zipped past a scenic lookout at 65mph, he shut off the radio, turned to me and pointed out the window, "You HAVE to pull over Mom!  Look at the sky, no WAY are you passing this up!".  Sure the sunset was gorgeous!  But when I look at the photo, I see a teenage boy who enjoyed a stop to view natureʻs beauty.  A boy who unabashedly sang a duet with his 40-something mom to My Humps; he was Will I Am and I was Fergie.  Probably good we were confined to the soundproof car.  Then there was the semi driver who flipped on his overhead floodlights, turned them to point into our eyes and purposely blinded us as he came down hill toward us.  Not sure what his issue was!  And I remember miles of no music as my boy and I chatted about trivial things and life issues.

A picture is indeed worth a thousand words and endless memories.

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Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky ~ Rabindranath Tagore