Telling It Like It is Tuesday #2: Taking Pictures for Free

Well, here it is, Tuesday already.  Time for Telling It Like It Is!

I have a lot of things that I could tell, but I will play it safe this week by letting you know about my picture taking.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Mattehws

This is my main camera.  It is a Sony Super Steady Shot.  It is full HD, takes movies and does tons of stuff that I haven't learned how to do yet.  My old camera, the one that got me going on taking pictures, is now my back-up and is a Samsung Digimax A7.  I carry both cameras in my purse at all times.

Like my McGyver contraption that I made for the lens cover?  I made that in June, and am pretty proud of it.  I know that it looks dorky, but it works.  I was forever losing the lens cover, because as soon as you turn on the camera it shoots off to who really knows where.   When we went to the Quinalt Casino as part of our Washington vacation, I took a look at that green thing and figured out how to put it to good use.  Plus, I can EASILY identify my camera now.  

At my daughter Kristin's birthday, I was showing my handiwork to my first husband.  I said, see what I did with the card holder thingy from the casino?  He said, I think that you should just call it a lanyard.  Okay!  When I first made it, Cary said, What are you doing?  Then he just stared at it, not saying much, lol.  Still, he probably thought that it was a pretty good idea, since he always had to help me find the lost cover. 

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Mattehws

This is the camera bag that I use for my main camera.  It is soft, and keeps my camera protected but doesn't take up so much room in my purse as the real camera bag would.  I don't drink whiskey, but I like that little bag.  Sorry that the picture is blurry; that came from holding my old camera too close.


Now we will begin the official interview, between me and me.  

How long have you been taking pictures?


Well, I got my first camera when I was ten; a white Instamatic with gold felt trim.  I loved it.  Later, I moved on to a Vivatar Instamatic, and then to a 35 mm Konica.  I loved that camera, and used it for years.  I still have it, but the pictures don't turn out anymore.  I should get it looked at, I suppose.  It worked well for years, even after falling off the top of the car when it was inside the diaper bag that I left on the roof.  Cloth diapers rock as padding, by the way.


When did you begin to take so many?


That would be around the time when I got my first digital camera.  Then, when I had a forum for them, my blogs, I really took off.  I began my blog career in November 2008.


Have you ever taken any photography classes?


No, not yet.  And really, most of my "good pictures" are mainly by luck.  If something looks pretty or interesting to me, I will take the photo, and then crop and develop it into something better later on.  Photography is still a hobby for me.  I don't know enough to take indoor pictures or pictures of people for an important event.  I do pretty well with outdoor shots now though, at least on my camera.


How many hours do you put into a special event on your photos, anyway?  

I kept track when I took pictures for The Mountain Star Relief Nursery's ten-year anniversary.  I was there for a couple of hours and took around 200 photos.  The next day, I developed the pictures, put them into a slide show, and wrote a blog post.  I spent almost 9 hours on that little job, and they really did appreciate it.



Is there anything that bothers you about takings pictures? 

Now that you ask, there is.  It does bother me when I take tons of photos for somebody, and never get an acknowledgment or a thank you.  This happens often at family events, after I post everything on Facebook.  It also happens when I take pictures of local businesses and then send them copies of the pictures.  I do it all for free just because I think the pictures will be neat, and email them the link of the blog post and to the slide show.  It is irritating (and a bit rude), since I do put so many hours into my work.  Out of the four shops that I have done so far, only one has sent me an email telling me thank you.

Please throw your family photographer a bone once in a while, peeps.  They are giving you a gift of love.  And businesses, if somebody is going out of their way to promote your business for free, please tell them thank you.


It also irritates me when people use my photos without permission.   That doesn't happen very often, thank goodness.  I now watermark my new photos with my name and the year that I took the picture.


Do you have any advice for those just getting into digital photography?


Buy the best camera that you can afford, along with good computer processing programs.  I use Picasa now, and it is free.  Someday I should buy Photoshop and learn how to use it.  Practice all the time, taking tons of photos of all sorts.  It doesn't cost anything but time.  For printing photos, use the best photo paper; it makes all the difference.  I prefer Kirkland from Costco because it is excellent and cheap.  150 sheets of 8"x10" is around $14.00.  I like to get my ink there too, in the extra large sizes.  It lasts so much longer.


Is there anything else that you would like to share? 

Taking pictures is very important.  I have a huge library built up now, and have big plans for using the photos someday.  One way that the pictures come in handy is when somebody dies.  I have made funeral collages for my FIL Troy, for Grandma Pearl, and for our friend Howard. I had taken pictures of Amy and her Dad at a birthday party and then he died shortly thereafter.  I was happy to make a collage for her, and it meant a lot.  You never know when pictures of somebody will be important.  

Also, some of the places that we have visited have now been burned by wildfire, and I am glad that I got photos of what they used to look like.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Here is one of the photo collages 

that I made for Grandma Pearl.

Thanks for visiting and leaving your comments today.  If you have any questions, please let me know!  

God bless,


Kathy M.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.