Lily sits motionless as she surveys the woods for creatures scurrying through the snow.
Last weekend I started culling photos out of necessity. I have over 20,000 photos stored on my laptop.
Many are repeats. Many simply pose after pose of the same thing – trees in Colorado, or the same person – one of my grandchildren, or one of my dogs. At the time of taking the photos, I can’t decide which shot is the best shot, and wind up keeping all. After years of this habit, I’ve dug myself into a hole! I need to be more disciplined about this.
So, last weekend I started and unearthed the photo of Phoebe, my favorite pose of her lying on the couch with her front legs crossed looking across at me.
That dog communicated with me through her eyes… All sorts of memories sprung into my head as I sat staring at her photo… Then, I prompted myself to get back to the task at hand. That day I succeeded in eliminating about 200 unnecessary photos. In the process, I realized what a wonderful experience it was to look back over my old photos. I knew then, since I had easily spend two hours taking this initial trip down memory lane, that I better save this enjoyable project exclusively for weekend time, not during weekday work time.
This weekend, we had lots of snow dumped on us here in western Massachusetts. This meant lots of shoveling.
Although we have the driveway and walkway leading to the door plowed, we are left with areas we need to shovel for the dogs and a 90′ path to shovel so the propane guy can deliver to our tank out back. Without the path, he won’t deliver, and our tank was reading 10%. I didn’t have lots of time to get lost in my memories this weekend. But, determined to stick to it, I allotted one hour for my photo culling project this weekend.
Lily sitting in the snow, deep in concentration, surveying the woods for creatures scurrying about.
This time I can upon a series of photos I took of Lily in the snow. I absolutely love this series of photos.
First, for the contrast. Lily is a dark blue Belton English Setter. Her spotting looks striking against the snow. And second, the photos captured her intense concentration as she surveyed the woods for creatures which stand out more vividly in snow-covered terrain. Lily was totally oblivious to me as I snapped shot after shoot moving around her. I went completely unnoticed, as though I weren’t there at all.
Lily sits in the snow oblivious to anyone around her… watching for creatures in the woods beyond.
It’s amazing how a person can get transported back in time while gazing on a photo… able to relive the scene at hand as though it happened yesterday.
I didn’t get to far with my allotted one hour this weekend. Just 59 photos eliminated. Next weekend… more wonderful memories to enjoy. I’m loving this. Nice thing to be doing in the wintertime!