Where I aspire to be

“A good photographer records; a great photographer reveals.” –Skyler Reid

What do you look for in a photo? Are you looking for a record, or in truth, are you looking for a memory? 

When I look at a photo that I have taken it takes me back to a moment in time that brings about memories, feelings, sometimes smells... it is amazing. I love the ocean and the beach, and when I look at a photo of the beach that is what I remember. An amazing moment in time. A moment that is very important to me and holds value to me and to my family. 

I recently read an article from a bride turned photographer and she cries every time she looks at her wedding photos. She refuses to print her wedding pictures and she is in all reality embarrassed by her own wedding photos. She was married on the beach and had the perfect wedding, and had everything, but, when asked about her wedding and what she would have done differently she tells people that she wishes that she had not fed her guests. This statement blows me away, until I look at the wedding pictures that she posted. She had an amazing wedding. The wedding was beautiful! However, the photos that she has to remember that day are not. The photos recorded the day, but they did not reveal or capture the day. There is a difference. Believe it or not it is a fact.

Photos are the way that many tell their stories. It is the way that we as a human race carry our stories to the next generation. With each photo there is a story and with the sight of that photo we can tell that story. Once the story is told, others who have heard the story can now tell it when they see the photo. Virtually I believe that we as the human race have done over time is that we have evolved. We have gone from drawing our photos on cave walls to placing them on paper and into albums. Yet we still use them in the same way. To capture the moment, and to tell the story with them.

As a photographer with every click of my shutter I aspire to capture a memory. I want it to be that photo that takes you back to that moment. I want it to remind you of all of your favorite things about that moment. The smells, the feelings, the emotions, the tastes, all of it. That is what I want my photos to do for my clients. I want my photos to capture that moment when it is most perfect and to hold that perfect moment for generations to come. I want my photos to last and to be able to tell the story of this perfect moment for generations to come.

I hope that when you plan your next event, or even just click the shutter of your own camera that you remember what I have said today. I aspire to reveal the story with each photo that I take for not only myself but for each and every one of my clients as well.

If you would like to read the article and see the photos that I have referenced today. You can visit http://www.ashleywilburphotography.com/blog/glens-falls-photographer-i-would-rather-i-had-not-fed-my-guests/

I live my life every hundredth of a second

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” –Marc Riboud

First off, let me say that I know this sounds like it came from Fast and the Furious, but I promise it did not. As you can see I gave credit to Marc Riboud.

As a photographer I believe that I do live life every hundredth of a second. Why? Because that is about how long it takes to snap the shutter of my camera. At the snap of the shutter I have saved that very short moment for the rest of my life. 

I must admit that when taking photos of my family in moments that are "just happening" I never want to forget them. There are some things that I have learned are perfect as they are, with their imperfections. Sometimes the imperfection is what makes the moment something that is memorable. I personally think that there are a number of people that do not look at it that way. There are people that want  the photographer to change everything about them. Make them skinnier, give them a thinner face, add more make up, bring out areas that they think are important. I personally think that doing things like this can take away from the actual beauty of the person. But then again that is my personal opinion. I also believe that in making these kinds of edits takes away from the moment . When you look back on that photo that has been over edited, where you were made to be skinner, have more make up, or made to look like a Barbie Doll it becomes a fake moment in time. You know that you did not look like that. You know that it is altered and that no one else remembers the moment with you looking this way. In that hundredth of a second with the editing that you have requested you have taken away from its reality and the magic of the moment. 

I recommend that you live in the moment, as it is. Sure fix a few blemishes that will be gone in a few days, but don't change yourself into the "ideal you". One, there is no reason, and two it takes away from the moment, and over all the memory. In that hundredth of a second enjoy the moment. If you change the moment, when you look at that photo you cannot relive the moment as it was. You lose the feelings, the excitement, the amazement, whatever the feeling is that is associated with that moment is gone. It is all gone because it is not real. 

A hundredth of a second may not be alot of time, but it is something that will hold meaning and value for years to come. It may not seem that way now, or in some case ever for you.. but for those who see that moment years after you are gone, it could be special for them. 

It amazes me what a hundredth of a second can hold, be it meaning, be it the emotional value or anything else that can be applied to the photo. It also is amazing to capture that moment. Why? Because I know that moment will never happen again. Once the moment is gone it will never come back. There is no way to get it back even if you attempt it. For example, you cannot re create that first kiss after the vows have been said, you can not recreate the very moment that a child is born. These are moments that are captured in a hundredth of a second, and are gone just as quickly, however they are two of the most important moments in life. 

So as a photographer I live one hundredth of a second at a time, however, in some ways, don't we all?

Just something to think about......