WQ - Taking Photos

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

I'm participating in the Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write. In order to simplify her blogging schedule, Marsha has decided to choose themes for her posts as she goes, and has invited those of us who participate to simply include a quote in our post and choose our own themes as well. I still have the original list of prompts that I'll probably use from time to time, or I may combine my WQ posts with something else. Simplifying sounds like a good option for me as well! 

The original prompt for this week's WQ was related to taking photographs, and at first I thought I might skip it or do something different because, after all, I'm not really a great photographer. I have a decent little camera . . . somewhere - I'm not sure where it is right now . . . but haven't used it in several years because my cell phone camera takes photos that are at least as good. And it's quicker and easier to load photos from my phone to my computer. And perhaps most importantly for my purposes, I always have my phone with me, so there are no extra steps to take photos. 

What a wonderful invention the cell phone camera is! We have easy access to a camera, instant review of the photos we take, quick and easy ways to share or store the photos, and powerful editing tools right in the palm of our hand. I guess the potential downside is that we can be tempted to be so ready to take pictures of all our experiences that we don't actually live the experience, or that we overload ourselves with photos to the point that we don't really appreciate them anyway. (I've been trying to delete the photos I have that I don't really need or that aren't good quality, or that are practically the same as a hundred others I have, and that's hammered this point home!)

Because it's free, easy to use, and high-quality, photography is now a fixture in our daily lives―something we take for granted. ~Peter Diamandis

Like so many other aspects of life, we need to have a balance. I never want to miss experiencing something because I am trying to take pictures of it instead of living it. But I do want to capture moments and interesting sights so I can share or remember those experiences a little bit. 

What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce. ~Karl Lagerfeld

A good snapshot keeps a moment that's gone from running away. ~Eudora Welty

The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don't have to explain things with words. ~Elliott Erwitt

Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies. ~Diane Arbus

What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are time and light. ~John Berger

The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do. ~Andy Warhol

You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at the picture for a second and think of it all your life. ~Joan Miro

I used to take photos of our family vacation, of the kids doing kid things, and of all our homeschooling experiences. As my children grew up, I took fewer everyday photos of them, and there were fewer school experiences that lent themselves to photos. In my homeschool blogging days I occasionally participated in photo challenges and I thought it was fun to be reminded to look for opportunities to take pictures of those everyday things that I might not otherwise pay much attention to. When the most recent blogger photo challenge I was participating in ended, I decided to continue on my own. And so . . . I share some of my photos every other week, based on simple prompts I assign to myself. I've made it a link-up so others can share their "everyday life" photos as well. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. I've titled it Everyday Images and it happens every other Tuesday. 

Wednesday Quotes 2024 is hosted by Marsha at Always Write. See what we're inspired by this week: WQ#170: Taking Photos Inspires People to See

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2024 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Share Four Somethings - May 2024

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

Time to share Something Loved, Something Accomplished, Something Improved Upon, and Something Noticed during the past month, so I'm taking a few minutes during my long weekend to see what I can remember! I'm going to continue adding my Something Read and What's Coming Up Soon. 

Something Loved

We kicked off the month of May at a Columbus Clippers game with our son and his family. It was a perfect evening for the game! It was Puppalooza (however they spell it) night, meaning dogs were welcome, and that was the attraction for our granddaughter who loves meeting dogs of all kinds.

My husband and I went to a food truck festival in Newark and enjoyed some really good food and a walk around the town square. We tried a chicken shawarma bowl and an Indian Frybread pizza. The frybread was amazing!

We had beautiful weather for an afternoon at Buckeye Lake. We went for the pirate-fest (a pirate-themed flea market, essentially) but also enjoyed a little walk around the lake.

And after that we went over to Timbuk Farms where our granddaughter enjoyed having the fun farm area to herself for a bit. She got her mom and dad to race on the "bobsled track" with her.

And there are no photos to share yet, but I am absolutely loving our time this weekend with family in Maryland. We arrived very late Thursday night and are having a good time with the kids - and especially with our granddaughter - and will be seeing some friends as well.

Something Accomplished

I finally remembered to update my Conqueror Challenge miles walked and received my Florida Keys medal, and started working on a new challenge - Cote d'Azur. I'm also logging miles my husband and I walk and hike together for the Conqueror 2024 Challenge.

Some of my recent miles walked were last weekend, when I spent the morning at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, volunteering with some of my SVC friends. The accomplishment for me was finding my way to a parking garage and then to our meeting spot in downtown Columbus, when a lot of the streets were closed and my GPS didn't know that. That was stressful for me, especially worrying that I might be late to our meet-up if it took too long to get into the garage (and I'd prepaid for parking, so it's not like I wanted to just give up and park somewhere else).

Something Improved Upon

Last month I'd just ordered new glasses for the workplace, and I do think they have helped reduce my eye strain. I know it's a lot easier to see my computer screens at work! I have yet to order new sunglasses like I'd planned, but that needs to happen very soon.

After the unpleasant experience trying to figure out city taxes last month, and having to pay a lot more than we'd planned on, I was able to get the penalty abated, and my husband found out that he COULD have those taxes withheld from his paycheck from now on, so that should be a big help in the whole process. However, I still need to follow up on that to make sure our estimated payments are being done correctly. I hate taxes. 

Something Noticed (In our Lives or Around Town)

Beautiful blue skies and warm weather! Yes, there were some storms and rainy days mixed in, but more sunny days overall.

I was so glad I noticed that the ducklings had hatched, because Jemima Puddle-Duck took them off to the pond within about twelve hours of hatching. I had just stepped out the door to head to chorus one evening when I saw them. They had hatched while we were at work that day. The next morning they were gone. We walked over to the pond that evening to see how they were doing, but they all hid under Mama's wings.

On a walk around Buckeye Lake, I also encountered a Canada Goose family, and another duck family.

Something Read

I finished and reviewed:

Silencing the Siren (Ever After Mysteries) by Denise L. Barela

Here are the books I'm currently reading:

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette

Once Upon A Prince by Rachel Hauck

Hardy Haul at Hardy Hall by PJ Fitzsimmons

Wimpy Weak and Woke by John L. Cooper

All of my reading news is at Just A Second if you're interested.

What's Coming Up Soon?

We still haven't made a firm decision on that possible trip to the Northwest we've been considering, or on any other summer vacations, but I guess we'll need to do that soon. So I really don't have much to share here!

Share something in the comments, or share four somethings with the rest of us in the link party!

This post will be linked at Overflowing With Thankfulness in the Share Four Somethings link party.

  Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2024 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.