No Coffee Table Books

Eighteen pounds and counting...

I know I have put quite a few photos on Facebook over the past nine months providing a nice memory of my deployment to Afghanistan.  A few of my very nice friends and family have said "Oh, you should put these in a book!"  Yeah....no.  It is flattering but the quality of the photos don't measure up to a book. Plus there is no rhyme or reason to the photos I take.  For many of them I am shooting while I move because we are always moving in a tactical formation so there is no time to stop and frame a shot and ensure I get the best shot.  Often I will rest the camera on the extra magazines (the kind that have bullets not the kind you read) in my tactical vest and just take photos as I walk.  This is why many of my photos are out of focus or not framed well.  For a few weeks we had a French photojournalist with us.  It was funny to see him work because he had no shame.  He would walk up to people on the street, put his camera lens in their face, snap a couple of pictures and then be off in a flash, scurrying to the next potential photo op.  No shame, no words just move, stop, point, shoot, move on.  I don't have it in me.

Over the past nine months I have posted over 300 photos on Facebook.  It is intriguing to see which pictures people will comment on or push the "Like" button for.  Oftentimes I will look and say to myself "Really?"  How come no one is liking this one or that one.  There have been some that I really really liked but no one would comment or like.  No, no need for a book.  For me it is fun to look at them and think back to where it was taken and what I was doing.  Back in the day I thought it would be fun to be a photographer for National Geographic.  When the kids were small I started taking thousands of pictures and now our house is full of photo albums....and  I am still in the Navy....with no future at National Geographic.  But I always said, if it works out great!  If it doesn't then we have a wonderful chronicle of our family.

My cameras have taken a beating and I am down one lens after an unfortunate accident, but they were sturdy and were always with me.  Now, there are few missions left so soon the chapter on Afghanistan will come to a close.  I look forward to the next chapter...