weekend wrapup…and camera conundrum
Over the weekend we went to the Virginia Tech football game (vs. William and Mary, thanks for the tickets Allison!), make a pit stop to see my family and pick up the race car (which we aborted, more on that later). The weather was gorgeous (even if it was a bit warm for football), we tailgated with some friends (thanks to the Pankey/Davis clan for the drinks and grub), went to see the memorial (we were especially moved by the game tickets placed by the Hokie stone of several victims), bought Hokie Effect tshirts at the bookstore (I am going to figure out how that girl made her tshirt), and finished off the evening with dinner at The Cellar (which, by the way, no longer serves Greek Spaghetti on game days, FYI).
Throughout the day I did not carry a bookbag, a tote bag or a purse. I was naked. In my pockets I had sunscreen, my cell phone, a lone check to pay for the tickets, a pen, and feminine products. I wore a hat and my sunglasses and Matt carried my cash and drivers license in his wallet. It felt strange not having anything to hold on to, but very liberating. And, although I would have liked to have pictures that captured the day, I was glad we didn’t bring it along. It would have just been something to carry.
Which, leads me to the second half of the article title…I really enjoy taking pictures, but dislike lugging a camera along with me. Does anybody else feel this way? I want to capture certain moments in life, but sometimes if you have a camera it seems more trouble than it is worth? And, with my limited skills as a photographer I find it overwhelming all of the buttons and settings and unfortunately have very little interest in understanding how it all works (therefore each time I touch the camera I am asking Matt to set it in “dummy mode” for me and ultimately don’t always get the best shots). Then, on top of it all, Matt is clearly the photographer and has an exceptional eye for gorgeous shots. Me? I just see things I like and want to document it. Remember this little place we drank beer in Bruges? You know, where all the locals were and the lab was sitting at the bar with his owner? Oh, look. Here we are at Blowing Rock, North Carolina on our first trip together. I am sure some of you can imagine us as old geezers, showing slideshows ala Jim and Bettie… I think I should really just start getting in the habit of having a camera out with me at all times when sightseeing (not caring if I look like a complete dufus tourist) and just start snapping away. Maybe I will (a) get used to having it with me, (b) become more acquainted with the settings, and (c) feel like taking it everywhere.