Note –  Bob Hazlett added photos to “What are we doing” but read on before going there.

My answer is: “Art and photography are essential to the human spirit for many reasons – Here are 3 reasons:

Photos makes you look: It’s hard to walk by a photo and not look at it. And then it makes you really look at it and wonder…everything from “what were they thinking?” to “who were they?” and “what are they doing?” them maybe wonder,  “why did they do that?” Look at Susan’s snapshots of a family event.

04 18 2019 Susan Hubbard

They give you a connection with the photographer and the subjects – what was their feeling at that moment – joy, laughter, empathy, desire,  wonderment……..

 Photos take you places: Look at the colors in Davids Wood Ducks, the eyes staring at you, the droplets of water from the beak. You can almost taste cool moist air from the lake, sense the stillness, and the see the emerging spring.  So, again, photos give you a connection with the photographer.  You will almost be there and sense the feeling of the photographer at that moment – joy, peace,  wonderment…….

04 18 2019 Dave

Photos help you learn:  Observational learning is the process of learning through watching others and then being influenced by the behavior’s that were observed.   By looking at the photos of others we obverse all kinds of things – From learning what mastering the skills of photography can produce – like a perfect image, to learning how others have better enjoyed social interactions with family by sharing snapshots  with each other and friends – like Club members.

The TGO Photo Club, in the winter in Florida, helps us better enjoy this human-spirit essential. But we have at least 6 months without meetings.   So, I said I would help members continue to share during the summer through my blog.

Here is my new format to this blog:

  1. “What are we doing” – Many of these photos will be shot with little set-up time.  It is an unplanned happening that tells the story. Here, even the cell phone camera is a wonderful tool to help you socialize with friends and neighbors by showing them “what they were doing”.  Through the web, Club members should be encouraged to share stories about what they are doing – Including photos taken with cell phone cameras and pocket-size cameras at any summer activity.  Sort of a Wheel of Fortune “What are we doing”?  Skills of art like composition, tone, texture, etc. are always important but what I want to encourage here is to tell a story of your activity when it happens.
  2.  “Photo shoot images” – Some photos I deemed to have been shot while waiting for it to happen – maybe sitting in a  blind, maybe with tripods, and  complex equipment.  The camera is a wonderful tool to help you socialize with friends and neighbors by sharing “what they saw”.   Through the web members should be encouraged to development and improve their skills with “planned” photo shoots –  produce beautiful photographs of natural and man-made objects.  A planned photo shoot where you have time to practice skills of art like patients, composition, tone, texture, etc.
  3.  “Digital photo art”   Some examples of photos that succumbed to the extremes of post processing!  Since I enjoy learning to create my own mental (maybe demented) version of digital art using photographs and PhotoShop – I can not help but try to make this website encourage Club members to develop better skills in digital post processing.

Therefore, send me images to share:  Send them to jimbrubaker@earthlink.net  If you can resize them to be 600 pixels high, it will make my job easier.  And send 6 or less per e-mail.  If re-sizing is not easy at your end – send them anyway – I am sure I can deal with it.    THANKS – Lets see where all this will take the Club this summer.

Oh my – as you swing through life tell us, with photos, what you are doing – it is the social thing to do