Let me tell you a STORY

I, like billions of people worldwide set myself some resolutions / goals each New Years Day. For 2010 I set myself the challenge of becoming a better photographer and understanding how a camera works.

I am proud to say that I did indeed work on that challenge for the entire year. I now know the bones of taking a great picture, and I look forward to being more agile in 2011 to really get to use what I have learnt.

Last year I also choose a word that I wanted to inspire me throughout the year. I choose CAPTURE.  Ali Edwards was one of the followers of The One Word Project and this year she is continuing with this idea as part of a year long course, here.

This year I thought I had my word all worked out. But I faltered at the last moment after reading some other peoples choices. I started to think that JOURNEY could be my word for 2011. But I was still being drawn strongly to the word STORY.

1. Stories are like snapshots … pictures snatched out of time with clean, hard edges —James Crumley

This quote sums up what I’d like to achieve with this word perfectly .My challenge for this year is “try” and take a photo a day for my Project Life album. I want to tell our families STORY of 2011. I want to share with my blog readers the STORY of my everyday, crappy ,boring life.

Plus, I always think of scrapbooking as STORYtelling in its purest form. I hope that my back pain is the middle of the STORY and that very soon there will a happy ending. And a new story of my recovery will begin.

I did a little search of jewellery I could buy which represented the word STORY. I would like to start a collection of my words as the years roll on. Imagine my surprise when one of the searches came up with a bracelet I already wear most days. I used to have boxes full of these beautiful bracelets. I now just have my over stretched, about to break at any moment one. I gave three boxes of bracelets to my local charity shop to sell last Christmas.

So today my STORY of 2011 begins with the first day of my PROJECT LIFE album.

The album I collected in Miami is all prepared.

I have set myself up with lots of resources to help me on this year long mission.

 

I was a lucky winner of a voucher on Corinne's blog towards a Pilger camera bag. Hopefully, it will help me to lug around the incredibly heavy weight that my camera is. I am going to need it to hand this year. I entered the competition initially to try and win a shoot with Corinne. She has been a real inspiration to me first in scrapbooking and then in photography over the years.

It still brings tears to my eyes when I read my comments for the entry. What upsets me most , was the reaction my son had when I read it out, all excited as a winner on Christmas Day. He sneered that I was going for a sympathy vote. He just didn’t get it , that for once I would like someone to take a good picture of me. It boiled over the next day, when he really went for me. Apparently he finds me intolerable. It would seem I am not the bubbly, mum sitting quietly in the background he desires.

So I took myself and my pain out of his sight and hearing for several days. I think he under estimated how much pain I am living with, and how unnecessary and unasked for his remarks were. He did apologise, but for me the damage is done. I am like an elephant I NEVER forget.

I would like to start the front of my project life with a family photo. I think my chances are 2/100.

• Bad light,
• its raining,
• son is still out from New Years Eve
• he HATES me taking his photo
• I am struggling with the pain today
• I really don’t want to straighten my fuzz ball washed hair
• or get dressed

Happy 2011 !!!!!