Photos of my kids

I have two young children, and I take a lot of photos of them. There are many that are pretty outstanding.(tooting my own horn)  I also like to get feedback on those photos, because I have an ego and sometimes need that feedback to know I am producing stuff people like. Its a fault I admit!

So, the question of the day is- How is the best method to show off the photos I have taken with people who might be interested... in this case only family and friends.

    My wife and I determined VERY early in their lives that we were going to try to shield my kids from the Internets. Limit exposure really. We didn't want their images plastered all over the Internets, or their names known on blogs, etc. This is why I don't mention their names on my regular blog, and why I don't post their images on Flickr.

     As an example of one way to share, would be to use Flickr. I have been on there since about 2000. I know the communities, I know the interface, I know how it works. However, I would need to set all those images to private, then have everyone I want to see them to get an account and 'friend' them so they can see those images. On top of that, they would need to check in or keep up on my account for new kid photos. Not the world's greatest method. Not easy. Little too restrictive.

    Ultimately, we went with the world's most popular social media site- Facebook. The photos put in there, will automatically be populated to friends' news. No work, no fuss by me. I can restrict the level of access. I can do various other methods to see if someone can see it or not. I don't post on FB, and 99% of what I put on there is photos of my kids. Thats what I use my account for now-a-days.

Do I wish there might be a better way? I am sure... however, I don't even have a wallet photo of my kids to put in my wallet. I am more likely to flip out my phone and use that.

Then again, I am just as happy to have my very best/favorite photos of them printed and posted in the hallway of my house. I have no problem with that at all... makes me smile when I see them.


[update September 6th]

Found an interesting post about why some parents don't post ANYTHING about their kids.

And the very interesting counterpoint.

8 Years of the Killers

I first saw the Killers in 2005 at Merriweather Post. I had my Canon S70 for that show! Look out
photographers world wild- I've got a camera! (thats all I can say about that camera.)

The images I took were grainy, no great shakes... this was likely the best of the lot.

(no set, but photos from the concert)







Then I saw them again in 2007 in NYC at Madison Square Garden with my 30D and the 50mm lens. I did a HECK of a lot better with these shots.
Composition, technique, images in general were just so much better.

(the full photo set)




Then again in 2009 again at Merriweather Post with my 30D and just a 50mm lens. I wasn't nearly as happy with the results as I got to the venue right before the band took the stage... bad spot, not very motivated, and the ending photos showed my lack of motivation.

(the full photo set)

And finally in 2013, I had a decent position but moved cause I am getting old and didn't like the mass of humanity.
Had my 7D and two lenses... I was going to take my 70-200 with me but chickened out because I didn't know if security would ask me to leave. I should have just taken it, and I could have used it as it turned out... oh well.
(the full photo set)

Relatable images

I try to stay up on what other people I know who photography are doing. In other words, what sort of photos are they taking? I look for techniques, locations, subject matter, etc. How did they produce that image? At what lengths did they go to get it?

There are times though, that I have a VERY hard time looking at the images. Why though? Most of the time, I have a hard time relating to the image at hand.

For example, I will look at photos of Philmont for days. Even though they might be some pretty boring and tell very little of a story, it is the subject at hand that keeps me going.

Conversely,  I've seen photos of the Dew Tour- guys with skateboards or bikes, and I just am not interested. I don't care how the image was shot, what magic lighting conditions were done, or extreme effort was put forth. The subject matter bores and really does not engage part of my brain to have me explore more.


So my question is- how much of a photographic lesson am I missing out on if I do not relate to the subject?

Auithentication for printing?

While, as a photographer, I can appreciate the effort, the implementation of the method is laughable.

Let me explain- when I go places with family, I usually take photos of everyone. Just the way it is, and I very much enjoy doing it. On a recent trip, I took a series of photos of the children there and shared with the family members involved. One of those family members took a copy of the image to their local Walgreens, and wanted it printed. Walgreens said, (paraphrasing here) "This is a professional photo and we cannot let you have it until we see you have permission to have it printed."

Huh.

The photographer in me thinks this is a good thing. Stops idiots from just stealing images, getting them printed, and re-selling without permission.

However the computer geek in me laughs, almost cries at this. They accepted an email from my account saying I took the photo and the family member had permission to have it printed. Seriously- that was it. There is no method, nor will there ever be for Walgreens, to understand true authentication of the image release for use. There is no nationally secure photographers release location for printing. If all it takes is an email, how hard is it for anyone to sign up for a fake photographer email address and send yourself emails saying you have permission to print the image?


Walgreens- all you are doing is stopping the idiots who don't understand you can have more than one email account from getting prints. Whats worse, if a grandparent comes in with an image for their grandkids given to them from a family member... and it is professionally done, they don't have the 'release' to get it printed. It is simply preventing someone from getting that image printed of their grandkids.