This would make a cool chart

This weekend, the son of a friend got married and my friend asked me to take pictures at the reception--just candid pictures, not the formal ones. So I showed up and snapped my usual hundreds of photos. Then I went home and looked at them and kind of freaked out because it seemed like they were all blurry or awful. Then I went to bed and woke up the next day and looked at them again and realized they weren't as bad as I thought and breathed again. But in that intervening time, I kept thinking about what if any skills I have as a photographer. And I came to several conclusions:

First, I thought of about a half a dozen things I could have tried and done better. This is good. Knowing what isn't working is how you change.

Second, I'm not entirely sure what constitutes a great picture. I know what I think is cool, but I think that varies from person to person.

Third, I realized that one of the fun things about being at the reception was I got to be a people watcher. That is a fun thing to do.

Finally, I realized that even if I am never a terrific photographer, I don't care. I love taking pictures because I enjoy it. I enjoy watching people. I enjoy the way it gets me to think about the world and to see it from a different perspective (even if no one else finds that perspective interesting). I like creating something, and since I'm not very artistic, photography is a great way to do that. And I don't care if no one else likes my pictures, because it isn't about being the best for me. I do it because it brings me joy. (And it is way cheaper than therapy).

And given the numbers, I must really enjoy it. I checked the number of photos I have from 2014, the year where I only had my point-and-shoot camera: 2.19 GB and 1389 photos. In 2015 I got my DSLR camera, and had 8.26 GB and 3040 pictures. This year? 19.4 GB and 5125 photos.* Which makes me think that would be a really awesome graph.

And that that is a LOT of photos.

*I should also add that it was a busy year and I did a lot of traveling. But it was still mostly because of the camera.