You won’t look far for something beautiful to photograph in Cancun. It’ll take a while to get a signal strong enough to text/share/post these pictures, though. It doesn’t matter what photographer expert level you bring.
In my case, the category just above knows-most-times-if-his-camera-faces-the-right-way and just below knows-he’s-actually-taken-a-photo.
It doesn’t take an expert to post about photography or list pro tips. It’s not as bad as Canadian hockey teams compiling a video on how to win in the NHL – but it is close. I should defer to other blogs written by people who know an aperture from an apricot.
Instead, I’ll forge ahead with nine categories of beautiful things to photograph.
1. Details
I found this abandoned sand toy on, shockingly, the beach. In instinctively picked it up. My upbringing leads me to gather sometimes, even if it’s not mine. What if its owner hadn’t gone far? What fortune in another kid finding this would I steal?
I dropped it back in the sand instead.
2. Faces
Do you see them? Two lights here, a mirror there. It’s a face! In my 45th year on this third rock from the sun, I still see them. (Spoiler alert: One of my girls plans a photographic guest post on the places she sees faces look right back at her.)
3. Food
The sign of a superlative meal: That you become so engulfed in the pageantry of your plate that you forget to slap its last rites on Instagram. Still, I love the idea to share (or save) a pre-meal peek. I wish I’d thought of that for that lunch of sea bass on Saturday afternoon.
4. Kids
Grace asked why I snap so many pictures of her and her sisters.
Who could resist? On the pitch, on the move and in their element, a pic of a kid stunts that locomotive known as growing up, for a second. I learned this weekend of this project that captures life in much the same way, with a second a day.
5. Nature
A sunset behind the Colorado Rockies isn’t the only natural scene worthy of phone media storage space. Grace masters this. We interrupt our disc golf outings at the sight of nature showing off. It’s always worth the time.
The forest and the world at large renders us tiny like nothing else.
6. Perspective
Your gaze, down an exhaustive row of classic cars or view from atop a mountain. No one sees the world from your eyes – unless you seize the moment and share it. The rule of thirds plays in harmoniously with this point of view.
7. Your style
Subtle as a favorite color or iconic as Harry Carey’s glasses, style can identify us.
(Even Shaggy could turn brown trousers, a green T-shirt and stubbly chin into a statement.) A believer in the lucky sock, I’ll defend to my last day the magic in just the right sock, worn on just the right day.
8. Stormtroopers
They’ve come to define this blog visually.
A stormtrooper stays in my pocket every day, because who knows when the moment arrives? Whether it’s a scene I create or one my daughters play a hand in or even one picked from the royalty-free lineup at photopin.com, it’s an icon here to stay.
What about you? What catches your photographic eye?
Just a dad ... 
I think my favorite are the food (OK so I might be hungry right now) and the storm troopers. Not sure what that says about but me, but still! 🙂
Once (or twice, maybe more) I had food *and* stormtroopers in shots. That means you’re my kind of people, Janine.
Aw, you are most definitely my kind of people, too Eli! 😉
Miss you Janine! Your stuff … I’ll be over soon. I feel like I’ve drifted away from it all and want back in.
I love the Stormtrooper pictures. As you can see, I’ve started to include my own shots on the Friday questions posts. I’m extending it a bit though to Lego people. However, that stormtrooper seems to always find his way in. The faces one will take some very creative thinking. Hence I think I like that one best!
I saw that – well done, brother. My stormtroopers are of LEGO and other various variety.
I only have one stormtrooper. Of any variety. So I include the droids 🙂 Luke will make an appearance soon. So some of those photos I’ve seen are yours?
I have a go-to, but he’s changed a few times. The droids are always good. I considered making a shift to Darth Vader a few weeks ago.
Yes, sometimes, me or my girls snap the shots.
That’s awesome. I never realized they were your shots. Makes you even coolerer. I wish I had a lego Vader.
Grace has particular talent when it comes to those pictures.
Hah, Eli, I love your “face” shot….it’s like looking for the Hidden Mickeys at Disney World, yes?
Ain’t it cool, Torrie? I hope I never lose the ability to see the faces.
haha! Fun post. Although I’m not a pro photographer either, I try my best to share my little view of the world. I think my categories would be very large like “life” and “kids”… But I also like details like you. So I would officially add that.
Thanks Yanic! Glad you liked it. Smartphones make it easy for us to get decent pictures for the blog.
Life and Kids are great categories.
Haha! I don’t have a cell phone so I’m actually lugging around my big SLR an lenses around. 🙂
Old school – that’s the way!
Nice post!
Glad you liked it!
Colors, contrast, out of place objects and plants/flowers. Lego Deadpool, disguised as Pigpool, lives in my wallet and I usually have at least one other minifigure with me because you never know when a pic opp may come along that is made better with plastic toys.
Out of place objects is a good one. The day you forget the mini-figure is the day you’ll wish you didn’t.
love these, eli. mine would be: nature, children, people of other ages, colorful things, signs, funny things, and food.
Colorful things is a good one – even if those things are food.
The majority of what I photograph is food (occupational hazard), then I’d have to say my daughter, architecture, and selfies round up the final slots of what I take most.
Food begs to be photographed, sometimes. Good categories, Michelle.
My camera tends to capture whatever makes me smile at that very moment. Coffee, wine, my son and his gf going off to a dance on Saturday, my daughters art, the critters, you just never know what my phone captures in a day.
Awesome post!
I’d do that, if I had a quicker trigger finger, Tiff. Our kids’ art is a good one, too. Glad you liked the post.
It humors me when I find faces in everyday things, and I look forward to your daughter’s photographic guest post. Why am I not surprised that you keep a stormtrooper in your pocket!
I’m a wild woman when it comes to taking pictures now that my husband got me a GoPro for my birthday. My friends humor me and just smile when I pull it out to take pictures or shoot video on our runs.
Glad you see the faces, Deb. I feel naked today because no stormtrooper. What’s the GoPro been like for you?
I should have taken many more pictures in Cancun.
I would say mine would be sunsets, mountains and lakes, and scenery in general. I do some hiking so it’s easy to find mountains and lakes to photograph.
Sunsets are perfect, Joan. I get some of my best shots while I play disc golf, so I get the hiking advantage.
Never heard of disc golf here in Ireland. Is it a new sport? Sounds good if there’s hiking involved.
It’s all-American, Joan. It’s not horribly old, so maybe it just hasn’t made it there. Google it – I hope to do some of it today, in fact.
The prawns made my mouth water!
they were delicious.
It’s not often that you see a face that comes complete with eyebrows. As far a food pictures, I hate taking them (feeling pretentious or cliche) but I love having them for posts.
The brows were a definite plus, Mo. I don’t feel nearly as pretentious taking a food shot than I do a selfie.
Hi! Did you ever get my last email? I hope you’re ok!
I did, Renee. I’ll write back tonight. I’m fine!
Hey nice nature shot Coach! You got the sun flare through the trees. One of my favourite things. I of course photography everything. Only about 10% makes it to my blog or social media. Because Blogger and uploading – oye. Tonight it was my cat up our tree…. stump. Because we cut them down and he still climbed up the nutter.
That nature shot happened on an incredibly sad day – nature retains its beauty for times you really need it, perhaps. Glad you liked it.
Sun flare makes a good picture awesome. I’d love to see some of the 90% of your shots that don’t make it to prime time, Les.
It’s reasonably easy in WordPress. Come join the dark side.
I saw pictures of your cat! I thought he was a lynx.
Don’t feed into his delusions of grandeur!!! LOL
You should have heard the pitiful whine when he realized what goes up, must come down.
And hopefully with the new #onegoodthing project, you will be seeing more of that 90%. 🙂
He knows of his own grandeur – he’s a cat!