Visiting Hawaii changed my thought on photography, how the tangents to the real memory occur regardless of the amount of images.
On The North Shore our daily adventure was finding a new beach each day. There was a slue of surfing competitions and beauty so all of it was very exciting. At Turtle Bay Beach we made our station of towels, a Frisbee and camera. Bus after bus load tourist arrived in their Hawaiian tee shirts, tennis shoes and new cameras purchased just for their "dream vacation". They stayed on the rocks and took two shots of the turtles playing in the water. Then got back on the bus.
I wanted to stop each and every one of them. Make them take their shoes off, lay in the sand, let the sun turn their skin red while enjoying the way the clouds and water made such an amazing show of blues. Because they missed it.
I'm not patronizing the Hawaiian wearing, bus touring people because I'm one of them. I show up for vacation with my new swimming attire, sunglasses and camera empty of memory space waiting to be filled with "memories".
This vacation I challenged myself by just taking one roll of film and my last treasured pack of Polaroid 600 to force a limit. 26 shots only.
It was perfect. Hughes' new freckles appearing on his nose, his wonder on how exactly God fit the sound of the ocean inside a sea shell, Jettie falling asleep in my arms covered in sand that looked like sugar and how sweet it was she only collected the purple shells. The favorites from the 26 shots create small tangents to these vivid moments.
On The North Shore our daily adventure was finding a new beach each day. There was a slue of surfing competitions and beauty so all of it was very exciting. At Turtle Bay Beach we made our station of towels, a Frisbee and camera. Bus after bus load tourist arrived in their Hawaiian tee shirts, tennis shoes and new cameras purchased just for their "dream vacation". They stayed on the rocks and took two shots of the turtles playing in the water. Then got back on the bus.
I wanted to stop each and every one of them. Make them take their shoes off, lay in the sand, let the sun turn their skin red while enjoying the way the clouds and water made such an amazing show of blues. Because they missed it.
I'm not patronizing the Hawaiian wearing, bus touring people because I'm one of them. I show up for vacation with my new swimming attire, sunglasses and camera empty of memory space waiting to be filled with "memories".
This vacation I challenged myself by just taking one roll of film and my last treasured pack of Polaroid 600 to force a limit. 26 shots only.
It was perfect. Hughes' new freckles appearing on his nose, his wonder on how exactly God fit the sound of the ocean inside a sea shell, Jettie falling asleep in my arms covered in sand that looked like sugar and how sweet it was she only collected the purple shells. The favorites from the 26 shots create small tangents to these vivid moments.
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Comments
Great Memories for us, I hope the kids remember it too!
(08.04.10 @ 11:19 PM)these are beautiful Clary! your babies are precious. :)
(08.05.10 @ 08:25 AM)This is a beautiful post Clary...and a great reminder to not "rush" through a vacation but to sit back and soak in every sweet memory.
(08.05.10 @ 08:51 AM)It could be all the pregnancy hormones, but this post made me cry. What a beautiful concept, Clary. And it's true, you may not have hundreds of shots from this vacation, but just looking through the treasured shots you did capture will bring you back to the happiness shared on your trip. You really made me think on this one :)
(08.05.10 @ 09:03 AM)Clary!!!!!!!!!!!!
(08.05.10 @ 09:59 AM)i'm speechless!!!
i love hawaii and you captured it in such an amazing way!
your kids are the cutest!
beautiful family you have! Gob bless you all! :)
clary these are (once again) gorgeous! your kids are so adorable :)
(08.05.10 @ 10:42 AM)these shots are so nostalgic and you blow me away every time you release the shutter.
(08.05.10 @ 10:46 AM)Beautiful pictures Clary! I can almost hear the waves looking at the pictures on the beach!
(08.05.10 @ 11:01 AM)Absolutely love your polaroid 600 shots! What a fantastic use for such an awesome trip!
(08.05.10 @ 01:16 PM)you went to hawaii again?! so is this the 3rd time in 5 years? wow! love the pictures. i miss working with trav and heairng stories about the kids.
(08.05.10 @ 01:25 PM)you went to hawaii again?! so is this the 3rd time in 5 years? wow! love the pictures. i miss working with trav and heairng stories about the kids.
(08.05.10 @ 01:26 PM)These are priceless, Clary—not only the touching images but also your commentary. You're a good soul, and it comes through in everything you do.
(08.05.10 @ 08:32 PM)So bold of you! BUT, the photos turned out gorgeously (not that they wouldn't). Such wonderful memories, too!
(08.05.10 @ 08:58 PM)So bold of you! BUT, the photos turned out gorgeously (not that they wouldn't). Such wonderful memories, too!
(08.05.10 @ 09:03 PM)Breathtaking! I just love how you balanced capturing moments and LIVING the moments. Takes quite a bit of skill and wild abandon to do so. So glad you guys had a great trip!
(08.10.10 @ 08:57 AM)Such a special post. I love how you document each and every important aspect of beautiful children's life. Thanks for sharing!
(08.12.10 @ 10:21 PM)Oh Clary, these are so fantastic. It seems like, as adults, we're always drawn to a chosen handful of shots in our baby albums, aren't we? I have a feeling these will be a few that have that pull for your little ones :)
(08.13.10 @ 12:26 PM)You know that I always love seeing pictures of my adorable grandkids, but these pictures also brought back some great memories! Good times and great pictures. . . .Can I have some copies??
(08.18.10 @ 11:21 AM)What great memories come back to me, as I look at these pictures of my adorable grandkids in Florida. Good times, good memories, and great pictures. . . .can I have some copies?
(08.18.10 @ 11:41 AM)