Finding My Mission
You might have noticed we went to Ireland recently. If you don’t know me in person, imagine an impish grin as I write that.
BECAUSE I HAVEN’T STOPPED TALKING ABOUT IT, RIGHT????
The truth is, while we try to travel as often as we can, this trip was big for us. Not just in scope. But in terms of doing it exactly as we wanted to. It. just. worked. out. The weather, the timing, the places, the people – everything JUST WORKED OUT.
We absolutely had the luck of the Irish.
And as you have seen me posting for weeks, I took thousands of photos. I whittled those thousands down to hundreds and organized them into sets. And FINALLY, I cut those hundred down to ONE group of my very best shots from the trip (below). Honestly, I had been holding off on the very last one, because that meant I was DONE.
(be sure to hit the “embiggen” icon in lower right after it starts playing for full screen viewing)
But that is silly, because, for once I really feel like I captured our adventures. Now when I look at these photos I will relive this vacation over and over again. Every sight, sound and smell.
Even as the trip was charmed, our luck kept going when we returned. Last weekend, I attended an all day seminar with two National Geographic photographers, Bob Krist and Ralph Lee Hopkins.
Mind, meet blown.
Hand, meet ache. (After scribbling an entire notebook of new ideas in an 8 hour time span.)
But one major thing I came away with was mission. Not a fake mission, mind you. Nothing I am going to lie about when I finally get the courage up to ask locals if I can take their picture instead of doing it on the sly – but a real mission that is important to me – even if it is only just like every other mission I seem to be on lately: to document our lives.
The purpose is what is important, what guides you, and turns a snapshot into a photograph.
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Nice.
The pictures are gorgeous. I just finished reading “Brooklyn” by Colm Toibin (about an Irish immigrant in the 50s) and these photos were the perfect complement to that.
Your pictures are beautiful! As if I wasn’t jealous enough already.
I love a good Irish mission.
Such awesome pics!
“The purpose is what is important, what guides you, and turns a snapshot into a photograph.”
That’s wonderful.
Very exciting, Aimee. I can’t wait to see more of the fruits of your labor.
Breath, meet bated. 😉
I hadn’t read your entire post before viewing the images and the word that was already in my mind was “photojournalism” You’ve got the gift. Enjoy your mission.
gorgeous post, aimee – m
Loved the slideshow.
I loved all the photos, but yes – the Faves set is really really cool. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!
Wow! Just wow.
I love the idea of getting photos of strangers more, and I too am looking forward to the new photos and trips we will take!
Beautiful family, gorgeous shots – a worthy mission. 🙂