Observer vs Participant

As a photographer I find myself always in the position of observer and not an active participant in the moment. While looking back at the images I took during the holiday season I noticed that I had only taken a few photographs of gift openings and none of dinner. I made a conscious decision to leave the camera on the shelf and/or at home in order to step out of the observer role and just be in the moment with my husband, daughter and family.

Of course I wished a hundred, a thousand, a million times that I had the camera on hand, but at the same time I also enjoyed the lack of pressure to document. So which was stronger?

me as a participant (the reason I stick behind the camera)

Well I've been photographing my landscape as opposed to my daughter lately, so I guess that the call of the observer was a little more sweet to me.

On a related note things are getting very busy here. In the last week I had a portrait shoot with the baby upstairs. I participated in the Etsy Virtual Baby Shower and received 200+ new views and landed my first sale on PeanutButterPie. I also made my first sale in TMCPhoto on Etsy too. add in preliminary packing and organizing, a toddler with a cold, and two weekly features I'm finally feeling like I'm back in art school without the all night studio jams or the portfolio reviews.

Make sure you check back tomorrow for the latest 5 questions feature. I'll be featuring one of my favourite Canadian Etsy sellers Knickertwists. She's got some great answers and even greater art works.