Wish I had photographed.......

[SharLamb]

I thought of a way we Seasoned Citizens can help the youngsters on the forum. We can list the photographs we wish we had taken when we were younger...when our kids were young, etc. This is probably more for the scrappers in the group, but it could also be of interest to everyone else (those who wish they had a photo of the Kingdome [Seattle] Twin Towers, or the Berlin Wall, for instance).

Anyway, here are a few I wish I had taken:

All the schools, churches, homes, and places of work in my (& my kids' and husband's) past
Our favorite restaurants and hang-outs of days gone by
My children's favorite toys
Close-ups of the traditional foods during the holidays and favorite cookies (guess I could make batches now to photograph, but I don't bake much any more)
More "before" shots when there was a remodel or landscape project

[vawitt]

Good thread, Shar!

I wish I'd photographed (and labeled) more "distant" relatives at rare big-family functions...
All of my cars (there have been many!)
Pets
Signs at trailheads (we hike a lot)

With the move to digital, I photograph everything. When it was film, I was either stingy (thinking I'd run out too early) or already HAD run out and was nowhere near a film store.

[SharLamb]

Oh YES, Val! Pets and cars. Even my kids' pets and cars.

[lisabee]

although I'm not willing (or ready) to be described as 'seasoned' :D;) LOL, it's a great idea .......

mainly I wish I had taken pictures of the neighbourhood streets, the streets in the towns where I went, the cornershops etc because it all changed and disappeared far too quickly .....
although we had school photos individually, we didn't have group photos, so now I would have loved to have pics of the other children at school ....
my mom and her friend used to organise and run the xmas parties for the village children, photos of those would be good, along with the fund raising jumble sales beforehand ......

Lisa

[GaryK]

Shar

I'm with Lisa on this... buildings/fields/roads and such that are no longer there or have changes so drastically they are unrecognizable. I can't tell you how many times I have thought, I should get a photo of that and next thing you know it is gone.:(
Kids and old friends of course.

Take heart though, I know my kids and their friends take tons of photos. Likely due to the advent of digital. I just hope they back them up...lol.
All cheesy, look at me, goofy faced things, but they always make me smile when I view them.

[Tina_B]

Take photos of little hands and feet, landscapes around your home too. New eye glasses and hair doo's. Even looking back 10 years we laugh at the cothing and hair. Don't forget what Grandpas work bench looks like , it is amazing the tools and how they change . Take photo of all your old cameras.
Tina B

[bnk1953]

Not only photograph - but get long lasting prints of those photos, properly name them and store them properly so that those who follow can enjoy them without trying to find some way to access old computer files that won't work on computers of that time!
Ken Burns made the comment that we are missing a lot of history due to emails, etc. His Civil War series would never have made it to light - if not for the letters written from the front lines to home and back. We are missing out on a great legacy by not writing and keeping those letters, etc. for the future.
~bruce.

[NMarti]

More photos of my children (though I didn't have a working camera when my second was little)
More photos of their achievements in life (school, play, crafts)
More photos of my great-grandmother. She was my world and I only have a few of her that I copied from others.
The homes I have lived in growing up so my kids could see what it was really like to "have nothing".
My best friends from childhood.
My body - when I still had one! :D

[frank abramonte]

Now that this subject has been posted it would be a great project to start a family album for your family and grandchildren.
Use your digital camera and PSE to create the album.

Look through your old photo albums and choose photos that will help tell the story of your family going back as far as you can.

I can only go back to 1895 when my father was born and 1921 when my mother came through Ellis Island at the age of 16. Wish I could have gathered more information before my grandparents, aunts and uncles passed away.
I was able to find her family and the ship they arrived on along with the ship's manifest showing their names. She came over with her father, mother, 3 sisters and 2 brothers.

I did do a rather quick written one for my daughter about 3 years ago. I'll use that as my starting point.

Post back on your progress, if you care to create an album.

[WayneS]

Now that this subject has been posted it would be a great project
to start a family album for your family and grandchildren.
I can't agree more.

It’s kind of interesting guys, my parents went through the depression, and as hard as times were, they somehow managed to take family pictures, which today are a treasure!

I have been lucky enough to be able to collect and digitize about 8,000 family pictures and slides going back as far as the early 1900s, which I have now digitized for future generations of the family.

But in the days of film, most people chose their shot, attempting to get the most bang for their buck, rather than today with digital, where we have the luxury to shoot randomly to get the “perfect” shot!

Over the last couple of years, I have been working at putting together a collection of our family history to pass on! Unfortunately most young folks are too busy working, raising families and trying to make ends meet to worry about family history!!! If we, in our generation don’t make the effort, it will all be lost!

Sorry if I am rambling on, but what most people today are losing is family values and traditions! And if anything, that will be our downfall!

Wayne

[Danudin]

I am with all of the comments made here but the one thing I wish I had photographed, was the day when I was looking after an agistment property with about 20 head of pregnant cows awaiting calfing and number 358 didn't go down to the dam one morning, so I grabbed my dog "Candi" a Labrador-Dingo cross and went looking for her in case she had calved and was laid up. The property was only 75 Acres so I looked everywhere -No 358 There was a clump of dense bush in the middle of the paddock so I thought I would look in there. Even the property owner didn't know that there was a clearing in the centre of that bush, but apparently the cows did! As the dog and I stepped into the clearing, the calf came out in a quick splosh and the dog was off before I could grab her.

Now I knew she was part Dingo and by her reaction so did 358 and she turned quickly but the dog was quicker and got to the calf first - But all she did was clean the afterbirth away from the calfs mouth and as a result the first smell the calf got was Candi's. I would kill for a Photo of the dog and cow working quietly together cleaning the calf up and getting it to it's feet.

I stayed there for around three years calling in every fortnight to pay the rent and the Dog and the calf (Which grew into a prize winning stud Bull) would play and cavort like a couple of kids every time. I would kill for a photo of that too as a three year old stud bull is no lightweight. Then I got posted back up to Darwin for four years (Yippee) but when I returned to that area I called in at my old landlords place to see if he had a like property for me to rent (He didn't)

The Bull that Candi cleaned up was now 7-8 years old and heading for 2,000 pounds, I don't know how but when Candi jumped out of my car to greet or landlord, the Bull picked up her scent and Came a-running and I would have needed a video camera to record the sight of this mountain of flesh barreling straight through the heavy rail fences (Eight of them) as it made a Bee Line for the dog.

You have never seen anything like the concern my dog showed on her face as this gigantic beast started cappering like a dainty little deer. I still have the memory in my mind (Crystal Clear) but when I am gone it would have been nice for others to see the bewildered look that plagued my old landlord who told me that in 45 years of dairy herding he had never seen anything like it and inspite of being Scottish didn't mind repairing the fences as long as I would bring the dog occasionally to Play which I did for three years and the reaction was always the same.

Bit long winded but that is something I wish I had photographed.

[SharLamb]

Do you still have the dog? Is the bull still around? Since you've already written the story, you just need a couple of photos to bring it to life. Even if the photos aren't of one of the actual reunions. Seems to me this is worth a dedicated trip! What a story! TFS

[Danudin]

Do you still have the dog? Is the bull still around? Since you've already written the story, you just need a couple of photos to bring it to life. Even if the photos aren't of one of the actual reunions. Seems to me this is worth a dedicated trip! What a story! TFS

Alas not on the dog it was more than twenty years ago, and I have no idea how long 2,000 lb Bulls live except as long as they like much as the sleeping arrangements of 500lb gorrilas.

Miss the Dog even now especially as we had have a wonderful old cat (Darcy) put to sleep recently and I'm not over that yet either. But I do have photos of him and I might cheat a show a photo of him from last year, in the 365 of 2009 Challenge.

[SharLamb]

It's by no means cheating. You are just showing a photo of the dog that the story is about. I grieve with you over the loss of Dog and kitty.

[dsfisher421]

I wish I had taken more pictures of my daughter and many of my older relatives who have passed. My dad took a picture of me each week during my first year and I really treasure that album.

[SharLamb]

I'm glad to hear how you love the weekly photos during your first year. I suggested that to my DD, and she made an album "Fridays With Gavin" (he was born on a Friday), and was faithful to take photos every Friday for that year. She had Shutterfly publish it, and it is a treasure.

[BOBGRUETTER]

Debra, I know where you are coming from. I had taken hundreds of photos of my daughter before she passed at the age of 27, and the one I really regret is the one I didn't take. That would have been the best, no matter when it was. Now, I take photos of the two grand children she gave me whenever I can get them to allow it.

Bob

[SharLamb]

Debra and Bob....I can still barely talk about it. We lost our 2-year-old DGD nearly 5 years ago, and the hardest days of my life are when I update the photos of all our other growing/changing grandchildren that I have hanging in the hallway, and there are no new pictures of her. There were way too few. Seems like there are fewer of her than even of the other grandchildren's first 2 years. Might be just my perception. I have made artistic versions of what I have, just trying to make it seem like there are more, but even at that, I've memorized every picture ever taken of her. What I believe now, is that you cannot take too many pictures of those you love. I've even started allowing people to take pictures of me, and it has been many years since I've been cooperative about that! :'[