from the heart

this post at shutter sisters today made me think about why i take pictures—something that has been on my mind a lot lately. i actually have started writing about it in another post {which i have not finished}. but the post at shutter sisters reminded me of one reason i like to get my camera out and start shooting. it's to capture moments like these. moments like when my niece was comforting my recently widowed mother—reminding me what it was like to be a little girl in my mother's or grandmother's lap. reminding me of their touch on my face. my niece won't always be this young. my mother will change with years. but i caught this specific moment in time—in a day, in a summer, in a past year. i love this photo. since my dad died, photos of him have helped so much to keep memories of him vivid. this is why i take pictures. even the photos i take that are not of people are things in my life that i see or encounter and mean something to me—otherwise i would not take the time. that is how i know i photograph from the heart. good or not, i shoot from the heart.

{here are other favorites from that day—some previously posted.}