A Sense of Place

Well, I don't even know what to say other than... Versailles was fabulous! It may be pretentious, but I felt like a photographer today instead of a tourist, and I think that that changed not only what I chose to shoot, but also how I did it. The pictures I took today are nothing like the ones I took the last time I went to Versailles. I focused a lot on reflections and shadows today. The biggest difference, though, is that I was taking pictures of people. Last time I toured Versailles, I was a tourist, and I was mad when other random tourists' elbows and noses or whole bodies interrupted my picture. Walking around the gardens today, I actively sought people-- little kids, mostly, because their boundless joy and imagination, and reckless energy, make them, in my opinion, a fabulous subject. Childhood is a different sense of place in itself. So I had a sense of place in Versailles, and a sense of place in childhood, watching these kids explore the gardens with such enthusiasm. On that subject, I think that little kids will become my "thing," so to speak.

I feel like having a sense of place is essential to a photograph, whether its professional or a random selfie on a phone. Something about that place, that moment, encouraged the photographer to take the photo, and that alone, even if the place itself is not obvious in the photo, is still evident.

Check out flickr for more pictures! (not all of them are from Versailles...)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anna_elizabeth1/sets/72157632107132411/