...maybe you know the difference between snapshots and photographs.

I'm guessing it's about $10 a print or $1000 in equipment, whichever comes first.  It's odd, though, that when I think about what kind of photographs I want to take, I inevitably wind up hoping for something that looks like a snapshot.  Here is an example... It's one of my all-time favorites.  It's a snapshot.

How about this one, though?

We were getting our picture taken for the purpose of having a picture of what we were doing that was a lot of fun.  Is that a photograph?  (I have to admit that I didn't take either of those gems... nice work, Jackie!)

Soooo... it gets more complex.  What if instead of the picture for the moment, you make a moment for the picture... like this one:

I think that's a really, really cool picture.  It's purposefully done, but has some extra people/legs in the background.  Does that move it from photograph back to snapshot?

How much of a role does editing play?  If you crop a snapshot to make it something that seems to be "better"... does THAT make it a photograph?  This one is some of that:

The reason I ask is because I don't have a style.  I'm new at this.  Historically, had you asked me I would have said that this was a GREAT picture:

Now... so what??? It's a boat.  Does it invoke any feeling for me?  No.  None.  It's a boat.  It makes me feel like looking at another picture.  Jackie taught me this... pictures need people.  People have stories.  For me, I think that's what it might come down to.  Are snapshots photographs, as long as they can tell a story effectively?  I feel like to be serious about telling stories through pictures, I should be working on making great photographs instead of hoping for good snapshots.

I don't expect to be good at it yet... but I'm hoping that watching it come together over time will be fun.  If you have anything you'd like to teach me, about photography or anything else, I'd love to learn from you.

E