I took the camera out for a walk yesterday. It was hot when I went out, but it wasn’t as humid as it could have been. It is July in the South, though, and heat and humidity are things we deal with–along with mosquitoes and gnats and other creepy-crawly things. . . . Fortunately, I did not have any of those things to deal with.

I’m signed up for too many online photo workshops and communities, but I have to admit that I do like the Girls with Cameras network. I’m finding inspiration there, though, and I’m experimenting with things. I tend to photograph nature subjects–flowers, plants, and the like, as well as landscapes, and scenic “vistas”–you get the picture (no pun intended, but well, it’s there).

An exercise in one of the workshops is to create a Pinterest gallery of images that I like–80 to 100 images. The next step is to pare that gallery to 10 to 20. This is the beginning to define my photographic style. My problem–I like a lot of different styles of photographs, but I don’t necessarily create photographs like the ones I have in the gallery. For example, I have lots of images of “portals”–doors and windows–with chipped or cracked and weathered paint. There aren’t too many places I go that have those kinds of doors and windows. I have pictures of interesting door knobs and latches. . . . I have pictures of flowers and other plants. There are pictures of architectural details. . . .

My other problem–if I see something else that I like, I keep adding to the gallery. I finally whittled down my initial 114 images to 23. I even went so far as create categories (this is SO not me–I am a global, big-picture girl, not someone who puts things in categories!) and then pulled out of each category the images I liked.

So what has this to do with my walk around the pond? I thought about the images that I collected, and the images that I made. Although I didn’t create a Pinterest gallery of my images, I tried to think about how my photos would fit into my gallery. I am far away from defining my style, but I am just beginning the process.