So here’s a quirky little peccadillo I’ve never told you about. You know I like to take pictures, right? I’ve got tonnes of pictures of the boys, of landscapes, of still lifes, of people and stuff and abstracts, you name it and I’ve photographed it, and some of them are actually pretty good if I do say so myself. And every now and then I get all excited in Winners or Michaels, usually when there’s a really good deal to be had, and I buy a whole whack of frames. And then?
*sound of crickets*
I literally have boxes upon boxes of frames — with nothing in them. Much as I love the idea of actually framing my own pictures, of having a tangible copy out to enjoy, every time I get a frame into the house I get all anxious and critical and can’t find a single picture worth investing the $2.49 at Costco to make a print and frame it.
Weird, eh? I don’t know if it’s a self-confidence thing or what. And there have even been a few that I’ve actually gotten as far as framing and then — put them back in the box. Actually making it to the point where they get hung on the wall happens about once every couple of years. The whole print to frame to wall process is just too arduous and insurmountable.
Ironically, it was decluttering and staging the place that finally pushed me into printing and framing a bunch of stuff, just because the pictures that had actually made it into frames and on to the walls were almost exclusively of the boys and other family shots, and “they” say you aren’t supposed to have a lot of family pix up when you’re showing the house. It strikes me as nothing less than perverse that we spend hours repairing all the holes in the walls and repainting the place only to be told that we should put in a bunch of nails on the nice fresh paint job to hang pictures that I couldn’t bring myself to hang before and that will only stay up for about five more weeks.
This whole moving thing is more Kafkaesque with each passing day.
oh the irony then of me sending you off to buy stacks of frames for me;).
i am glad you are finally doing it, silly timing or not;).
now we will just have to make sure they get UP on a wall in your new home:)
(and you are not alone in your fear…a certain jennybunz suffers from the same phtophramingphear. crazy women)
Before you know it, I bet that you WILL be wanting to and actually hanging some of your beautiful *framed* photographs in your new home in Manotick.
Do you have a picture of the exterior of your home you are living in now? Just asking because I think it is nice to a pictorial memory of all the homes you live in over the years as your raise your children.
That was me commenting above. Sorry, thought I had filled in my particulars.
Ha! You and me both. Oodles of empty frames, all in my closet, waiting for the day that girl and I sit down and pick out pics for the hallwall. For me I don’t think it’s self-confidence, it’s finding an appropriate amount of time where no one needs a cook/taxi/tutor/lifeguard/cook/medic/mediator/whatever.
what the hell DID I do with all my time before this?
thankfully, other people sell their stuff, conveniently in frames already. that’ll work until I find that time to fill the frames.
i’ve got the pretty new camera and now i am going to start learning how to take good pictures. but i have asked myself what will i do with said plethora of good photographs (because of course i am going to be wonderful straight out of the box… let me live in my dream world OK?). i don’t even print any pictures. i think i might invest in a nice digital frame to start.
hope the house selling is going well.
I feel exactly the same way.
I had a few printed, then decided they didn’t look nearly so good in my hand.
Funny, we went to visit a friend this weekend who had gobs and gobs of beautiful family photos displayed everywhere and we have only 1. Kevin commented as we left that we need to get some more photos up. I don’t even know where to start.
Maybe you should let someone else choose the pictures to frame and put up, even if they might not choose the same ones you would. You’re probably being more critical than you should be. You take beautiful photos.
My husband is the main photographer in our family (though I’m also becoming better at it myself). Anyway, we had the same issue with tons of photos, lots of frames, but few actual photos IN frames and up on walls. A couple of years ago I decided to sort through DH’s photos and pick out a few I particularly like and get them printed up. The pictures turned out so nice, and I love having pictures up on our walls that are meaningful to us.