Keeper of the Pictures
Wed., January 7, 01:27 PM
There really should be one keeper of the pictures in any family — someone who is interested in the concept of photographs as family treasures. It's not me; I'm not really photography-oriented. Sister doesnt' understand why I don't want to learn advanced Photoshop. It's one thing to enjoy using an occasional illustration, but I'm not interested in all the fancy picture editing.
Anyway, starting with my mother's collection of snapshots, Sister has become the Keeper in our generation. She has gone on to request pictures of anyone else who is willing to give them to her, especially the aunt who was a keeper of the last generation. So her collection continues to grow. I'm familiar with my mother's pictures, so many of her funny-looking baby, but I don't always know what else might be available.
Sister provided the picture that I used to illustrate the story of my Gramma. There is a comparable picture that I could use for the grandfather I knew, but Sister has her own agenda. On the one hand, she has found some great pictures of him as a younger man. On the other, they are not what I was looking for, and she writes on them.
Now, I know that you can put a second layer on a picture, and it's a good way of captioning a photo because the text and the picture are tied together. If you use Photoshop, you can always remove the layer if you don't want it. Unfortunately, Sister "flattens" the pictures so they'll transmit easier, and you can't take the layer off. And the captions are right across the picture, not discreetly at the bottom or off to one side. Maybe she's trying to force me to learn more about photo editing.
Y'see, I hate the captions she chooses. Sister used to be a bright and clever person, but not any more. (I blame her husband, of course, he's never been very interesting.) For example, she sent a picture of my parents to U.D. The caption is "Grammy and Grampy." Who the heck is that? No one ever used those names. And Gramma would have been disgusted!
The caption on this snap was stupid too, but I love that picture of my father. 
If I were going to caption this one, I would take my cue from Dad. Mother said I was funny-looking, because I had no hair. And Dad would say, "yeah, but she was lovable." Look at his face.
Thanks to those of you who sent birthday wishes to Husband. He had a good birthday; I made meatloaf. He's happy.
