Thursday, April 29, 2010

Bragging on Myself

Pride.  It's a bad thing, I know.  Of all those "deadly sins," it is the one I am most prone to step in, and more than once, karma's come back to haunt me when I've been too proud or boastful.  Yet, unable to contain myself, I continue to brag on myself.  I can't help it.  When I was in high school, my best friend's mom used to say about us, "You girls are so full of yourselves.  You two should print up t-shirts to wear around all the the time that say, 'I'm the greatest!'"  I think it's in my DNA.  So, here I go again .  .  .
Regular blog readers will know that I enjoy taking sports portraits and action shots, and I think I do a pretty good job.  I take all the team & individual photos for DD's middle school, in order to help raise money.  I don't take any money for my time or effort, and this year the fundraiser will fund about 10% of the athletic budget!  Yea me! (Did I say that out loud?) This week, a mom of one of the girls stopped me when I was getting ready to do the soccer photos.  She told me how much she loved the photos I took of her daughter for volleyball, said it was the best portrait ever taken of her and that she decided to use it with all her high school applications.  She then asked me if  she could book a sitting to do a family portrait!  I'm afraid I laughed. Out loud. Because I'm not a professional photographer after all.  Really.  I'm just a mom with a decent camera and a good eye.  But, I have to admit it made me rather proud when she assumed I was a professional!
Then, I got the "professional" photo back from DS' high school baseball team.  It's that crap photo on the right above.  Blown-out lighting, dead fish expression, and oddly cropped.  How could a photographer make my gorgeous boy look sooooo bad?  I compared it with the snapshot of him I took that day - it's the one on the left.  And again, I felt some amount of pride in my photography skills.  And some grumblies about having paid good money for that awful  picture!  
Final story.  Last night, there was an auction/fund raiser for the local little league (baseball for kids from 5 -14 years of age).  I donated two photo displays.  Each one had three 5x7 pictures of San Francisco Giants professional baseball players framed together.  And you know what?  People bought them!  One went for $90, and the other for $70! I was pretty thrilled.  And proud.  Again.  Hopefully karma won't bite me too hard for bragging on myself.  Most of these realizations came about while I was donating to good causes after all.

16 comments:

Mommy2CVC said...

Good for you Rinda! You are VERY talented and I think if it wasn't true then that would be bad. LOL! Love the above picture of Hank. He is sooo handsome! You can practice on us anytime!

Amy said...

Well done Rinda! It is lovely when people recognise your talents and the compliments are thoroughly deserved :-)
I don't think school photographers ever get it right - it seems to be universal .... I'm only at the start of that journey but I can sense that those types of photos are going to be the ones that produce the most squirms and laughs in the years to come!

Sian said...

Well, well done Rinda! It's a great feeling to have a talent recognised; and you certainly do have a talent. So brag away (tho it's not really bragging, just sharing with friends!)

Julie Shoemaker said...

Not bragging, sharing...congratulations!

sharyncarlson said...

Well done Rinda! I'm happy to hear about your successes :)

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

There's nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishments! And there's also nothing wrong with sharing those great feelings with friends! You have every reason to feel proud of your skills, and I for one am glad you did. I'm proud of you too, Rinda. This is awesome. :o)

Elizabeth said...

Rinda, I agree about the "professional" photo taken of your son. It pales in comparison to the one you took. I don't this it is pride but confidence that you are showing here. You know what you're doing and you do it very well.

Capescrapper said...

I for one this it is great that you are happy with the beautiful photos you take! WAY TO GO!
And Be PROUD!

This West London Life said...

There's no denying that you take great photos, so it's not bragging, it's a fact! Well done on raising money for a good cause.

nancy y said...

Excellent Rinda! Your photos are really great - so you should be proud. Hmmmm, my son's "professional" HS baseball picture has similar qualities LOL
Yeah for the Mom with the good eye!

humel said...

Hun, you darn well should feel proud of these things, good for you! It's so great that you've helped raise so much for good causes, and what you say about the 'professional' photo is absolutely right. A bit of justified pride is better than false humility, and we're pleased to rejoice in your achievements with you xx

scrappyjacky said...

I think you should be proud of your photography...you take great photos....and the one of DS is far better than the 'professional' one.

Denise said...

You should brag, your photos are great,and so are your crafty creations :-)

Cheryl said...

Congrats for sure. You do an amazing job with your photos.

Anonymous said...

Don't apologize. Your photos are great, and there's no comparison between yours and the "professional" one taken. Yours would win any contest!

Beth Norman said...

Congratulations. That was a very nice story. Brag away my friend, brag away.