A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words - By Gloria Guest

Star Flower

I didn’t grow up around cameras and pictures as a camera was beyond what my parents could afford. In fact I recall having to return all of our earliest school pictures that they couldn't afford, knowing that they were going in the trash. Perhaps that is why pictures have become so important to me.

My first memory of a camera involves my grandmother coming for a visit when I was six years old. Along with all of her other magical qualities, like the ability to produce quarters and treats from her purse at any given moment she possessed this small black device that when she took our picture with it, would within a few minutes, produce a picture for us all to see. Magic!

Photo taken with Grandma's Magic Camera

Prairie Boys - favorite picture of  my sons

When I had my own children I was determined to take as many pictures as possible so after our first son was born we bought a good camera and I snapped pictures to my heart’s content.  The overflowing boxes and boxes of pictures, a problem before digital cameras, are a testament of that. At one time I tried to deal with the overflow by becoming a consultant for Creative Memories; a scrapbooking company that sold and taught classes on the safe storage and sharing of photographs. It was fun and creative but I didn’t make much of a dent in my own overflow of pictures. However this blog post is a nudge to add this to my list of projects for this coming winter.

Capturing the moments

Priceless Expression

I love taking pictures of people; capturing just the right pose or expression. It is like being given a small glimpse into the soul. While working for newspapers I had many opportunities to take photos of people. From school and community events to political rallies and even some national events it was always a challenge to get just the right shot. Often dozens of pictures were snapped just for ‘that one’ that stood out. Of course with digital camera’s the task became much easier and convenient.

Photo by Gloria Guest - Times Reporter

A few highlights of my picture taking days are:

-taking pictures of the Snow Birds; an aerial team based out of moose jaw. I had the thrill of taking pictures of the Snow Birds on numerous occasions as they dipped and soared through the skies mesmerizing the crowds below. It was a particular highlight when I was invited to go up on top of the tower on the base as they came in and landed from their final show of the season.

-trying to get the perfect shot of Prince Charles visit to Assiniboia and the sod turning at the Prince of Wales Center. Hundreds of shots were taken that day but my favorite is a simple one of a small girl handing him some prairie crocuses.

-anytime I had the opportunity to photograph children was always a favorite. Their eagerness and ready smiles and natural ability in front of the camera made my job easy and fun.

There are really far too many highlights to count and I will cherish those days and all that I learned. I also had the opportunity to work at a Photography Studio in reception/production for a year. Here I was given the opportunity to work alongside the photographer in his natural light studio and also went on location. I helped take thousands of school and community activity photographs, learning about lighting and angles and how to create a relaxing, fun atmosphere. I helped customers choose their precious family portraits and watched as their faces lit up when they were pleased with the results. It was one of the happiest environments to work in. Who doesn’t smile when they see a good picture of themselves or someone that they love?

I also enjoy taking pictures of nature and animals and of course my beloved cats. For me, taking a picture is something I do for many reasons

My son out checking cattle

-it is an instant capture of the particular memory I want to keep and in one glance and I’m back there re-living the memory.

-I love to sit and go through my photos and reminisce. Pictures are one of the things people try to get out of their house during a fire; and I’ve seen photo albums at the bedside of the terminally ill.

-Sometimes, even though I’m a writer, the words just won’t come; but a picture still can. Perhaps that will always be the only way I capture something or perhaps by looking at it later, the words will come too.

-Pictures and words go together, hand in hand. At the paper we almost always tried to include a picture with an article.

-Pictures can serve as a historical record for ourselves and future generations. It is fascinating and eye opening to look back on the old black and white photographs that our ancestors took and try to imagine what they were like and the lives that they lived.

-Sometimes just as the famous quote attributed to various people, but quoted also by the editor Tess Flanders in 1911 when discussing journalism and publishing, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

I hope you snap lots of pictures in your lifetime and I hope you enjoy a few of my favorites that I’ve posted here.

Cast Your Words - Gloria Guest

I have had many opportunities to minister through my writing for which I am very grateful, although I truly think that in the end, I was the one most ministered to.

One of my favorite parts of being a reporter was the fact that on a daily basis I was able to interact with the public in ways that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to and allowed a door into their world of which I always felt so awkwardly grateful; like a stranger showing up on their doorstep and yet being warmly welcomed into their innermost lives. I took it for the gift that it was and always tried to listen more than I talked so as to best be able to retell their stories to others.
Some of the more poignant that come to mind:
Sitting with a war veteran who was present on D-Day as he bravely retold his experience and quietly shifting perspective to his wife’s version when he could no longer go on.
Being on scene near Mossbank Saskatchewan after two Snowbird Pilots had a collision in mid-air and then a few years later speaking with the deceased pilot's young widow when she unveiled a painting in his honour at Moose Jaw.
Interviewing the father of a young man shot and killed in the halls of his own high school in Alberta; listening to his grief and feeling awed and humbled at how his message of forgiveness was even stronger than his grief.
All of those moments and others felt holy in a sense.
I then went back to my desk and tried my best to put such heartfelt thoughts into words for the newspapers’ readers. I wanted to make them feel even a measure of what I had felt listening to these stories, but quite honestly I don’t think I ever did it justice. Thus is the life of a writer; we feel so deeply either our own stories or those of others, but then comes the committing of it to paper and sometimes it seems as if there are no words adequate enough; to really bring to life what we could sense in the heart. But still it is what we do and what we strive for.  What I strive for. It is a sort of casting out of our words in the hopes that they will reach someone, like a message in a bottle and help them in some way. One of my favorite poetic verses is; ‘Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.’  Eccl:11:1.  As writers let’s continue to cast out our stumbling, inadequate words out upon the waters of God’s grace and in faith believe that He will use them in some way to minister to others.