My sister (the youngest one) is a photographer, a rather awesome one at that*. She takes amazing pictures and has an ability to edit them into something even better. She has this great eye for getting the best out of anything and it’s not just limited to photography – she’s the kind of person can work a weird jumble of unrelated bits and pieces into a fantastic sideboard setting. I call it the beauty gene, the ability to see potential, to turn junk into something beautiful.
I totally don’t have that gene.
I desperately wish I could take good pictures but always get disappointed when what I see with my eyes isn’t what the camera picks up. I like to blame that on my lack of a decent camera since our good one bit the dust a while back but I really think it’s just me lacking the ability to see beauty through the lens. I totally lack the ability to upcycle, much as I would dearly love to because I look at junk and just see junk instead of doing as my sister does and finding the possibility of beauty in everything. I don’t shop vintage because I don’t see the point in having mismatched dishes despite being slightly in love with vintage china and, regardless of being (on the whole) eco-friendly and environmentally conscious, I can’t stand the thought of having things that somebody else has sweated on unless I can boil or bleach the germs right out of it. I have a toddler and he brings home enough germs for the whole family thank you very much!
I look around at my house, decorated in the style of ‘early 3 year old’ and have to sigh. Even if I wanted to tidy the assorted messes, find out what really lives under our couch and start with a clear sideboard there is no way I’d be able to style my home like all the pictures. I just don’t have the eye for it, and, for the most part I‘m ok with that – after all, I have a sister who can help. 
Can you create beauty? (link me to your efforts) Or are you more like me? Be honest because, c’mon, I can’t be the only one who sees all these gorgeous pictures of bunting and artfully arranged sideboards, breakfast bars and nooks only to think “ooh pretty” followed very quickly by “bet it will be a total dust trap”.
See… practical (but still awesome).
*Klee Photography – Gold Coast based but works all over the world & she’s just started blogging some of her non-wedding shoots too so if you’re a fan of beautiful photos visit here.
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Yep I’m a bit like you
I’d love to take great photos but what can I say, I’m lazy and can’t be bothered learning how. Just point and shoot I say!
Janet recently posted..Jacked off about Jackets
I have a bad habbit of taking photos in burst mode so I have 100 photos to get one good one – it works for me but can take hours of sorting. With my sister a photographer and FIL a photographer I don’t think I could be bothered learning – leave it to the professionals.
not creative at all.. my house is a mixture of ikea and 2nd hand.. but not nice 2hand that you go wow where’d you get that.. stuff that people have given us when we first moved back to Australia.. I don’t take good photos.. I have a fancy camera (given from my sister who’s a photographer) and i get confused at all the buttons and focusing things.. wish I knew how to use it though!
Yvette @ Little Bento Blog recently posted..Easter Inspired Sandwiches for Lunch
We don’t have much 2nd hand but our expensively outfitted UK apartment is a long way away from where we are now so I totally hear you there. I keep saying to TheGamer that we should buy a decent DSLR but as he keeps reminding me, what use do we really have for a camera that really requires you to do a course to learn how to use it?
Having a great camera has a little to do with great shots, but certainly you need to be able to see the picture in your mind, and compose it as such. You could get your camera cleaned at a specialist optical shop, I just had mine done when it had a speck on all pictures. It was incredibly frustrating! I had a look at your sisters, blog, I love the crispness of her close ups. Gorgeous!
I think it might be worth getting it cleaned. It’s old though (7/8 years) and I’m not sure we’d cart it around… might just wait until we travel next and buy a nice new one.
I’m only creative with words – and even then it can be a battle. We all have our strengths, it’s just a shame some pay better than others
Em x
Emily @ Have a laugh on me recently posted..Why it pays to have a spare pair of knickers/clothes in the car – Wordless Wednesday
I have two sisters and we all have such different strengths, she’s the only really creative one though. I wish I had a passion I could turn into work but there really isn’t anything!
I am terrible at photos, exactly the same as you, I think it will make a great photo and then – it really doesn’t. I don’t have the patience to wait for the right light and all that stuff, I just point, shoot and hope for the best. At least now we can edit them a bit to make them a bit better though.
I also have interior design by a toddler. Chipped walls and dirty finger marks are very de rigour you know!!
rhian @melbs recently posted..Blogging on the Bears Birthday
glad to know that my design style is right on the pulse of the nation after all
I’ve decided that the key to taking good photos is learning photoshop but even that requires the ability to see promise in the raw materials… I’m doomed to be rubbish at it.
I would love to be like that and actually think I am getting better – but the children and husband I live with don’t repsect what I do so its hard. Small changes step by step are the key!
Annaleis from Teapots and Tractors recently posted..Swimming NOT on the step
I think some of it comes down to the fact that she’s immersed in that world every day, it makes it easier for her to pick up on the hidden beauty of things. The more you do the easier it will get
I am hit and miss kind of photographer I’d love to learn the manual settings but I don’t put in the effort.
Trish recently posted..Thankful ~ Out of the mouths of little boys
I can’t decide if learning the manual settings are worth it – mostly I take photos of my son or arms length photos of the two of us together. I’ve always said that if I had money I’d go on holiday and pay someone else to take out fmaily snaps so we could get one of the three of us in the same frame!
I am a bit creative…but I’m never happy with what I create. I always look at other people’s styling of homes or whatever and think wow, I could never do that. I’m looking forward to decorating our new home…hopefully I won’t stuff it up!
Cathy recently posted..Flashback Friday – Debbie v Britney
Whenever something I do turns out good I’m crazy proud of it but the failures just make me sad. Good luck with the new home, I’m sure you will be fine.
Well, I am like you, not so much a visual person and don’t see myself as creative. Actually I say that but I’ve always taken a zillion photos and some are fine… not arty or beautiful but OK. I’d love to do a photography course one day.
Anyway, blogging has definitely opened my eyes to many potentials and I have become more arty and crafty cos of the posts that have handheld me through it.
Lots of hand holding, and loads of inspiration too. Off to see your sister’s photos. Lovely to meet you via FYBF.
Sydney, Kids, Food + Travel recently posted..UPDATED! Baby and Child-Friendly Cinemas in Sydney
Pinterest and the blogs I’ve found on it have been a great inspiration for getting ideas but it’s completing them I’m not so good at.
Kyla recently posted..Practical
I love that lived in, eclectic look and I do it, except these days everything has a coating of biscuit crumbs, with a few toys thrown in for good measure. I’d love to be able to do this with my outfits. Always feel un-styley!
Yeah I totally have ‘mum style’ going on these days I need a wardrobe makeover
oh my gosh, do NOT look under my couch!
I don’t photograph particularly well, but everything looks better with a fancy camera! I owe it all my success.
veggie mama recently posted..Meatless Monday – the secret to vegetarian leftover laksa
Hubby had to clear out under ours yesterday to find a toy that had rolled under it and found a juice bottle and puddle of juice that looked like it had been there for months. So gross.
I know what you mean about the beauty gene. My sister got that one too. She’s crafty, in the good way, can op shop successfully and present both herself and her world in style. I got the smart arse gene which just doesn’t seem quite as useful on the whole
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