Do you have those places, places where you are so often and where you are so comfortable, that you just don’t think to photograph them? Sure, you’ll be sure to grab shots of people in those places or maybe events that are happening there, but to really document those places? It’s hard. It’s the stuff that we see everyday that doesn’t seem pretty, that doesn’t seem that it may be necessarily “worthy” of being photographed. I often feel this way in my home. My 365s are full of images of my children, and before them it was images of my dog. The things I have in my house and the house itself are fine; they’re things that I like, but they aren’t things I turn to photograph often, if ever.

It’s the same way with my family’s cabin. It’s someplace that I’ve been going to since I was tiny.

Its decor is an acquired taste – haphazard and completely random – there are tastes of my siblings, of my parents and of my grandparents. A legacy left in the cupboards and on the walls. I’ve made a conscious effort to try, I really have, to photograph the cabin. It’s a place that is definitely unique and so particular to our family. It’s also something that may not be around and ours forever. I need to do better at this. It’s my little project for the summer – to really get and preserve a visual record of this place that we all love so much.

There are certainly those who really excel at this kind of shooting. In fact, I’d cite just about every one of my fellow ViewFinders as those who can really stop and see the little details around them well. It’s something I’m always trying to improve and to be sure that I incorporate as a regular part of my daily shooting. How do you document the little details of your more ordinary spaces? Is there a particular game-plan that you follow, or do you follow your heart’s lead?

All the best,
Alison