Workspace and Workflow

It was a cold day as it had been for the past several days. Even the water bottles I left in the back of my car were frozen. This was a good morning for me to sleep in. Saturdays can be very busy or relaxed for me. There are times when I have an event or project to go to on Saturdays. Some Saturdays I am content to stay home, get more sleep, catch up on housework or going through mail and other papers. In the afternoon I went to my parents house and then I drove my mother to the office supply store. On the way to the store's entrance I saw water that had flowed out of a faucet and froze. I took a photo of it to remind me just how cold it was outside...and it looked cool too.


My mother wanted to get my father a small desk so he could work on his laptop on it. My father has places to work, but doesn't use them, and so his workspace isn't very traditional. We figured he didn't really need a new desk, but he just needed to use what he already has. My mother is taking a basic computer graphics course and she wanted some software that would allow her to put graphics in her documents or include them in an email. We looked at what was offered and settled on this 950,000 clip art collection which also included photos, borders, and fonts. My mother also wanted a chair for her desk where her laptop computer rests, so we got her a nice chair. Comfort is important.

We got back to my parents house and I put the chair together and installed the software. It felt good to put things together and install new software. My mother is still a novice with the computer and cyberspace, but she's trying to learn. She's good at creating a nice workspace environment to work in and she wants the same for my father. My mother showed me the Valentines Day card that I made for her last year and she wanted to be able to make cards too. I also showed her how to download photos from her camera and organize her photos by naming them and organizing them in folders. It's important to have some kind of system of photography workflow, and it should be consistent. She also wanted an email account so she can access email on the internet, so I helped her set up an internet email account. It's easy to take for granted how much some of us know about computers and the internet and how others don't know much about it.

These days it seems that most people are proficient with computers and at least the basics of using a camera and working with photos. Sometimes people miss, bypass, or overlook these basics. My mother was thankful that I helped her and she tried to write down all the things I was telling her, and I explained what I could, but there was still so much more to cover. All this showed the importance of getting training in these areas and I almost felt like I had to write a little book on these basics for my mother. There are a lot of good books and other resources out there...we just need to take the time to get it and put it to use.

The opening inaugural ceremony for President-elect Barak Obama will be at the Lincoln Memorial in DC starting at 2:30pm (EST) on Sunday January 18. The event called We Are One will have an all-star lineup. What a great photo opportunity. I hope to make it out there to physically be a part of this historical moment.