#10 - Christmas Memories - The Twelve Photos of Christmas Past

 Pictures as Presents

A friend receiving a poignant gift

We met up with some friends during Christmas for a gift exchange.  The rule was simple, you had to make the item with your hands and couldn't spend more than $5.  I was hoping to use my photography and framing skills to make my contribution.  The question was, did I have any relevant photos that would mean something to my recipient?

I have taken many thousands of photos over the years.  Tens of thousands.  Hundreds of thousands.  Maybe even millions.  Of those, I have people pictures, wildlife photos, and landscapes that might be acceptable.  However, after finding out who I was giving to, I realized I had just the perfect shot.  It was of her, with her dog, in a moment of bonding, with both showing elation (if a dog can do that).  

I printed the photo on a colour inkjet printer using photo paper, built a frame in my shop, and cut the mat for it.  I don't know what the cost was, but I am pretty sure that it was less than $5.  I used scrap wood, a scrap piece of mat, and a single sheet of photo paper.  It was personal, meaningful, and altogether perfect.  She will love it.

On the day of the gift exchange we had a good time opening gifts, reading poems (another requirement of the day), and enjoying the company and food.  The recipient of my gift was elated and proudly hung the photo at work.  Many years later, her dog now gone, she still has the print, and it is even more precious to her now than when she got it.

This taught me something.  Photos can be a great gift.  But the image(s) should be meaningful to the person getting it (them) and appropriate.  I have used this concept on numerous occasions and have always gotten a positive response.  I use this guideline whenever giving photos as a present, usually including a frame and mat of some form.  It's hard to go wrong.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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