Many of us are sure to grab the digital cameras for obvious social events such as weddings, vacations and birthday parties. When September rolls around every year, you’ll find me taking photos at a different kind of social gathering: a Rutgers football game.

No, I don’t have a side job as a sports photographer (although I admit, taking photos for a living sounds interesting!) I’m just a fan taking pictures for the fun of it. Ever since I graduated from Rutgers University, my husband and I have had season tickets to the Rutgers football games. Although the football team has improved remarkably over the past few years, there were some “lean” times when the team rarely won any games. But the team’s losing record didn’t matter to us because we had so much fun tailgating with our group of friends.

We’re the crazy fans who start tailgating at the crack of dawn on gameday and are never deterred by bad weather. As we drink, eat and chat, I enjoy taking photos of everything going on: my husband Dan, manning his post at the grill; our friend Lou, who we call The Mayor, schmoozing with the players’ families; and fans clapping along to the marching band as they play the school fight song. I mostly shoot candid photos of the festive atmosphere but I also capture some memorable posed photos. Our friends actually used one of the digital photos I took for their family holiday photo cards one year!

After the game, the digital photos are posted online for all to see and enjoy. That’s one of the great things about digital pictures – they’re easy to share! The online photo album immortalizes so many of the fun moments we’ve had at the football games. A few of us regularly take pictures on gameday so we’ve amassed quite a collection of digital photos over the years. It’s especially entertaining to look back at the digital pictures taken years ago to recall the great memories and appreciate the special little community we’ve created with our football pals.

Is it football season yet?!

I love taking photos for my photo holiday cards, but the problem is getting the photos developed! I’m not quite up to speed with digital cameras, so I haven’t yet taken advantage of the instant gratification that digital photos can give you. Recently I took four disposable cameras that had been sitting on my dresser for several years to be developed, not really knowing what was on them. Were they vacation photos? Holiday photos? Photos of my cats? Who knows! I did not take the disposable cameras all at once though, as that would not be like me. I took one at a time and each time I picked up the one set of pictures, I would drop off another one to be developed. It turns out that any normal person probably would have been anxious to get at least one set of photos back quickly; they were my son’s wedding photos from September of 2006!

Actually, after getting the photos developed, I was very happy I did. Two rolls were from Christmas 2006 and 2007 at my son’s new home, with both sides of the new families in attendance. My daughter-in-law was very nervous having everyone over for the first time in their new marriage. The get-together was such a great success that we decided to do it again in 2007. I had promised to send her duplicate photos of both holidays, which I eventually did. I was better off not sending them to her at all though because she had forgotten my promise. When I finally sent her the belated Christmas photos, I got in trouble with her for not sending them sooner (not as much trouble as I got into for forgetting their first anniversary, but that is another story)!

The fourth roll contained photos of a fostered cat that I had to give up to an animal hospice due to serious illnesses. She died soon after I left her there. I was so happy when I realized I had those pictures of my lost friend Callie. I will never forget her and the photos are a special reminder of her.

Have I learned my lesson about developing photos belatedly? Yes, I treasure them even more once I get them developed, no matter how late, because they are fond memories of the past that were not quite vividly remembered until the photos were viewed. And when I go to my friend’s son’s pre-school graduation this May, I probably won’t get those photos developed until he goes to high school so she and I can have a good cry over how cute he was back then!

Digital cameras are a wonderful thing. Picture the stack of Christmas photo cards you receive each year. Ever stop to wonder how long it took to get the shot that wound up on your best friend’s photo card? The kids are perfectly posed, looking at the camera, smiling brightly. The only question is whether it took 50 or 100 tries. It’s an open secret…photographing people presents its challenges!

When I was a kid, there were no digital cameras. My family didn’t even have a 35mm camera; It was Polaroid all the way. I can still remember the flash sticks and shaking out each print so it would develop faster. A look through our family photo album shows lots of photos that could’ve been better, but somehow, I don’t think it was cost-effective to try and try again. This would explain why there are family photos of me, at age three, baring all of my teeth in a horrific grin, eyes squinted closed, trying my best to follow directions when my mom or dad said “Smile!” There is an old saying that each time someone takes your picture, they steal a piece of your soul. I wonder what pieces were stolen with photos like that!

Photographing people, be it toddlers, teens, or your grandparents, is a lot easier without having to worry about wasting film. Well, maybe “easier” isn’t the right word. The more people you put into your photo, the harder it gets. One person is smiling; the other is talking. Your mother is looking at some other person with a camera and your brother’s eyes are closed. Your wallet isn’t being hurt by wasted film anymore, but your patience may take a hit.

When taking pictures, breathe deep, and work for that shot. It will come. Those photo holiday cards you got in the mail last winter are proof. And, in this age of computers and online photo albums, the bloopers can be stored for all eternity, too!