May is National Photograph Month.  Photography has really changed over the past decade because of digital photography.  The first digital camera was created in 1975 by an engineer at Eastman Kodak named Steve Sasson.  Digital cameras were added to cell phones around 2007.  What used to cost thousands of dollars in camera equipment to create, a great photograph can now be captured for a few hundred dollars. 

Personally, I have been a professional photographer for fourteen years and have seen a dramatic change in photography just in those few short years.  With the cost of digital camera equipment being so affordable now, almost anyone can become an avid photographer.  Anyone can capture a huge collection of digital images anywhere and anytime.  What I find is that, with digital images being so easy to capture, few people actually print out photographs these days.  We admire the images on our cell phones and digital cameras, share some of them on social media and never actually print any photographs. 

Whenever I teach photography classes or speak to groups about photography, I encourage people to download their images, make a CD/DVD backup of them and print any favorites.  Since many people use tablets or their cell phones now instead of desktop or laptop computers, images can be uploaded to the cloud with Google Drive, iCloud, etc.  You can even take your camera and SD card to Wal-Mart, Walgreen or CVS and get your digital images put on a CD/DVD for a hard copy backup.  Keep these CD/DVD backups just like we used to keep negatives in the film days.  You can always go back and print photos later from these backups.  Having your images backed up will keep you from losing important images that you can never recover like your daughter’s dance recital when your cell phone gets dropped and broken.  Without proper backups, I see a whole generation of digital images being lost and children or grandchildren who may never know what their family looked like, so be sure to put a priority on digital backups.  Have fun taking lots of photos, back them up to the cloud or CD/DVD storage and Happy National Photography month!

Here are some events and calendar items to take note of this week:  The Leeds Lions Club will meet at 1 p.m. today, May 3 at the Leeds Masonic Lodge building.  For more information, please contact T. V. Weaver at 205-699-6742.

The Leeds Masonic Lodge Community Breakfast is scheduled for 8 a.m. this Saturday, May 5.  Breakfast is free, but donations are appreciated and used for Leeds community involvement programs.  For more information, please contact T. V. Weaver at 205-699-6742.

Please don’t forget the free Shred-It Event this Saturday, May 5 at the Leeds Jane Culbreth Library hosted by the City of Leeds.  This is your opportunity to bring your boxes of old documents that you would like to be shredded to the library between the hours of 8 a.m. and Noon.

                  Bruce Watford will be the Leeds Arts Council Featured Artist for May.  The public is invited to the opening reception this Sunday, May 6 from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. to view his incredible work.  Admission is free.  Mr. Watford’s art will be on exhibit through Jun. 1 at the Leeds Theatre and Arts Center.  You may view examples of his work at www. Facebook.com/artbybrucewatford.  For more information, please call 205-699-1892.

Earthborn Pottery will host its Spring Open House & Mid-Season Blue Light Special Sale on Monday, May 7 from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. located at 7575 Parkway Drive in Leeds.  They will collaborate with The WellHouse on an Empty Bowl Project.  This is a great opportunity for the community to come together and proceeds will go directly to benefit The WellHouse, which provides rescue and helps for victims of human trafficking.  For more information, please visit www.earthbornpottery.net.

The Moody Kid Quilts Group is scheduled to meet Monday and Tuesday, May 7-8 at Moody City Hall to make kids quilts for Children’s Hospital distribution.  Bring your sewing machine, ironing board, fabric and supplies to make beautiful quilts with this team.  For more information, please contact Clydene Dyer at 205-515-4751 or Barbara Willingham at 205-400-4560.

LadyBUGS, the Leeds/Moody Professional Women’s Business Group, will host their monthly luncheon meeting at Noon on Tuesday, May 8 at The Livery Event Center.  Lunch is $10 and RSVP to anneglidewell@yahoo.com.

The Central Parliamentary Unit is scheduled to meet at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 9 in Leeds First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall.  Please contact Grady Sue Saxon at 205-699-2440 for more information.

The MACC Gubernatorial Forum will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 10 at Moody Civic Center.  This political forum is hosted by the Moody Area Chamber of Commerce.  All Alabama Gubernatorial Candidates have been invited and many have confirmed to be there.  This will be a great opportunity to meet and hear from each candidate.  Lunch is $12 and RSVP is required.  You may also reserve a table for $50, which includes 4 lunch reservations plus your company’s advertisement on a scrolling PowerPoint at this event.  Please contact Andrea Machen, MACC Executive Director, at 205-640-6262 or chamber@moodyalabama.gov.

Mum & Me Mercantile, LLC on the Parkway will host a Mother’s Day weekend of fun May 11-12 with artists and 900 Degrees food truck.  Lots of festivities are planned.  Also, if you are looking for a special gift for Mother’s Day, please stop in to browse.  Mum & Me has a huge inventory of unique gifts so you will be sure to find the right one for your Mom.  Please visit their Facebook event for more information and check out their website at www. MumAndMeMercantile.com.

The Leeds Arts Council will host the annual Leeds Community Chorus event at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 12.  The Leeds Community Chorus is a diverse group of singers, not only from the Leeds area, but from surrounding cities and counties.  This group comes together every year to study and rehearse various choral scores, which culminates in a spring concert at Leeds Theatre & Arts Center.  The music they study is varied and ranges from classical to rock and popular selections.  They find that their audiences really like pop selections and have chosen a theme this year that will really appeal – “Elvis is in the House”.  The program will include performances by the chorus of Elvis’ greatest hits such as “Don’t be Cruel”, “Love Me Tender”, “Jail House Rock” and others.  To round out and complete the theme, a popular Elvis tribute artist, Terry Pageant, will make a guest appearance.  Everyone is encouraged to attend for a great evening together.  Tickets are $10 each.  For more information, please visit www. LeedsArtsCouncil.org or call 205-699-1892.

Little Cahaba Running Club and Rails & Ales will host the 1st Annual 5K Scholarship Fun Run at 9 a.m. on May 12.  This first annual 5k and fun run will start and finish at Rails & Ales in downtown Leeds. It will not be chip timed, but will be clocked and prizes will be awarded the top male and female finisher.  All participants will receive a race t-shirt and a free craft beer (or can beer or glass of wine) from Rails & Ales after the race.  All proceeds will provide scholarships that allow deserving Leeds Middle School students to attend the annual Washington DC trip in the spring.  Come sweat a little, recreate and help a few young folks who normally wouldn’t get the opportunity to see the country’s capitol.  Register online:  https://bit.ly/2uZdHrJ

Thought for the Week:  “Be selective in your battles, for sometimes peace is better than being right.” ~Unknown

 I truly appreciate each of you who read my column and I really love sharing news so please send your Leeds and Moody news to me at leedsmoodynews@gmail.com.