Some images just do not need words.
A Good Book to Read?
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Your Pants Will Dry
Wet Seat It’s always best to check the seat before you sit down after it has rained. I say that not because I’ve heard that before but with the voice of experience and admittedly more than once. We only attain the voice experience from our trials and errors. This is so true with our photography. It reminds me of Ray Ketchams’s post where a spark of an idea and a little bit of action allowed him to light up the forest in an unusual way. He makes a couple of powerful statements in his post: “Fail, fail and fail, no one ever learned anything by only knowing success” and “When it comes to an idea or a photograph don’t ask someone else what it will look like, go out and try it.” So go ahead and try, your pants will dry.
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Taking Action
Shadows and WIndows Chase Jarvis interrupted me the other day. I was happily checking my google reader when I found this post. My answer to his question was: nothing. Well, actually I was sitting on my tush. I looked outside to ponder his question and saw I had maybe an hours worth of sunlight. What was I doing here? I’m not taking photos, that’s for sure. So, I put on my shoes and jacket, grabbed the camera and went for a walk. And, what did I find?
The sky was a clear blue and long shadows were starting to stretch across the parking lot. It was cold but that didn’t seem to matter. I actually came up with 4 decent images. What was most important was that I took action to take those images. If I’d stayed at the computer I would not have seen these gifts of sunlight and shadows nor would I have had the opportunity to photograph them. Shooting is what we love. How often do we find something else to do instead of shoot?
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I can wait, maybe…
Lamp and Shadows Here’s my story. So, I leave the coffee shop after a small mocha latte and a half cup of coffee. I knew I should use the restroom before I leave but because I was in a hurry I decided against it. (Did you notice all the “I’s” in that sentence? Sometimes it’s not such a good idea to listen to a caffeinated person.) Anyway, traffic back to the apartment was no problem but the beautiful sunshine was. I walk into the apartment and discovered the room filled with bright sunlight. Now we’ve just had gray skies and rain for the last 2 days so I am a bit excited. All I can see is the sunlight coming in on the lamp and casting its shadow on the wall. I tell myself I can wait! I imagine it was comical to watch me dance in the middle of the living room, grabbing my camera out of my bag and firing off a dozen shots and chimping to make sure there are not blown highlights. Got it! I put the camera down and off the to restroom I go. Oh, the decisions a photographer makes when good light appears. Anyone else have to make tough decisions like that?
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Nice bokeh
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No Matter the Brand
Winter Berries This is a wonderful quote, “So stop worrying about which brand is best — and start using your camera to find out what life is like on the other side of the shutter.” It can be found in this post from Black Star Rising.
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Don't Worry, Be Creative
Sea shell on the beach “Worrying about doing something new ends up stunting creative growth. Being creative does NOT require doing something new. It requires doing something that is authentically your real personal and true vision. If you take away anything from this blog post, I hope it’s that.” Scott Bourne
What a powerful post Scott wrote for me, sort of like a personal letter. There are several nuggets in his post, I posted one of them a couple days ago. My history has included a lot of worry. As I’ve aged in years and have a few more experiences under my belt, those worries are far less frequent. I no longer work in engineering because I do not want to wake up in the middle of the night worrying about a problem that needs solved. In fact I could have used his quote back then. It nice to live the day as it unfolds before us and not struggle to make it way we want it. When I live the moment I can be more creative. Walking the beach for me is nothing new, done it a few times and love it. I’ll do it again, living the moment and see what creative juices flow without worries.