The greatest of human discoveries in the future will be the discovery of human intimacy with all those other modes of being that live with us on this planet, inspire our art and literature, reveal that numinous world whence all things come into being, and with which we exchange the very substance of life.
Thomas Berry
A host of thoughts can run through my head while standing before this pre-dawn scene as I worked at capturing the image. This image is a panorama of 7 images using Lightroom Classic. I wanted the whole cloud bank in the image and my 16mm lens wasn’t wide enough so I decided to try a panorama. It works on this blog but not for printing purposes. When I came home and saw this panoramic image on my monitor my thoughts shifted from the craft of the image to the scene itself. It’s easy to look at this open field, even to the distant horizon, and see it as something separate from me. I’m here, it’s there. But that’s just not true. There is a multitude of ecosystems comprising this image and the world. Maybe that’s what makes this scene so appealing and beautiful to me. Because as Berry suggests there are other modes of being: birds of all sorts, insects, animals, the plants and of course, humans. For me the future of discovery Berry is talking about is happening now.
4 Comments
Tom Dills
I need to do more panoramas myself, because as you say the widest lens doesn’t always capture the whole scene. This is a very nice depiction of a beautiful landscape.
Monte Stevens
Thanks, Tom. I was not sure how this would turn out since the PD tripod is not designed to make panoramas. I’ll use it when I feel the inspiration calls for it.
Mark
It is a seemingly quiet and peaceful scene, though the modes of being referenced tells us there is a flurry of activity happening out there. Then you wonder, can I accept it as stillness AND energetic? Perhaps!
Monte Stevens
Thank you for your input, Mark. I love what you offer. I like your word “energetic” to depict all that is going on in that vast scene. Violence is happening to one species on a continuous basis for the survival of another species. Those plants are not just swaying in the wind but constantly growing and changing. There’s a whole lot going on that flurry of activity. Your input has put a bit more thought into this scene for me this morning.