My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
A simple project I did a few years ago was to take and post an image of a bench each day for a complete month. Every since that exercise my eye has been drawn to benches so I keep adding images to the subject (keyword). With the snowfall and cold we’ve had it is more difficult to get out but some days I just have to get out there. This bench is not as inviting as it is in the warmer seasons but it is one of my favorite subjects.
Chris Orwig mentions in his book Visual Poetry that if we tap into what makes us different, we can begin to find photographs that are uniquely our own. I agree! But, that suggests what makes us different must be important. I feel the deeper I come to understanding myself the more interesting my photography becomes and the clearer my vision.
When I take those walks with my camera I admit I am searching for a photograph. Yet my real purpose is to listen to what’s inside me. What I see and photograph is uniquely mine. Even if I had someone walking with their camera beside me, we each would come back with our own images. Case in point would be the Paul and Tom experience as they walked side-by-side on the streets of New York. What they saw and photographed was uniquely their own.
I am the photographer I am because life’s journey has helped to mold me to be the ‘self’ I am. The images I create are uniquely mine.
In case you may not know, leaves don’t just fall from trees they get booted off. Here is an interesting article on why a tree cuts them loose. The leaves supply food for the tree and once that has ended they will provide a source of food with their decomposition, returning nutrients to the soil. These nutrients can then be taken up by the roots of living plants enabling them to grow and develop.
This leaf did not make it to the forest floor, it landed on one of the boardwalks at Inniswood Gardens. There it will be picked by the winds of nature and dance with other leaves finding it’s place in the vital ecosystem it belongs in. It’s all part of the system.
I parked my rump on a bench along the foot path in Inniswood Gardens to watch the half dozen squirrels in front of me as they scampered along the forest floor in search of food. This time of year you will find them busy searching for and storing nuts and acorns near their dens for the coming winter months. The carpet of leaves has hidden some of their much needed food so their search for food has the feeling of a game. You can hear the rustling of leaves as they stick their noses under the carpet of leaves in search of their treasure then quickly lift their heads and move to the next location as if to say, “Nope, nothing there. Maybe it’s over here.”
Every so often they seem to be playing a game of tag with one another but I soon realize they are being territorial as they chase one another around. Their work at this time of the year is a necessity and feels hurried, yet they seemed to also be having fun and no one gets hurt. I enjoyed watching.
I know this image is not very good but I decided to post it anyway. It is heavily cropped, grainy and not very sharp. So, why post a dud? Because it also reminds me of why I get out to shoot just as much as one of my better images. Paul Lester mentions why he presses the shutter in one of his blogs. He states, “Sometimes I don’t know why I click the shutter, but I just have to. And when that feeling hits, nothing but the click will do.” Man can I relate. I shoot and post images because of the change that occurs in me when I press the shutter. Words like therapy, healing, rejuvenation, quiet time, beauty, getting in touch with nature, getting away from the hustle of city life and pollination. Pollination? Yes, pollination.
Wikipedia defines biotic pollination as the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilization and sexual reproduction. This process of pollination requires pollinators: organisms that carry or move the pollen grains from the anther to the receptive part of the carpel or pistil. Okay, so what does that mean to me?
The birth and growth of my photography is similar to biotic pollination. The pollinators are the scenes found in my viewfinder. When each one of those scenes touches me, I grow as a person, as a photographer. Each time I venture out a scene enticing me to press the shutter will present itself. So, I’m being fertilized by scenes around me.
When I arrived home last night around 10:00 p.m. it was raining cats and dogs, BIG cats and dogs. This morning has presented another gray sky with rain continuing to fall. Rain tapping on my window seems to help me sleep, so I had a good nights sleep. In contrast to the amount of rain I do not seem to have many words this morning. As for an image to post I grabbed this one. I encountered this little one last week at Inniswood Gardens.
Thanks for the comments to yesterday’s post. I loved Steve’s answer! Not sure about any of you but even half the $2000 would be wonderful. I hope everyone has a super day!!
A simple flower, right? Scientifically we know it is a complicated living organism. I do not need to know, nor explain, all the complicated stuff about this flower so see it’s beauty. I can just open my eyes and enjoy with as many of me senses as I can. Why do we not live life like that? There are many who add complication to their lives with the mind set we must control life. Doesn’t work for me. What works for me is to live the day as it is, enjoy it and I will find it is not complicated. When tomorrow comes I will do it again and enjoy it. It’s pretty simple.
It is almost the end of June and many of the cone flowers have almost come to the end of their season. Their petals and stamens are not a perfect due to rain, hail and wind. Yet, I wanted an image of one of my favorite flowers, so what could I come up with? I walked among and around this clump looking for a flower that was in good enough shape to photograph. None to be found. As I walked around the back side of this fence I had an idea (those do happen once in awhile.) I thought I would focus on the fence and leave the cone flowers out of focus. A different view…of one of my favorite flowers.
Out for a morning stroll. He’s a bit shy, in case you hadn’t noticed, as he made sure to stay close to the plants. After a hard rain the night before there is a wonder in the air the next morning. Don’t know about you but the freshness that is around us when walking among nature after a rain sure can perk up my senses. A smile comes to my face, well maybe a smirk. Wonder if it’s the same for the turtle. Do you think he’s smiling or smirking?
I could hear the frogs croaking along Frog Pond. I could smell the moisture and rain. I could feel the dampness in the air and in my clothes. For eye candy I had rain droplets hanging from leaves and flower petals. There were sun beams breaking through the trees. All these make for a good morning stroll.
After a night of rain a blue sky and bright sun greeted us in the morning. We had several inches of rain and some strong winds. I headed for Inniswood Gardens in search of images as well as spending this wonderful morning among nature. In my mind was a vision of raindrops hanging from leaves and flowers, so with camera and tripod off I went. After a couple of hours wandering around I did get few images of raindrops. However, I was not expecting to find these wonderful beams of sunlight coming through the trees.