Here you will find an image that I spoke of in a blog post a short bit ago Losing the Red ...the one where I mentioned the blooming Blue Bells. Above is the finished dissected from the whole, cropped adjusted, clean up (photography speak for photoshopped) one that I present to you. Isn't that a lovely word... present. Like a gift.
As mentioned before, this image is one that I was 'compelled' to find while passing through where my home is and finding my favorite flower, the Virginia Bluebell in bloom. Mentioned before in another past post (Little Blue Smiles 2014), here it is again and I am happy to share.
It is a perfect example of finding the gem, the little thing, the part of the whole that will speak to your eye. I believe this act is part your natural vision in what appeals to you and part in training, to be able to look for and recognize something out there that works for you. When I first saw these, I started a visual scan, partly with a 'vision' in my mind of what was 'looking for' and part to see what would 'catch' my eye. I drove past a few areas where these we sprouting, while trying to keep an eye on the road, but was also looking for areas where the light was 'right' as after all, that is what photography is all about...light... and when I came up through the woods out of the little town of Salford across the creek, I spotted this roadside patch with the garden shed, found a safe(er) spot to pull off and made a go of it.
These flowers to me are hard to shoot as they are so delicate, they droop and separate, turn brown quickly and have a scattered form and I have to usually really work with them if I am to be even somewhat satisfied. Getting down onto the ground with this bunch, I liked the way the light that was filtering around these blooms contrasted with the dark wood and stone of the shed. Using only my iphone 5s, I made a few "exposures", as you can only do so much with it, but came away happy.
As I mentioned in the other post, as with most images, it is a small part of a larger scene and like a painter, it is fun and challenging to select what you want to 'see' and 'present' out of the whole. Below is an image showing just that, the unadulterated area complete with a trash pile behind the building, an old archers target, road side gravel, red drinking cup, etc... all of it in view and minimized or excluded from the chosen angle, etc... Rarely does a spot offer such beauty that one would gasp upon encountering it. These are usually areas found in National parks or refuges that are specifically designed to protect and highlight such beauty. Everyone knows them and when I have been to them, it seems everyone else is there too. The images are 'preset'. almost like a wonderful sunset, which is so striking that to take a great photo of it, one could do it blindly. When in such circumstances, I try and find something unique, something personal to me to capture, making it an experience that only I have partaken in. It is almost like seeing qualities of beauty of a person that no one else seems to recognize, but you alone...those hidden, little things that quietly speak to your heart somehow. It is a special and isolated experience. Finding that same individual vision that you alone can see around you and capturing it into a lens where it can be shared is also a very special thing for me. Something that enlivens the shooter when someone else 'get's it' and in the process they share a connection. I had always found it fascinating when participating in photographic workshops, how completely varied ones view point and 'eye' could be, even when standing right next to each other. Maybe the image above when it resonates with the viewer, it brings with it a memory of some other place and time or experience or something they project from within. One friend who saw it said they thought of Switzerland. Who would have thought of this in the rural Philadelphia area!
Anyway, I hope that perhaps it, and my words would resonate with you today. Maybe it doesn't and you just think it might be pretty, or maybe I might have inspired you to look for and find beauty where it is not so obvious. A hidden little thing... Either way, I hope you have enjoyed it today.
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