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The last year has truly been remarkable.
Just when you think things are kind of on track and going according to plan Murphy arrives to pass one of his laws. Go figure...
I guess we all need to escape from thing in our daily life that irritate us. Frustrate us. Sadden us. For me photography is that escape. Not only the actual process of capturing the images but looking through all the images afterwards as well. Looking from an objective point of view, if that is at all possible, at your own work. Deciding which images to delete. Which to work on. Which to recognise as 'exactly what you had in mind' and save it as is.
The whole process gives me time to 'switch off' and let my mind work it's own way through whatever needs working on. People who promise something for a long time and then do not deliver. Dreams that do not seem to work out as vividly as you hoped they would. Having your life change in a matter of days due to a single phone call. Planning something for the future and having the afore-mentioned Murphy come in and get involved. This list I suppose could go on and on.
What can you do? For me the answer right now is photograph. The way everything stops when you look through the camera helps put things in perspective. The way you plan your composition makes you see how things fit together - what aspects to include and what to ignore. Trying to get the perfect balance of blacks and whites.
Everybody has some sort of meditation or escape form whatever life throws at them, or I hope so at least. Some days it feels like you just cannot get the right shot - the same as in life. Other days you are pleasantly surprised by what you thought was not actually going to work when you clicked the shutter - can't wait for one of those again.
This year so far has been 'interesting' and I use the word very lightly. At some point the shots need to start working. The exposure needs to be perfect. The composition must all fall together. I could keep going here but I suppose you get my drift.
Anyway, with that off the chest moving on. Here are a few of the images I went through today, all from the last two days, that I liked for various reasons and, I suppose, is a result of my own personal 'meditation'. (I am not always this philosophical so just to clarify... it helps me think about stuff!!)
Just when you think things are kind of on track and going according to plan Murphy arrives to pass one of his laws. Go figure...
I guess we all need to escape from thing in our daily life that irritate us. Frustrate us. Sadden us. For me photography is that escape. Not only the actual process of capturing the images but looking through all the images afterwards as well. Looking from an objective point of view, if that is at all possible, at your own work. Deciding which images to delete. Which to work on. Which to recognise as 'exactly what you had in mind' and save it as is.
The whole process gives me time to 'switch off' and let my mind work it's own way through whatever needs working on. People who promise something for a long time and then do not deliver. Dreams that do not seem to work out as vividly as you hoped they would. Having your life change in a matter of days due to a single phone call. Planning something for the future and having the afore-mentioned Murphy come in and get involved. This list I suppose could go on and on.
What can you do? For me the answer right now is photograph. The way everything stops when you look through the camera helps put things in perspective. The way you plan your composition makes you see how things fit together - what aspects to include and what to ignore. Trying to get the perfect balance of blacks and whites.
Everybody has some sort of meditation or escape form whatever life throws at them, or I hope so at least. Some days it feels like you just cannot get the right shot - the same as in life. Other days you are pleasantly surprised by what you thought was not actually going to work when you clicked the shutter - can't wait for one of those again.
This year so far has been 'interesting' and I use the word very lightly. At some point the shots need to start working. The exposure needs to be perfect. The composition must all fall together. I could keep going here but I suppose you get my drift.
Anyway, with that off the chest moving on. Here are a few of the images I went through today, all from the last two days, that I liked for various reasons and, I suppose, is a result of my own personal 'meditation'. (I am not always this philosophical so just to clarify... it helps me think about stuff!!)
Saw this floating piece of Datura on the water at Tlou Dam and quite liked the abstract relfection it created. Perhaps I could puch the blue a little but still quite nice.
This is the other end of the Sereti lions - without the sharp teeth. Plain and simple. Not much else to say really.
A female ellie throwing mud on herself at Tlou Dam. This has been one of the better sightings and photographic opportunities of the week. Did a lot of 'meditation' with this breeding herd!
This was early this morning at Tlou Dam in Madikwe. Always a beautiful time, we walked to the edge of the water to get a few images. The plane passed over the scene as we arrived at the dam and ended up being the perfect 'frame' for this image.
I suppose that's about it for now. I will upload the Weekly High Five later tomorrow otherwise sometime during Saturday. Make sure to check back for that one. At this stage I might have a few days off at the beginning of next week which means I can really get stuck into the ever growing number of raw files and get more of them up onto the Blog!
As always I look forward to hearing from you!
Until next time.
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1 comment:
Great post Gerry and good read, if you want to feel better I work in an office for 8 hrs a day which doesnt have a window, just 4 walls and air con, so you see I totally agree and thats why I suppose when the weekend comes I'm out with my camera and I look forward to getting home and going through my captures and looking through other peoples blog on my lunch for a bit of an escape. I will swap for a month with you if you like and see who cracks first LOL. Mike.
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