the value of patience

When I began seeing the world via the lens of a camera, I often had tunnel vision. I’d see the glorious scene, the quirky subject, the mountains or whatever it was that drew me to it, and all else would disappear. That’s a good thing and a bad thing. While that lends itself to spontaneity, more often it leads to crummy, uninspired photos. For me, it was mostly a bad thing.

The scene I envisioned in my imagination rarely showed up on film, and when it did, I often had no idea how I did it. So for awhile, I bought the lie that it was “talent” or serendipity or just dumb luck. And my results were all over the place.

So I’d take some shots of the majestic mountains, and when I reviewed the pictures once they were back from the lab, bleh. Well, that was a waste of time and money!

That’s where I’d usually go wrong. I’d be concentrating on what’s in my head rather that what’s in front of my face and how to synch up what was in my noggin’ to what was in front of my face.

The thing I’ve found out is that you can capture a scene with luck, l and that is most definitely part of the equation, but with planning, patience, knowing your tools and LOOKING, you can create the image that aligns with what you imagine. And the more I shoot, the more success I have and the more “talent” I magically have.

And finally, It’s amazing what you see when you take the time to look.

Prior to sunrise, the scene was flat and rather pedestrian. Standing there, tripod in hand, dog getting bored and with nothing really inviting, I almost packed up and went off searching for another possibility, but something told me to hang on. Suddenly the area began to glow, and the result is evident.