Finding the Northwest Passage

[Red Rock]

Pardes-thankyou for the story of your trip. I agree with danadear on the trees. I had never thought of them that way before either. Definatley thinking outside the box there. I will have to remember that.

You have made me more aware of my surroundings when I am hiking or biking around my little community. My problem is that nothing really interesting seems to be going on. However, the last weekend a I saw a whole bunch of marathoners running to prepare for the big day around here the first weekend in October.

I love your posts.

Red Rock

[pardes]

Red Rock--thanks for the prasie from you and others.

I know it often seems like nothing is going on around you to photograph; however it's probably a matter of timing and exercising your power of observation. It requires quieting the inner chatter in your head which is one of the primary benefits for me. It's a shifting from an insane pace of living to the navel contemplation mode.

Seeing things this way short circuits getting frustrated while waiting for something that seems to be taking FAR TOO LONG like waiting to be seated in a restaurant.

My local favorite chinese restaurant would never be considered photogenic but rather than snarl and froth at the wait, I took out my camera and started examinng things in a very small glass case.

I got so caught up in doing closeups that I told them I was busy and to seat the people behind me first!

There is nothing very spectacular in taking photos of people unless you think outside the box and make it a metaphor. This is a photo of an instructor I had a couple of years ago for an advanced photography class on the finer points of using strobes and umbrellas and infrared triggered multiple flashes. He was stiff and reserved as an instructor but it was easy to see that there were blossoms of art and energy just below the surface.

Or you can go the traditional route of portraits but you still have to look for and find the spark within.

Or this. A quick catch of a quiet moment between father and son. The stillness of the little boy imitating the stillness of his father speaks volumes about their relationship.

If you think in the terms of society, all of this takes time, time to watch, time to pick the right moment and most people are time-wasters because they have become time-misers. Throw out all illusions that time is real and just point the camera and see what happens.