“Life, uh, finds a way.” -Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Jurassic Park 1993. And let me tell you, does it ever. It always finds a way to amaze me! All of the colours. Variations. Locations. Life finds a way to overcome, even in conditions where nothing lives but plants. Every day I see vibrant colours in all shapes and sizes. My wife and I go for our regular walks and we are constantly flower spotting. It’s fun taking a walk and seeing how they develop with the changing seasons, naturally. And it’s also fun to see when people add or change their gardens. It’s cool to see which flowers people choose for their collections. I’m always photographing these little beauties. Even if I’m taking pictures of the same ones, there are many ways to capture life’s beautiful little flowers!
Part of the fun, for me, is choosing how to capture what I see. I love taking each shot and making it into its own little scene. I feel that I am very creative, and I like to use that to my advantage and play with all of the variables that go into a good shot in my eyes. Nothing will ever turn out 100% the same. Especially with plants and flowers. The wind moves them. Dew forms. The leaves change colour. Lighting conditions change throughout the day. Light plays with the shadows and that all affects how the colours appear. There really is a science to all of it. And I will reiterate, the array of colours you find occurring amongst the flower petals and their leaves are truly amazing!
There are so many ways to be creative with the use of the camera, which is a tool. And the magic of editing! Part of being creative is knowing your tools and always expanding and learning. You can never know it all. Knowing that, I still try. I learn at least one new thing every day. I stay outside the box and analyze what’s inside. I take the book and add my own pages. I love learning how things are “supposed to be done” and finding ways to use my tools in ways that aren’t the norm. I like to shake things up. There’s always a way to achieve what you want out of an image. Being creative is easy when you’re just experimenting. Trial and error is something I love. And I do a lot of that while building upon my skill set always. Trying every day to move outside my comfort zone. When I’m out and about with my wife photographing flowers we select a little scene and start shooting. It’s amazing to see what each of us comes up with while using our cameras on the same scene or subject. Every person uses their tools differently. We all have a different “eye”. We all have our own personal perception of the different settings and controls on the camera. When my wife and I switch cameras and use each others we can always tell which ones were me and which ones were her. Evidently, we have our own “creative stamp” that shows itself in our photographs.
I feel so at home, so at peace in nature. My wife is the same way. That’s why we choose to surround ourselves with plants of all kinds. They make the air fresher. They make a room brighter. I feel as though I can pick up on the life force that they exude and they add another dimension of life to a room or even out in the yard. Not to mention the colours. Those add the most amazing pops to any space or place. Not only can they be ornamental, but, they can be totally useful also! But that’s a topic for another time. There is a never ending variety of plants and flowers, seemingly. And they still find new species. And cross species. Life truly does always find a way. Plants have a knack for overcoming all kinds of obstacles. Us humans do also, but there’s a lot to be learned from plant life. Go for a nature walk and as you walk and you start to look at the plants and flowers all around, you’ll notice there are many different ones all commingling and fighting their way to the sun’s kiss.
For anyone that made it this far, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings. There are plenty more to come so follow along for more art and life things! All kinds of neat tidbits coming up!
- Weeds? That’s what they all say. “Superfood” for thought.One thing as I’ve learned along my herbalism journey is that there are a multitude of plants that are considered weeds but are very useful. Seen as “pests” and are, in my opinion, highly undervalued. I will touch on two of my favourites, Lamium Purpureum (red dead-nettle, purple dead-nettle, purple archangel.) and Taraxacum Officinale (commonContinue reading “Weeds? That’s what they all say. “Superfood” for thought.”
- Flowers: Life, uh, finds a way.“Life, uh, finds a way.” -Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Jurassic Park 1993. And let me tell you, does it ever. It always finds a way to amaze me! All of the colours. Variations. Locations. Life finds a way to overcome, even in conditions where nothing lives but plants. Every day I see vibrant coloursContinue reading “Flowers: Life, uh, finds a way.”
- Artistic opinion. Black and white or colour? Why choose?!I really enjoy the elegance of BnW. I like how the light and the shadows work together. I find that it can turn simple and otherwise drab images into bonafide works of art. Mind you, I can find beauty in anything, even that which is seemingly lacklustre to others. I may see a normal rockContinue reading “Artistic opinion. Black and white or colour? Why choose?!”
- Art is my therapy.
- The Phantom Road.WELCOME!
Phantom Road 