creativity

There was supposed to be a meteor shower the other morning, so I Googled and Googled all about how to capture one in photograph. I mean, I researched the heck out of it…and had my camera all setup and ready to go. Even laid out my clothes and shoes, so I could just hop up and get to shooting.

Unfortunately, the meteor shower proved to be uneventful, at least in my neck of the woods. However, all the researching and preparing got me itching to take some photos. Then my dad asked me to take some random photos of our house…not very interesting ones, but it still forced me to bring my camera outside.

I took the photos for my dad and started to walk back up towards the house. Then I started looking around and I realized there were a lot of cool, nature things happening right in my back yard. So, I started shooting. I was playing around with the manual settings more than I have in a long time.

Life has gotten in the way and I haven’t had much time to devote to my photography, but it’s definitely another one of those things that helps calm my ADHD / OCD mind. Zeroing in on the perfect shot brings a kind of focus that my ADHD mind rarely gets to feel. And my OCD nature pushes me to have the patience to get that perfect shot…or at least to keep trying.

Nature photography kind of makes sense for me. It’s the combination of two of my favorite things and I can get lost doing it for hours. Needless to say, I took over 200 photos during my mini-shoot. Part of what’s so awesome about photography is that you get the chance to share your perspective on a moment or, in this case, a scene in nature. When an experience touches your soul in a good way, photography gives you the opportunity to pass it on and touch somebody else’s soul.

Don’t worry, I only pulled five photos from the 200+, so you’re not going to be forced to see the natural world through my eyes for the rest of your night. But, I did want to share a few…just in case you needed something to brighten your evening (meaning the nature itself, not necessarily my creative interpretation via photo).

They’re not perfect, but taking them did make me want to take more. Here’s hopin’ (for my sake) that this was the push I needed to get back into photography. I used to shoot weddings…I used to sell my photos in (small) galleries and in local shops…I used to just take more photos. It’s been years since I really allowed myself to get lost behind the lens. It definitely reminded me how important it is for me to do creative things on a regular basis, though.

That said, my knowledge of flowers is fairly limited, so the file names are pretty boring…and I must have used up all of my creativity, so there are no titles…but you get the idea.