Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out where we are going..to connect to what we like. Stepping out of the box is not easy but it's the only way to advance and learn..finally after many tries, we find that we love this new learning...this new angle of creating...and so it is for me with my Still Life photography...by nature, I'm a Nature photographer. Winters can be long and cold and snowy and after doing all the nature shots I like, I was left with months of grey...everywhere I turned...so enter Still Life. I have struggled with it. It does not come naturally but finally I am beginning to see it's value and also to see that I am learning to see light and color and softness in a new way...
This weeks lesson in Be Still is to take a look at a body of work that we have done and to find a connection in the photo's...to see what we are shooting more of and how it is evolving...when I did this I became aware of the fact that I really like portrait work lately..with two Grandsons I guess that isn't a surprise...but they delight me in so many ways..and Still Life does not mean just flowers or set-ups. It means those moments of life...lived by two little boys..and when I can catch them in quiet moments it become a Still Life memory. Along with that I love the softer side of my photographs lately..I would see it in others work and so I worked at it and it is just so much fun to do...not just in portrait work but also in every other still life that I've done lately.
The soft side of still like reminds me to slow down, take time before pushing that shutter button..compose more thoughtfully and just let the color fade away into it's own background. The mood changes with the softer side of color..it allows for quiet reflection. Although this is what I'm working on right now...there will always be a place for the more vibrant, colorful and vivid color that makes me smile in a different way...I'll never lose my love of nature and green grass, bugs and trees. I'll also always welcome joyful, animated and flashy photo's, fast cars and galloping horses...it's a big world out there...and I love shooting it all.
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” ~Unknown