Tuesday, 4/6/10 - Through My Camera's Eye

When I started this blog I thought that I would be posting a single picture each day.

It seems that my camera had other intentions.

Every day my camera takes me out and shows me the world around me. It exposes me to new and interesting images that surround me in my daily routines.

My camera is patiently teaching me how to see.

This morning it took me back to a lakefront that we had visited before.

As we stood there looking at the early morning it whispered that I was not a "big picture" kinda guy.

It was right. I feel confined with small apertures and tend to throw it wide open and enjoy the clarity of a shallow depth of field.



It taught me to isolate a subject.



And turn backgrounds creamy smooth.



It pushed me up close to observe the flow.



And, like and good teacher, it challenged me to capture a single thread holding a seed pod as it blew in the wind.



My wise old camera told me how to feel the "happy". This blackbird was just singing its heart out in the golden glow of the rising sun and my camera held my hand and showed me how blend into my surroundings so as not to disturb.



It taught me about color.



And how to make out faces in the strangest places.



It pointed, "over there!" as we walked and showed me how color and composition sometimes just happen.



It focused on the water and not the fountain.



It took me for a walk along the road I travel each morning. I thought that I was going to photograph two interesting fences but on the way, my camera showed me many things more interesting.

Like a single grapefruit.



And some weeds gone to seed.



It turned my head around to show me an osprey...

... on its way home...

... with dinner.



My camera liked this and led me back to the osprey's nest.



The bird knew we were there and kept circling...



... round and round ...



... until the camera suggested that we let the bird eat its dinner in peace.

On our way back to the car we passed a fountain.

This time, the camera showed me that the fountain could be more intriguing than the water.

And again, it taught me to isolate certain elements of the fountain rather than capturing the entire structure.



Back at the hotel the camera suggested a walk past the empty adventure park.

We had made this trek together in the past but this time it suggested a different perspective and reminded me, in its zen camera way, that there is so much of interest that we could stand in one place, unmoving, for days and never take the same picture twice.



At dinner the camera found four cups of hot sauce lit by the setting sun and gently suggested that this might be a nice image.



Red ty plants on the walk back to the hotel caught its eye.



These are just some of the images my camera shared with me today. There were dozens more: flowers, people and silly things that I would normally just pass by without noticing.

I am lucky. My camera is a good teacher. It is patient with me.

I am beginning to think that it might like me because it takes me everywhere it goes.