Winding Down The Year

      So Christmas is over for another year. My son is away at his Grandparents place for their annual Boxing Day Bash followed by a stint at his girlfriend's place in a nearby town. I'm left here with some time on my hands and about ten pounds of leftover turkey. In between munching on turkey sandwiches and watching YouTube videos, I thought that I'd take the opportunity to inflict yet another blog post on you.

     Santa   was  good to me this year. I acquired a LaCie hard drive to back up and store some of the thousands of images currently residing on my overworked little laptop.  I also got a very cool  Lowepro photo backpack. https://www.lowepro.com/ca-en/photo-hatchback-bp-250-aw-ii-black-and-grey-lp36957-pww/    The pack enables me to schlep my gear around to get more pictures to feed to the computer to feed to the hard drive. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's the cycle of life! Or, perhaps more accurately, a vicious circle. Either way, it's kinda what I do and I dig it.

     

                                                                                                        

         So, as I stated at the top of this post, I've been watching some YouTube videos. The most recent one I watched was " The Bucket Shot" by Peter McKinnon. Peter McKinnon has risen to be You Tube royalty and rightfully so. His vlogs and tutorials are always both fun and informative. He is a  brilliant photographer/videographer  whose skill and enthusiasm for the craft has often inspired me to just go out and make images .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r25IWquxe9s&t=491s

     I totally relate to this video.  At the beginning of the video, he talks about getting up early in the morning while it's still dark and going to a location before sunup. Then watching as the light lifts the veil on the scene.  "That's a feeling only photographers know well." I am one who knows that feeling. While I've never flown across the country to get just one shot, I have coordinated a car rental with a weather report with a specific location  and time just to get the images I want. It's often said that, with the advent of smart phones, "Everyone's a photographer."  I don't think so.  With a smart phone, virtually anyone can take a picture, but not everyone is going to make the effort to really make a photograph.                                             

     Another video I watched was a documentary about the great Ansel Adams. His dedication and passion for the craft was powerful. He too was always in search of the perfect light and the perfect moment to capture. At one point in the video, a voice-over actor is reading from one of Adams' letters as he tries to describe the clarity of light he  experienced  in the mountains and how it defined everything so beautifully that he wanted to photograph everything. I too have experienced moments when the light is so pure that every detail of a scene is caught in perfect definition.  In many ways, I found myself relating to Adams' experience as well. Adams was a proponent of what he called pre-visualization. The ability to perceive the finished image in the mind's eye before even tripping the shutter. I'm quite confident that he would have approved  of McKinnon's cross country quest to get the perfect shot of Moraine Lake                                                                                                          . 

     So where does that leave me? Do I dare to have the audacity to compare myself to the likes of Peter McKinnon or the incomparable, legendary Ansel Adams? Hell no! I'm just a small town photographer who sells prints and postcards in a couple of local shops. Once or twice a year I might  do a display at  an arts and crafts show. But I do share their spirit in my attempts to capture the essence of the beauty that I see around me.  That sense of joy,  wonder and adventure is the spirit that I want to bring into the New Year.                                                                    

     To quote from the Desiderata, "With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world."

...more later


P.S. I would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to thank all of you who read this blog, who appreciate the images that I post to Facebook and other sites and who support my efforts as a photographer by purchasing or licensing my pictures. I am forever grateful. As usual, if you like what you see here, don't be afraid to hit "Like"  comment or share to the media platform of your choice. I'm looking forward to sharing more photos and content in the New Year. "....more later" isn't just a tag line you know!