It took a view like this to get me on Flickr
Sunday, 16 November, 2008 at 4:22 PM 
Driving back into town this morning, the sky was a slice of perfection and I kept looking forward to Summerfield. Lake Brandt tends to make me lose my driving concentration; it's sad to admit that this gorgeousness is so close to where I live and I basically only ever see it when I'm on my way somewhere else.
Another, tangentially-related, recurring realization lately is how much I've suppressed my love of photography. Sure, I grab my camera for some quick shots of the most adorable toddler I know, or to capture something for my blog. But the passion for caturing light and framing a view through my lens... it's been a while. I've lamely blamed it on the camera. My Canon AE-1 has been in storage for ages; the days of poring over one image at a time in the darkroom - sometimes literally for hours - are long, long gone, and the camera I use now doesn't give me the control I once took for granted. But just because I don't yet have a phenomenal DSLR is no excuse to look at the world around me with the shallow depth of one who doesn't bother to see the potential beauty that's bubbling up from everything we touch.
It hit me just how much of an excuse the camera "issue" is. So I stopped my car at the lake and walked in the brisk air (how can it already be time to start thinking about gloves???) to capture a bit of what surrounded me.
I want to remember. I'm trying to undo the damage some of the often-numb patterns of the past few years have left on my life. I'm looking for ways of seeing differently. And so not only am I going to use my camera more, to help me slow down and really see, but I even finally set up that long-delayed Flickr account. My excuse there was that Squarespace lets us set up gorgeous photo galleries here. Which is true. But check it out...I rarely exercised that option, either. So yea. Off to Flickr to start a new visual journey. Hope I don't forget this time. It's just one tiny little nature set, but it's a start and I'll take it...
Reader Comments (4)
Sensational photography!! ,see there's that gift again.Cheered up my Sunday night.
Thanks
Beautiful! It's like being there myself!
I got my gloves last week already. I'm showing my wimpishness!
I know what you mean, I feel so tranquil driving over the Lakes in Northeast Guilford and often wonder why I don't make it my destination rather than just a drive by. Now that I've moved the SE Guilford I really miss them, when we were on our househunt of 4 years we would drive up to NE Guilford at least once a weekend. I do get to drive over the Randalman Rez but it's just not the same, but does give me some consolation.
Thanks for sharing your pics.
Thanks, ya'll! it's nice of you to check out my little shots. Have been busy imagining what kinds of things I can do with "a real camera" sometime. Soon enough.