Spring is in the air and the urge to take photographs is awakened in all of us who have been bitten by the photography bug. Spring is the perfect time to spend the day roaming around with your camera looking for something to shoot.
People are always asking me...where do you find things to photograph? Do I have a secret location? The truth is that the world around us is filled with amazing sites large and small that are just waiting to be captured with your camera. I learned this lesson as a twelve year old when I was given my first 35mm camera, by my Dad. I was always looking for the perfect shot, and constantly being told by my father that if I could not get a great shot in my own backyard then...I didn't need to go anywhere else! A great photographer can create an image out of what is in front of him.
As much as I would never of admitted this to him at the time, he was right. And now I tend to travel to get a great image less and less. Because I have learned to "see" what is in front of me. To "see" the ice on the tree limb sparkling in the sun. Or the way light hits the leaves in the fall, or the way a lady bug sits on a window sill in the warmth. Or how that fire hydrant down the street is so great the way it stands out against the the stone wall behind it.
"Seeing" is what we do when we take a great picture. It's what we do when an image is in our head before it is has even been taken. It's that flash of a picture that shoots through our brains at a hundred miles an hour and comes from who-knows-where!
Next time you have a moment, take your camera out in the yard and just start shooting. Listen to your inner voice, pay attention to the flashes of inspiration you get!
Live, Laugh, Photograph!
Maryann
