Slow Down

Today I have two images for Project 31. Same subject, different points of interest. To me, they are examples of what draws me to photography in the first place and the best lessons I have learned from it – how to slow down and notice the details in everything.

What Should I Take A Picture Of?

When I first started purposeful photography, I was frequently asking “What should I shoot?” I’d wander about looking for something strikingly beautiful or interesting to jump out at me, as if it were as elusive as a four leaf clover, as if it needed to be contrived.

Over time, especially when I started with macro photography and self-created light, the blinders came off and I SAW. WOW, did I ever see! Have you ever looked at something mundane through a magnifying glass or microscope and had a WHOAH moment, where you see so much interesting detail? This is what it felt like for me to see the details through my camera lenses.

Textures, patterns, light and shadow, negative space, shapes, curves, lines, flow.

When I’m looking through any of my lenses – macro through wide angle – I see things differently. I’m looking at what is contained within the boundaries of the frame and seeking the points of interest, whatever they may be.

There is beauty in every frame. Even the time we did an experiment in a workshop where we had to purposely take a “bad photo” – there was still interest in every image. This has trained me to see the world like this without a camera.

Details

Photography is a meditative practice for me. It is my chance to zoom in or zoom out and find the beauty in the details. It is my time to choose a singular flower and notice its lines and interesting flaws, or notice how the light falls across one of my children’s faces. Slowing down to notice these things is a stark contrast from the regular day to day hurry hurry hurry.

For the image at the top of this post, what captured me was the shape of the calla lily, the textures, the “flaw,” and the contrast between light and dark.

And for this image, what captured me was the texture where the stem and petals meet.

For both images, I used a lens that purposely softens the edges with a velvety glow, further decreasing the size of what is sharp and where the eye is drawn.

Slow Down

We could all use a dose of Slow Down. In our everyday lives right now and always. Slow Down has a huge place in a long healing journey for as much as we’d all like to get to There, there is so much to savor along the way.

Pick up a camera today and slow down. See the world through different lenses. Find the details and spend time with them. Try different angles and light. Play. Get curious – there’s always the delete button.

Happy shooting and happy slowing down!

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