Kirk Tuck recently posted about how (paraphrasing) walking around town with a camera taking random pictures of interesting things is “almost like playing scales on the piano.” As a reformed musician that’s a reference I understand. Practicing technique is what allows us to nail the performance.
One of my recurring dreams involves being invited – and accepting – to perform some kind of solo concert. I haven’t touched my trombones – although I still have them – in nearly 30 years but when the day comes for me to play the dream ends. There’s probably some important symbolism there but I won’t try to analyze.
“Winter” or what we know as winter took this past weekend off, so Kathy & I took advantage of the 70 degree temperatures to enjoy the day at Latta Nature Preserve. I took my camera, of course, and took a few photos. To make it a little harder I took only my widest prime lens – the 14mm f2.8 (21mm full-frame equivalent). I don’t shoot a lot with wide angle lenses and it tends to show. While I didn’t come back with anything truly exceptional the idea of practice was my intention. Kathy helps me by seeing things she sees and giving me an “assignment” like the photos of purple leaves and the fallen branches with pine cones below. Now I have a name for the concept – practicing my scales.
Nice scales, Tom! Love the first image! I guess you can say I practice the scales, also. Just the act of raising the camera to my eye is practice. Dang good therapy and meditation, also.
That first photo is the very first one I took that day! At that point I thought “dang, I should have a longer lens – the photo is the people having the picnic!” Then I realized that the photo was really the trees, green grass and blue sky, and that the people were just gravy.
There’s something nice about walking around and taking photos without an agenda or fear of consequence. Then it is just about seeing and reacting to what we see.