Quote of the day: “The images on which we feed govern our lives.” — Marion Woodman
Still life with leaf, rocks, and stick
I’m loving Doug Beasley‘s wonderful Vision Quest Cards: Photo Assignments For Personal & Spiritual Growth for my photography self-study/challenge assignments. This week I drew the card that says, “Take a walk, stop every 21 steps and make a photograph. Challenge yourself!”
“That sounds like fun,” I thought, “where shall I take a walk?” Immediately I thought of Wolsfeld Woods, a Scientific and Natural area about 10 miles from my home. Wolsfeld Woods is a remnant of the Big Woods that once covered this area of Minnesota. It’s full of tall maple trees, basswood trees, oak trees. It felt a little bit like cheating to go to a place that I love so well but I decided to try my walk there and if it was too easy, to pick another walk destination and do it again.
Fortunately the mosquitoes were only a little bothersome—they can be fierce in these woods. The sky was mostly overcast with occasional sightings of the sun. The air was warm. When I left the shelter of the trees to walk around the lake, a gentle breeze cooled my face.
Acorn still life
As I entered the woods I began counting my steps, “One, two, three…” I was amazed at how quickly I took 21 steps! This is definitely an amble kind of walk in the woods, not a hike in the woods. “OK, here I am, now what?” I thought. I softened my gaze and looked all around me, up and down, in front of and behind me before I found something that drew my eye. Click.
“One, two, three…twenty-one!” I stopped and looked around. Hmmm…what do I see here? I noticed that stopping so often and challenging myself to find a photo I wanted to make caused me to look—really look—at my surroundings.
It was challenging to see things differently, to pick a subject, and make a different photograph every 21 steps (no fair photographing a different tree every 21 steps!). It became a meditation. Ah…here I am…counting my steps. I feel the earth under my feet. I see the lights and shadows and in-betweens. I see patterns and colors.
What’s that over there? What draws my eye? How simple can I make this?
Fungus growing on fallen tree
I was struck by the cycles of life that I usually hiked by without noticing, from trees and plants thriving and growing, to dead wood covered with fungus creating soil and nutrients for new things to be born. It’s all here—birth, life, death, and re-birth—a lesson in letting go of wanting things to stay the same. The only constant, even in these old woods, is change. Old trees die. New trees are born. The cycle repeats.
To see myself as a part of this magnificent cycle of birth, life, and death, puts my days into perspective. Slowing down connects me with these woods in a new way. I witness the miracle of a tiny acorn on the ground, moss beneath my feet, patterns of light over my head. I am one with the dance of life.
Me standing in the midst of birth, life, and death
Mushroom
Leaf in the water
The Mystery of Yarn Wrapped Around a Small Branch
Looking up – leaves and light
Shape, texture, color
This assignment is worth repeating in the midst of the city, instead of out in nature. Stay tuned as I repeat the 21-step photography dance next week in a city environment. I’m already curious about how it will be the same or different.
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