Finding the Magic

I just finished taking an online photography class this week, one hour each day for three days. My favorite take-away from the class was that photography is all about

The reason I chose this class (Eyes Wide Open taught by Eddie Soloway through Santa Fe Workshops) was because I love Eddie Soloway’s photographs. His work is often impressionistic, nature based, and simply beautiful. And I love the title of the class — Eyes Wide Open.

It seems to me that this phrase is perfect for artists of all kinds. We go through life with eyes wide open, seeking that which has meaning to us. And then we express it through our art.

The morning after the first class I headed out to Noerenberg Gardens to make images inspired by the previous evening’s class. When I arrived at the gardens the first thing I saw was the tree in front of where I parked and it’s soft blossoms.

I spent a lot of time seeing how soft I could go in making images. You can see in the top image of this post one of the surprises that delighted me. I barely got the edge of a leaf in focus with all of the tiny flowers totally out of focus in the background.

Initially I passed by this image in favor of others that showed the tiny flower fronds. But this morning I looked at my photos again and found that it was my favorite photograph. Sometimes I need a little distance from my work before I can see it clearly.

Slow Down and Explore

Though my first thought when viewing the gardens on Wednesday morning, was disappointment because it seemed there were very few flowers in bloom, when I slowed down and explored more deeply I discovered magic everywhere I looked.

From playing with photos of waves on the lake, to seeing how close I could get, making photos of pine needles with camera movement, everything was magical!

Here is some more wisdom from the class…

Most of what you do is practice, practice, practice.

Make your photography a dance between being playful and serious.

Keep your eyes open.

Mess around.

Do something.

It’s all about the dance between Joy and Suffering.

If you’re stuck, look at other artists.

If you’re stuck, play.

Put yourself in a place where magic can happen.

Work hard with different exposures, lenses, etc. — try lots of things.

Find the composition first. Then put your camera on the tripod. Let the tripod support your pictures, not control them.

— Eddie Soloway