When I first took this photo of the yellow rose I was so pleased with it. Such a beautiful rose laying softly in front of a blurred brick background.
Simplicity and stillness.
With time, I’ve grown as a photographer, and I look at this photo differently. It’s still a beautiful rose. But now I see how increasing my depth of field to get the entire rose and green leaves in better focus may have improved the image.
I was mesmerized then, by bokeh and background blur, and I took so many photos with a wide open lens. You can see it in my last blog post too. The image of the antique clock lit softly by the lamp beside it. I tried to edit more vintage softness into the image to make up for it, but maybe that photo would have been better if the lamp base had been more in focus. Maybe.
I still love blurred backgrounds! But I’ve learned to have more control over the final focal range, so now I can make more intentional choices about style, with less editing. Always learning. Always growing.
I was introduced to photography my junior year of high school, and became a photographer for our school yearbook. Black and white film. Chemicals in a darkroom. Fingers crossed. I loved it! My growth as a photographer was slow. I spent many years prioritizing my growing family. But it was steady, as I found a sense of respite in nature photo walks.
Practice. Patience. Practice. Classes. Practice.
With every year that passes, I find myself becoming more in love with the artistic side of photography, and more at ease with the technical side.
I still find respite in nature photo walks and creating still-life scenes, but now I can add to that a degree in digital media and graphic design, and a career as a real estate photographer. More recently, I’ve chosen to transition professionally to food photography and I’m finding so much joy in merging my love of photography with a love of cooking.
Watching an experienced photographer teach a food photography tutorial recently, I caught a mistake in their teaching. Minor. But it made me aware of how much photographic knowledge I’ve been blessed to gain over the years, and it inspired me to start sharing some of it. Some of the technical stuff, yes. But more importantly, the value of the experience. Because the most significant lesson I’ve ever learned in photography, is simply to slow down, be present, and notice.
Notice the beauty of the world surrounding us. Notice how the light changes and shadows shift. Notice the signs of new seasons, and find joy in the stillness of simple scenes.
Always reminding myself:
“Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field.” – Peter Adams
Photo walk with me? It’s early Autumn presently. Shall we photograph the leaves?
