Rhododendron Dreams
Spring Time in Western Pennsylvania
What a beautiful morning here in Western Pennsylvania.
The world here is alive with sights, sounds,smells today.
My senses are acutely aware of it all because I have just returned from my early morning workout at the gym where I do high intensity interval training. After my workout, my body is
in sinc
with the world of nature when I come home. I grabbed my camera and
shot a lot of photos of the enormous, 20 ft high,
Rhododendron bush in full bloom
I wanted to capture the early morning light the fully open
lavender-pink blossoms - hundreds of them.
I am alive and so is all of
Nature today!
I have always loved taking photographs. My loss of
sight has not decreased
the passion I have for those unexpected and succulent
images. My methods have chanced though.
Two years ago, I sold my 35
mm cameras and all the attachments I had treasured and used so much over the
years. Now, I just take out my GE1040 digital camera and I approach my
subject, point and shoot. It is always a big surprise when I finally get to
see what I captured. It is very strange
to some people around me that I
cannot see what I am shooting, but yet, later through technology,
I can see
the shots on my large screen
computer monitor. U use ZoomText.
How I love
my ZoomText! It is pure magic for me. It enables me to fully participate as
a photographer in the visual world, just like I always did before sight
loss.
I am writing about these things, this morning, to say that it is
another
way to capture subject matter and images for poetry! There is no
separation
for me bet wen fine art and poetry. My process is the same for
creating both,
though the instruments and methods are different. It is the
tools and the
adaptations of tools that enable me to continue to do the
things I have always loved to do - write poetry and make art.
When I
begin to think about my subject and how I will create a poem from this
image, I begin to remember my physical contact with it, too. It is only partly a visual image. My other senses are there as well. I use them all when I begin to create the photograph or the poem. It all begins with awareness of the moment - fully aware of it all. It is a kind of awakening from a deep sleep - it happens slowly, in layers.
The question is:
How to take a great photo or write a great poem from an
image you
cannot see?
Here is my own process:
First,
become aware of the physical aspects of your subject. It has a living
presence. It is a tangible thing.Pay attention to the smell of it. It
breathes, moves, shifts, changes, lives, and dies.
This morning I
listened to the lone crow calling from the woods surrounding my home when I
was outside with my camera.I heard the rushing waters of the creek below the
meadow behind my home. Mingled in with the water's flow, I heard the softer
sounds of the wild geese who are down there as they are every spring. Then,
a layer of sharp staccato jabs of sharp trills, from a bird, punctuating the top layer of the
morning's landscape.
I touched the dripping wet leaves as I moved
through the trees along the path. My feet were cold and became wet
because the dew was heavy on the grass. My clothing started to cling to
my torso because water spots dropped on me.
I breathed in the early
morning cool air and noticed that the day seems subdued and hazy. But my
body was throbbing with energy and excitement as I walked, parting the
branches along the way. It all felt so good, so right.My physical contact
with my subjects and everything that surrounds me, and
my subject, will come
into my photograph. I will be trying to capture the livingness of this day,
through this one particular photograph. If I am very aware of it all, I will
have a good photo today! If I am really dedicated to my pursuit of this
image and this moment in time in my own life, I will even
have a poem
eventually.
Art and life are one.
Finally, inside the house in the
solitude of my office where the clock ticks
on the wall behind me, I begin
the additional work that will take the images from the morning's
experiences. I will take them from the camera, blow them up through the
computer photo program, and then begin to crop, select, and edit my photos.
For the poem that might come forth from this morning's work with the camera
and the photo editing, I will begin to record some words about my subject.
I will write a blog about today's adventure in the early morning. I will
post some photos on my Facebook Page for my friends around the world to
enjoy. I will even write a short message to my friends on the Writer's List
this morning. And, I will probably begin the work of turning these images
into a poem.
I will consider all aspects of it. My blossoms have center
stage, they are
stars, each of them, on a plant I had plunged into the
soil about 43 years ago. It was a very small plant in a little plastic
container at that time. As the years have passed it has grown into the
magnificent blooming waterfall-type of wall - bursting forth with
magnificent flowers that I saw
this morning.
Life happens slowly, like the
growth of this plant that reaches up into the second story of my very old
house here on River Road.
Life is LIVED in the smallest details of those years,
in
this place.
If only I can capture just a small moment
of it all today!
Maybe you would like to take a walk today and see what you find blooming in your world! Go ahead. You might be surprised at what is out there.
