Just Snap

I'm taking a class that looks like a photography class but is really an inspiration and creative pursuit class. It's just six weeks long and I already wish it was at least double that. Last week, we explored taking photos from a completely judgment-free, be wild and crazy and see what happens, place. We were to do things like spin around and take a photo, not look through the viewfinder and take a photo, climb trees or lie on the ground and take photos. Just snap and see what happens. 

Finally. Photography instructions I can follow. 

The message, of course, was just to loosen up and take photos. Some people render themselves so immobile with fear of taking a bad shot or the wrong shot or whatever that they never take shots at all. Our instructor is trying to help us get beyond that. I dare say it worked. I've never had more fun in my own backyard. It was one of those blistering hot days (not unlike this one) and I didn't venture more than ten feet from either door. In fact, I wasn't even outside more than 15 minutes and managed to take well over 80 photos. (When you're not stopping to analyze and set-up and you know, focus, you can get quite a few pics under your belt.) 

I am blessed with a yard full of pines and white birch trees (two of the most photogenic types of tree, I would say) and they were my subjects. I laid under them and shot up, climbed into them and shot out, stood back and shot through… I did whatever I could to really see those trees.

There's a small set on my Flickr page where I'll be putting shots from the course and you're welcome to peek in from time to time. I didn't get to take the photos from my second assignment yet (we have a photography scavenger hunt going on) but look for those soon. The Flickr set will probably be a hodge podge of subjects and sometimes they may not make sense at all (a photo of a box lid, really?) but it's all part of the learning. If you have no idea why I took a photo of something, remember --- scavenger hunts rarely have rhyme or reason. Thank goodness. 

Comments

[Mary]

Okay, so NOT the point of the post, but the statement: "I laid under them and shot up..." made me giggle. But that does sound like a great assignment - seeing the beauty for the beauty and not the technical aspects. Must give that a try.