I hope you aren’t getting sick of reading about my photography journey. It is the exact learning, experiential process I had hoped it would be. At first glance these things can look easy. But they often turn out to be revealing and complex. We can get mired in a situation we thought would be fast and simple–take for example my software upgrade of a ‘critical’ nature this morning, or the installation of the backup from my old iPhone to the new one a few weeks ago. Or we can be strategic and get through it. Things that look simple from the outside, seldom are. But we all know that, don’t we?
On June 30th, I passed the halfway point to 365 photos; a new image shot, edited and posted every single day for 183 days. Many thoughts have crossed my mind. It has become so much more than just the one hour or so of activity each day; it is a review of Life lessons, with a few new ones included.
(158) Winter in dry Todd River bed
Uncertainty
From the beginning I have struggled to not let the taking of a new photo each day paralyse me with fear. Where will I take the photo? What if I don’t get one? It can feel overwhelming. These are the sorts of dilemmas we face each day, not with photos, but with the actions and events of our lives. Will I get that job interview? What if I don’t get the results I want with this medical test? What mess will getting a new puppy make of my life? Life is uncertain. Always has been. Get over it. Have a back up plan. Have faith in yourself.
Patience
Have you tried to photograph a small wildflower in the wind? Try it. If not impossible, it certainly takes patience at a whole new level, not to mention a different skill base. It also teaches the concept of choosing your time carefully, perhaps on a not-so-windy day!
Skills
Nearly every day I am learning how to frame things better, which apps to use to best edit each photo, what tools and filters within those apps work best, and why. I am learning to watch the sky (and the thermometer!) to try and calculate the best time for a walk as well as when the light will be best for photographing, and what to do when the light is not at its best for photographing! If not exactly the same, these are in parallel with other life skills we learn every day; which food to buy, how to cook it, which route to drive to work, and okay, what the weather will be so you know how to dress. Some things are just not that different!
Disappointment/Surprise
I am learning not to be so certain about things. I may think a particular photo is THE one, until I get home and see what image I’ve actually captured. Often it is not the one I thought I’d captured. (not unlike a few long ago boyfriends…) Our senses take in so much more of a scene or experience than the camera, and sometimes that just doesn’t translate in the photo. I have also discovered, so often, that the photo I thought had the least potential, but was quickly snapped on a whim, turns out to be THE one. Go figure. I could name a few times in life when that has happened, and I’m married to one of them!! Didn’t see that one coming! My first professional job was one. Nearly every day Life’s potential stuns me with something I had never considered, both good and challenging! Capturing photo images is the same.
Light
There are three words that describe my approach to photography and Life…
see…the…light
But first you have to look for it. For me, every day is about how much light I can shed on my understanding of the world, myself and others. It’s what has always driven me. And in photography, the light is the first thing I look for as well. I look first with my eyes, not through the lens. It is the light that makes the shadows, the light that causes the colours, and creates the mystery. It is light that creates the image. Without light, all would be dark.
Failure
I have said before that there is no failure. But sometimes things don’t go according to your plan. You plan to photograph that tree in the sunlight that you spotted a couple of days ago, but it is grey and overcast and the light isn’t there. Oops. Or you take a few photos of something only to get home and look at them and realise you had the wrong settings, or angle, to get the photo outcome you were after. So that is when you learn. I’ve learned to have a back up plan for something I can photograph if everything falls in a heap one day. And it has, believe me. But the thing about a good backup plan is it needn’t be a compromise. I’m guessing you wouldn’t be able to pick which of the photos on this post was a backup plan (there are two). In addition to all of the above things, I’ve learned to overshoot and take more angles at more settings than I think I need to. But possibly, most importantly, I am learning to follow my iPhone photography teacher‘s advice: ‘be less obsessed with the end result and think more about the process’.
If I learn nothing more from this journey, that will be enough.
XX Light Chaser
ardysez 
“Be less obsessed with the end result and think more about the process”.
Absolutely! It is about the ride!…and you are having a great one, Ardys! Congrats!
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Thank you Betty. I am having a good one, though challenging at times. xx
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I’m glad you’re enjoying the lessons thrown up by your challenge. One thing your readers are learning is that the back up plan can’t be distinguished from your other pictures, they’re all good photographs Great subjects, well taken.
I don’t know if it’s the light or what you’ve done with your filters etc but my favourites are No 158 in black and white or the magnificent one looking up from the ground into the branches of the tree where you’ve caught the shadows of the branches on the trunk so well.
Keep enjoying the course, keep sharing the work.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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Thanks so much David. That #158 turned out much better than I had ever imagined it would. It’s the light! For some reason this post is behaving oddly on WordPress, but at least you found it. xx
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I didn’t realize your were doing a 365 photo project. I just started one the 1st of July. Nice to read all you’ve learned from it…very encouraging. So glad to have made the connection to you through iPhotography Academy.
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Thank you Chris. The 365 project is pretty intense some days, when I’m really pushed for time or energy but on the whole it has been very worthwhile so far. Best of luck to you! Where are you publishing your photos?
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I note your comment that this post is behaving oddly on WordPress. It may be the other way around. I got the email notification but can’t see it via Reader. A few days ago, one of thekitchensgarden’s posts missed my email notifications and I know of at least one response to a comment that hasn’t showed up in my notifications. WordPress have remodelled Reader, maybe that’s got something to do with it.
Anyway…
I’m loving your 365 day journey and other photos. It’s so interesting to see the world so closely through someone else’s eyes, and instincts for light and art in the everyday, which is my mantra. And I think via art and light create magic. It’s certainly evident in your process and photos. A form of alchemy. I admire how you take the ordinary, a teapot or a folded quilt and make them extraordinary, how you use colour or black & while or just the right angle or moment or distance to exalt your subject.
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Thanks for the feedback Dale, very helpful. Apparently what has happened is the post from 14 July published under an incorrect date, 15 June! So it is not the latest post on the home page of the blog, and not appearing in the reader. People who subscribe and use that link are finding it, but others would have trouble. WordPress is being very slow to respond and tell me how to correct the problem, though I think it is their problem, actually.
Thanks so much for your kind words. I really love photographing everyday things because seeing the beauty in everyday things is one of my great joys. A photo of a grand building doesn’t do much for me. But the shadow a leaf creates is something special. xx
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I really admire you for sticking with this 365 day challenge! I am not sure I would have the stamina to complete such a journey. How do you manage to find/make the time to do the day’s project? There would be days I could easily do it (as in autumn and winter, even early spring) but there would be times I would feel completely stressed! You have displayed some amazing shots, Ardys. I love that tree shot (angled UP the tree from below), the musician, and the teapot. But truly, all of your photographs are stunning… they always have been.
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Some days I’m a little stressed too, Lori! It really isn’t an easy thing, although compared to unclogging a sewer drain, it’s probably a piece of cake! I think it is the everyday-ness of it that is hardest. Trying to keep the standard of the photos high and interesting, as well as learning along the way. Fitting it all in is a challenge some days, too. Thank you for your kind words. xx
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It wouldn’t be a challenge if it were easy. It would just be a “365”or something. The word challenge gives notice that it will require patience, skill, surprise, failure and all of those things you mentioned, including a back up plan I suppose. How much you will need of any of those things will be discovered along the journey. Perhaps the 365 Photo Challenge is something that anyone can do, but I assure you that not anyone WILL do it. Your photos are stunning. Thank you for doing it. And thank you for sharing your art with us!
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Haha, I hadn’t thought about calling it just 365, if there was no challenge! Funny. Thank you dear friend for your support and, as always your great observations. xx
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Lovely thoughtful post Ardys.. and how I loved your last ravishing still life – shadows and mystery and beauty of line and texture and the hidden meaning behind a tea-pot !!!!
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There is even more meaning behind that tea-pot. It was given to us by the first friends I made when moving to Australia. She died from breast cancer four years ago, the same year I had breast cancer. So that tea-pot is flowing with meaning, and the dark and the light shadows really did add to it for me. Thank you Valerie.
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I so admire people who have the kind of vision you do, Ardys–not just the finely tuned type you use to capture your art from behind the lens, but also the kind that sees the process of creativity as a structured, methodical and effortful one. I don’t believe you can have one without the other.
Another post filled with some breathtaking art.
xx
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Thanks so much Shelley. As the old saying goes, creativity is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration!! We may wish it was otherwise, but usually it is not!
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‘I have said before that there is no failure. But sometimes things don’t go according to your plan.’ – Yes. I like the notion of this, not only for ourselves, but also as something we consider when those around us appear to ‘mess up’ or get things wrong.
Most of the time, we don’t need other people to tell us we have messed up, because we already know. As an individual I can often be very hard on myself as I am sure others are. This can prevent us from learning the lessons and trying again due to fear of failure.
We’ve got to allow ourselves room to fail. If you’re not messing up, you’re not growing much!
Someone somewhere said – ‘There is more to learn from mistakes than from successes’ – and I think this is right. We’ve got to go through the hard bits to learn how to do things better. Struggling sometimes also gives a sense of empathy and compassion.
Beautifully written Ardys,
ML
x
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This comment is why I like writing this blog. I enjoy sharing things and doubly enjoy when it moves readers to comment in such a thoughtful way. Thanks so much Miss Lou!
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I love the way you explore the analogy, Light Chaser. And am glad your Wildflower is still going strong in the wind. =) Keep up the beautiful blogging.
Diana
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Thank you Diana, much appreciated!
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