Rather than heading to the gym each morning as is my habit in the winter months, I have been spending mornings outside–doing what I most love, which is looking for beauty that I can capture with my camera. In the past few weeks I have been spending time in the gardens and on the trails of the Biltmore Estate where it is not unusual for me to be crawling around on the ground, face-to-face with the unfurling ferns and newly sprouted greens. My knees are usually dirt-covered, my pant-legs dew-soaked and my focus clearly not on the bigger picture that everyone else is focused on. I do look at and appreciate the magnificent house, the blooming azaleas and other flowers but it is the “little wonders” that thrill me most.
Have you seen the way the water drops sometimes line the leaf edges? Or noticed the art in the unfurling of a leaf?
Everyday that I am out with my camera is a good day and I can always find something worth capturing. The challenge comes when I try to describe it to others, not just the thing I photographed, but the feelings associated with it.
Here then is my quote for the week along with two of my favorite Ansel Adams quotes:
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams
“The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.” – Ansel Adams
What great photographs have you made lately? What stories do YOUR pictures tell? Where do you most love to spend your time? What “little wonders” have you noticed recently?
