I'm just starting out on this contemplative photography journey. I know it's all about the process, not the photo, but overcoming decades of "capturing the moment" or "taking a stunning photo" is difficult. Nothing new there this morning.
It was an unusual morning as there was fog. It doesn't get foggy very often in Phoenix so immediately, at 6:30am I threw on some clothes and grabbed the dog and the camera. And then I got an idea. Wouldn't it be amazing if I could catch the fog and the sunrise on the beautiful desert landscape? I went back and forth on this idea and settled on going. (Introspective note: I'm working through times when I'd rather just be comfortable and then doing the thing that seems more daunting.) But my motivation was one of those aggressive photography words, Did you "catch" it? I wanted to take it. Not receive it.
Well, by the time I drove 30 minutes enough to be somewhere without seeing houses (and not to mention that I was so distracted I went a different way than i intended), the fog was mostly gone. And it was a pretty dark morning. It did make for that good moody mountain photo up there though.
All is not lost though, I did take some time to reflect on the photo after I got home. I'm captured not by the mountains, but by the way the light was reflecting off all the little leaves on the bushes closest to the camera. There is nothing white on those bushes. That is the sunrise on the wet leaves.
By the time I got home, disappointed as I was about not taking a phenomenal photo, I thought I'd just take the dog for a walk. And there were photos two and three.
Photo 2. The reflection of a naked tree with it's leaves around it's reflection.
What does it say to you?
Photo 3. The "weed" with the large droplet of water that I noticed as I picked up dog poop. Yep. Dog poop. Noticing in the mundane life activity. Out of the corner of my eye.
Do you notice sometimes? What is it that you see in the everyday?
This was my process this morning. Undoing. Unlearning. Being. Noticing.
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My offering:
God, I am grateful for the mystery
of learning and unlearning
of things that are unseen
that live deep within
There is simple joy
in the noticing
being surprised, astonished
by seeing what was always there
There is great love
in the "being"
Companionship, adoration
a constant embrace.
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