Slowing down

"Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone."

~ Unknown

This past week I’ve been going through my photo archives and gathering my best images for a project I’m working on. Just when I thought I had enough together to get started, I went through them again. This time, I looked deeper. Because David DuChemin says...

“why turn your lens on anything else but that which stirs something in you?” 

Ugh, he always makes me think. I think too much already but I like how he nudges me into a different, more creative direction.

So, now I'm looking for my images that do just that, stir something.  My project folder of my best images is getting smaller and smaller with each pass through as I remove the ones that may be technically 'correct' and/or 'pretty' but don't move me other than being a "great capture."

I also realized I actually do understand my gear and the fundamentals more than I give myself credit for. I can see this in the evolution of my photography in my Flickr feed that spans the nine years since I went digital. I think I’ve been hiding behind a I-need-to-master-my-gear-and-the-fundamentals-to-move-forward wall.

Not that I have this craft anywhere near mastered. I have a long way to go and much more to learn. So much more. And this is one of the many things I love about photography; there will always be a lot to learn. It excites me and overwhelms me at the same time.

It's about time I really practice slowing down, take my time, think about what I want to say and how I want to express that through my photography before I press the shutter button.