Nature is soul-restoring. Every so often I take time out for myself. I need to touch base with nature once in a while, ground myself, be quiet, hear quiet and just be. Recharge.
Nature is amazing
We all know this already but how often do you take the time to really see that. Slow down, wander, watch and listen. When you’re out taking photos if you watch very closely you’ll see that nature helps you when you need it. No need to create a scene when it’s already there.
As I wandered the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, IL, I watched, and looked and was able to see natural compositions. The wind, water and leaves made their own art. It was my honor to be able to record it.
These scenes presented themselves to me because I was paying attention and being in the moment, taking in all the wonder there was around me.
Creating art
I should say creating more art because nature is art already. Along with getting out in nature, every so often I play with my editing.
I’m mostly a bit of a purist when it comes to editing, depending on the image. But, I do like to experiment and play and be more creative at times. These leaf compositions in the water just spoke to me. No, I’m not hearing voices (well, not any more than usual).
These images just felt like still life art so I took them into a few different editing programs to see what I could come up with. I finally landed on ON1 Effects, which I rarely if ever use and added a canvas texture beyond the usual adjustments to color, etc. There are too many options with too many editing programs! I get overwhelmed and then it becomes a deer in the headlights scenario.
Allow yourself days off to explore
Whether it’s exploring in nature or exploring your post-processing tools. Take the time to do both. We need to clear our heads in order to make space for new ideas and more creativity.
I enjoyed your presentation at the visual storytelling conference about creativity. Some of your ideas described how I currently think about where I want to play with my photography. Since the pandemic and a foot injury, I walk down my rural street daily with the challenging idea that I want to try to photograph something I haven’t photographed before. It is a pretty location along a small cove of the Chesapeake bay. I thought you might enjoy my leaf post. https://calmreflectionsphotography.blogspot.com/2022/01/autumn-leaves-backgrounds.html?m=1
Thanks so much, Joanna. I really appreciate you attending my session and glad you found it useful for yourself.
Walking and exploring around our own homes can be so eye-opening. Your leaves are lovely and a great example of what we can find when we focus on finding something to photograph. Thank you for sharing those.