It has been a few weeks since I took photos of the apartment complex I chose for a photo project. I’ve been eager to get back into the swing of things and a public holiday gave me the perfect opportunity.
While taking photos I thought about the zoom blur technique. At this point I’m already busy with long exposure photography so why not try this. What could I lose?
I’m using an 18-55mm kit lens on my Canon. As you’ll see in the image above the light to the left shows some shakiness as the rotation of the zoom isn’t as smooth as I hoped it would be. The result however is still really good looking.
While I was busy with the a car drove past and you can see it’s light trails going past.
I leave you with another two images from the night, both long exposure but without the zoom blur effect.
Dive deep into the quiet. – Image found on Pinterest.
“Burn down everything.”
I was out for my routine, mind-preparing coffee today. While sipping at the cappuccino and marveling at a variety of things I started thinking about the week ahead and this post.
It’s been a crazy week in the world.
Political assassination. Governments collapsing. If you really had the time you rewrite Billy Joel’s “We didn’t start the fire” with the events going on around us at the moment. A fast browse on YouTube or any social media channel makes you negative fairly quickly, draining the will to create.
While I was busy making some notes I noticed how quiet it got in my mind. Yes, I was in the middle of a slightly busy restaurant / shopping mall but nothing bothered me at this point. While writing and sipping my coffee I lost track of the surrounding distractions. It brought up the following thought:
Find stillness.
As a part-time creative (hobby creative if you will?) we have to navigate wisely. Our time is limited so when we do have an opportunity to be creative we have to focus as much as possible. No, I’m not trying to sell you something to maximize your time. I mean we shouldn’t focus on the things which don’t contribute to our creativity.
It is easy to become despondent and think “Why do I even try?” And in these times we compare ourselves to others, conveniently forgetting each of us have a different set of circumstances resulting in different outcomes.
Finding stillness focuses mostly on a time where you cut away from the excess of the world. The news, the social media channels. The politics of everything.
Find time to create – even if it is something small. The one photo which gives you inspiration. The single paragraph you write which over time completes a newsletter draft or perhaps a novel / short story. Make time for this. It’s vital if you want to somehow escape the rat race. Even if it is only for an hour while sitting in a coffee shop.
People walking past, people inside talking about a variety of things. When I find myself in these positions I tend to be very contemplative about life. I’m not the extroverted type personality who will ask people to be quiet. And in this instance I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
It is a public space after all.
So with my easy cappuccino a third of the way finished I thought to myself: how do I drown out this noise? And as these rabbit holes tend to work the more I thought the deeper I went.
As a photographer it is easy (sometimes necessary) to take a lot of photos. But if we focused on quality VS quantity how would it benefit our photography?
Is it important to capture literally everything we see?
Capture, edit, post. An endless cycle if we get caught up in the social media current. What if we learned to breathe around our photos? Let them sit and work on getting them shared at a later stage.
If you didn’t capture an image your really wanted is your whole day a failure? Focus on being content with the work you do.
Savor life just as it is. I enjoy this point because I struggle with comparison. Other’s have better areas for street photography thus my photos aren’t good. If I don’t have ___ subscribers it’s not worth writing. These types of things rob us of enjoyment. We hate on others and in the process neglect our own work. You might not have the same circumstance as another writer / photographer but you can make the best of your surroundings.
tl;dr
An overcast sky as backdrop against a telecoms tower.
I still go through these motions today. Disliking my photography & writing because of external motivations.
It’s a natural inclination to compare. It’s how we strive forward and push ourselves to become a better version. But if it starts to make us negative and perceive others’ as “lucky” I think there lies a problem with our thinking.
If you’re reading this on a Sunday I hope it’s a good one for you.
