Looking and Seeing

As an adult I have always enjoyed taking photos, mostly of my children, family events, then my grandchildren.  It wasn't until we began going to Colorado for my husband's hunting trips that I really started "seeing" what was out there in the big world.  I can remember my first look at the Rockies as we drove up that steep hill leaving Denver heading west, going around a curve and POW..there were those high peaks still capped with some snow in July, stabbing up toward that blue sky!   Using a film camera and shooting through the front windshield to freeze that view for oohing and aahing later.  Who knew that would be the start of countless "drive-by shootings" that only increased with the digital age.  

Somewhere deep in my heart and mind was the capturing of light, lines, shapes, curves, colors, textures and all the other photographic qualities that drew me in..but I didn't know it at the time.  So many years have passed and now when I look back at my photos that are lodging in my computer, I can see that my eye and heart were seeking out those essences even without me knowing until I found a name for the type of photography that I was drawn into- contemplative!   Being contemplative and looking close..seeing the flower first but looking further to its essence..

 standing inside a tree leaves instead of taking a picture from outside of the whole tree,

 soft flowers with spiny protectors instead of just the pretty flower,

  shadows of a dead plant on the sand where most people would not even notice. 

This is what my photography is all about now.  A personal connection with the world. It gives me joy and a connection to life around me.   I feel grateful and awed that my eyes are seeing remarkable things in the everyday world where I live.  I saw this leaf in a friend's flower bed and she asked "Why are taking a photo of that dead leaf?"  I responded "  Look at the life lines all connected together and it looks like lace to me!"  She responded " I would never have seen that, it is just a dead leaf but now that you say that I can see the lines."   But she never saw the beauty or the life connection.   She doesn't know what she is missing!

Keep looking and really "See"!  Every thing is amazing!