I was a very creative person when I was younger.  I sewed, painted, baked.  Then my kids grew up and I started working harder and moved into a very structured and organized field.  Somewhere along that road I lost my need to be creative.  Other than music, which I would never give up, I didn’t really do anything that required me to use my right brain.  Then my daughter decided she wanted to take up photography, but had no way to get to the class so I agreed to take it with her so she had a ride there.

After spending several hundred dollars on camera equipment, I thought I’d better keep on taking classes after my daughter decided it wasn’t for her.  It was during the second class I took that I realized I had changed.

Before I started looking at things through the camera I just saw things as I assumed they looked.  I hadn’t really LOOKED.  All of a sudden I started to see colours I hadn’t realized were there before.  I noticed the light and the shadows.  Textures in simple things like wood and concrete.  It was like I was looking at the world with new eyes!

I found this quote a few days ago and couldn’t agree more:

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to SEE without a camera.”

This afternoon I looked out my office window and the sun was catching the strands in the screen.  They looked like strands of gold with the turning leaves behind them.  I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera to take a quick picture of them.  I seem to pick up my camera a lot these days when I see something beautiful.

And I seem to see something beautiful a lot more often these days.  In nature and in people.  For, you see, when your perspective changes on one thing it can change toward many other things as well.  Photography has helped me see beauty all around me.  So I say a big THANK YOU to those who have taught me along the way and have helped me improve my vision.

Love,

Nancy