unfocused

Several months ago, I finally bought a digital camera. My little Lumix was not purchased to take the place of my I Phone for capturing pictures to use on the blog. Rather, I got it because I knew I was traveling to Egypt this year and though getting good photos with the phone has become sort of a sport to me, there was no way I would go across the ocean without a bona fide camera in my possession. In a previous blog, I remember talking about a trip I took to Santa Fe when the battery in my camera died. Not once have I regretted not having any pictures as the trip was a spiritual transformation better shared with words and expression, both verbal and non. I truly expect to feel something in my soul when I set foot on the sands beneath the Pyramids, I definitely want a photograph to highlight the verbal and non each time I relive that moment.

While I have been encouraged to venture into the world of professional photography, I prefer to use my discerning eye, which I do have, to first frame and capture images then turn some into artistic expressions. Whether focused or unfocused, it’s all about size, angles and shapes or left, right or center justification of things when I peer into the lens. And then there are the images that I visualize with my eyes but can’t actually see. I hold the camera above my head, point and hope that when the button is pressed, I will be rewarded with a stellar shot. That said I’ve discovered that it’s best to wait until I download everything before getting too excited because the small screen on the back of the camera does not reveal minute details. I’ve had to painfully delete picturesque views taken from behind window panes due to the invisible smudges that are all too visible once the photo develops before my eyes. As I go through the shots, the ones that best lend themselves to transformation via manipulating color, contrast and other variables are immediately obvious to me. I love the subtle changes, the fact that a single picture can evoke a totally different vibe by just adjusting its tone.

 

 

 

 

 

 
So an amateur I will remain who right now is giddy thinking about being exposed to views that until I set foot on that land far beyond my backyard, I have only envisioned in my head. Perhaps some that I capture will be unfocused much like a mirage across the hot desert sands. But blurred or focused, this adventure will grant me the opportunity to transform some of them into creative works as the journey itself transforms me.

keep your peepers open!®