Finally!!!!!! Something else to shoot and edit.

We all know that I have recently returned from an amazing holiday where I took over 3000 photos. (“Good God! Is she still banging on about that bloody trip?”)  But I have had enough of editing them……..for now.

I have been craving the availability of something new to photograph.

Something. ANYTHING!!!

Even with the knowledge that whatever I photograph is going to be shot with my old, original DSLR, the Nikon D5100, as my D750 is at Dr Nikon getting the shutter unit replaced, I still needed to photograph something new. I just didn’t know what and I was hamstrung with other commitments that prevented me going out to play with my camera friends.

But in the marvellous way the earth’s energies converge, I was handed not one………not even two photo opportunities today. I was presented with THREE occasions to pull the camera out of the backpack. THREE!!! I would  have been content with one chance to get creative. I was dumbfounded to have the three offered to me to grab and enjoy. Because that is what taking photos is for me; the chance to grab a moment in time and capture it in my own way.

It began with a table full of donated, hand-knitted and crocheted items on the table at work. The colours, the patterns, the textures! It was something. And I was happy. I had something new to edit and something new to blog about.

And then the earth’s energies came together to offer me bliss as I began my ten minute walk to my car. The beautiful Pablo, an eight month old Basset Hound, playing in the fallen Autumn leaves, his colouring complimented by the reds and oranges on the ground. Fortunately for me his lovely owner was more than happy to let me shoot away.

I said my goodbyes to Pablo and his mum and continued my short trek when I saw unusual activity in the old pavillion on the edge of the lake at Queen’s Park. Is/was that really a person walking on a rope ties to the balustrade? Oh my goodness gracious, this is real, hurry up Suzanne and get your camera out before you miss this chance!!!!

Ahhhhh…………the D5100. How excited and happy I was when I bought her and she was my one and only. I thought that she was the bees knees.  She was the catalyst behind my blog! And she is still a very good camera………….. for an entry-level DSLR. But I have to say, in all honesty and with a touch of embarrassment and shame, it is like going back to dial-up internet when you’ve been on super-fast broadband.  I love you D5100, but I miss D750 and her speed and ability to handle low light situations. I will continue to take you everywhere I go, in case of photographic opportunities, until the time I collect my D750 from Dr Nikon. (Which will, hopefully, be in a few days.)

But…………I got my photos. I grabbed those photography gifts with a slow camera and two eager hands. I worked with what I had and I have something new to look at with wonder and pride.

I am in awe at the way the earth energies work. Just when I needed them, they were there for me. And I hadn’t even really asked for anything. It was just a passing thought. Wow. Imagine what could be possible if I thought with more conviction!!

 

PS: New watermark. Matches the ‘business card’ I had printed. I like.    🙂

 

Revisiting the past

Because I’m basically hiding from the world and keeping my cold/sore throat germs to myself, I have had the time to revisit photos from days gone by. Not that they are really old shots, but they are photos I took and I kind of threw my hands up in the air in frustration and despair because I wasn’t able to edit them the way I imagined.

Lightroom 5 is a bloody good program, but there are things it simply is not designed to do. And that’s ok. But every day I learn more about what it can do and therefore I was able to take another look at my ‘despair’ photos and have a play. Today was also another chance to be absolutely ruthless about what shots were worth keeping. Cull, baby, cull!!!!

I have culled, I have edited, I have re-edited, I have experimented and I have had fun.

I’ve also watched ’50 First Dates’ again and started knitting a scarf.

Knitting!!! I must be sicker than I thought or I’m spending far too much time alone. I have told my friends that they need to hold an intervention if I started to crochet squares again. What are they going to say when they know I’m knitting???

 

A room full of jellyfish

A room of floating jellyfish

I have met some amazing people in the last 10 years. Creative people who have opened my eyes to the world.

Today I had the honour of photographing the latest exhibition by one of these creative people. A girl with blue hair, an enormous heart, a love of rabbits, some awesome boots and a skill with a crochet hook.

No boring granny-rug squares for this girl. Instead ………. jellyfish. Hundreds of jellyfish. Crocheted and created from yarns of similar shades of the one colour, but different textures. And then there are the red ones!!  No two the same. Each one with its own style and story of creation.

There are the jellyfish made during lunch breaks. The jellyfish created on the 2 hour trip to work on public transport. (And the 2 hour trip back home) Let’s not forget those made while a passenger in the front seat of her boyfriends car. The artist can probably tell you where and when each one was made. She has her favourites. There are those that have special memories for her.

All I know is, I walked up the gallery stairs and into a room of magic and serenity and I got to photograph it. 🙂