Through The Camera Lens

The world we live in is a place full of beautiful things. We often take it for granted, used to it's existence in our lives. When someone takes a moment to reflect on it though, we are amazed. Sometimes we have forgotten that the world can be beautiful. We get into this space in our minds where it is all ugly. But it is only as ugly as we want it to be. There is always something beautiful to be seen.

When I have a camera in my hands, I want to take pictures of everything I see. It doesn't matter what it is. I just want to be able to remember it. I will admit here, that my memory isn't all that good, I forget things very fast, and pictures are one of the things I have figured out that helps me to stay cohesive. But that's a whole different bushel of bananas.

When it comes to taking a picture, there is no right or wrong in my opinion. The purpose of the picture is to capture something that you see with your own eyes,enabling you to see this view in the future. Cloud formations, plants, animals, they are all different every time you see them. Although some people will say that they aren't I pose this questions. Are they permanent fixtures? Clouds move, rain falls, animals run and burrow. Plants change as the seasons move in turn. What you see one day may be gone the next, in some cases far faster than in others.

So what do we take pictures of? Should we just take them haphazardly for no reason? No, that's not what I'm trying to get  you to do. Instead you should think about what you're taking a picture of. Because when someone asks you what a picture is of or what it is for, you should have something to say.

An example. The other day Polke A. Dot and I went to Balboa Park. It was a rather busy day at the park, and there were a lot of people there. I was very surprised by this fact. We ended up slightly lost, though it meant we got to see a few areas in the park I hadn't seen yet. I was impressed by the beautiful buildings there (I always seem to be, every time I go there something new pops out at me).

We were walking around enjoying the slight breeze and people watching. When I noticed the interesting detailing along the building that houses the Sporting Museum here in San Diego. It's reminiscent of Aztec or Mayan work, and it's lovely. So here are two of the pictures that I took. They are very simple, and focus mostly on one thing.

Now why is it that out of all the pictures I took that day(around 15), These are the two that I like? For one thing they are timeless. There is no time in the picture, no people, no animals, nothing living. The top one does have some shadowing and light dabbling from the sunlight getting through the trees, but it adds to the shadowing in the sculpt detailing. The second one though, with the shift from the usual perspective is probably my favorite picture I took while we were at the park. I just like the way it feels.

You don't have to just take pictures people will immediately recognize. I wouldn't have a clue what these pictures were actually of if I hadn't taken them myself. So remember that what you see through your camera lens can be used for many things. Don't play it safe forever, especially now that many of us are using digital cameras. There's no film to develop, it's a low commitment level...

Take the picture!