It was while I was composing a thank you email to one of my loyal visitors and commenters this morning that I recognized with fresh clarity something that has probably been more than obvious to you. Since last year’s lightbulb moment, when I embraced a creative u-turn with photography as I would a long-lost best friend (thank you The Artist’s Way), the balance between text and image has shifted here. I still love to write, knit, quilt, sew, bead, draw and other things crafty. But what takes a front row seat these days is the composing of a photo, tweaking the composition, reshooting, refining. The joy and pleasure all of this gives me invites time to evaporate; I guess you could say I am at one with the moment.
I am a purist and have been known to hold on to old-fashioned techniques long after modern variation is the norm. Whether it’s handslicing cabbage for a cole slaw rather than passing off the task to a food processor that will slice and dice in moments, or pushing a rotary mower around the lawn instead of a gas-powered machine that will certainly reduce the sweat-factor, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve held on to some approaches purely on principle. So, no one has been more surprised than myself to discover how much fun it is to have a digital SLR camera. My film-based 35mm is packed away for now, with no plans at this time to break it out again.
The only photo editing I do so far is crop and the occasional brightening adjustment. I’m learning as much as I can about the creation of a digital image before it arrives in Photoshop. But you can be sure that digital collages are right around the corner!
This vintage day dress surfaced during the reorg of my craft and sewing room. Many moons ago, during the carefree hitchhiking days of Woodstock and flower-power, I probably bought it at an antique store somewhere in western Massachusetts. If only I still had my groovy earth shoes to show you, too!
Thanks for staying with what has evolved into more of a photo journal than narrative blog. Your response to my photography spurs me on!
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I always love your photos, Lisa! I’ve been tossing the idea of starting a photoblog around … in my spare time you know. 🙂 Let me know when you have a date for NOTL! ~ Lynda xo
I always love seeing your photos, Lisa! I’ve been tossing around the idea of creating a photoblog … in my spare time you know. 🙂 Let me know when you have a date for NOTL! ~ Lynda xo
Your photos are truly lovely.
Being a newer reader of your blog, I hadn’t realised this was a more recently acquired skill of yours. You could have fooled me as your images are usually quite magical.
The clarity of images is awesome, Lisa! And you DO have a great eye for composition. More! I want to see more!
Very nice! I’m glad to see how the spark turned into a post! The photography is great and that vintage dress is too cool for words! 🙂