Thursday, December 30, 2010

Grass is Always Greener...

Yesterday, Brandilyn and I went on a photo field trip.  When I brought her back to her home, she saw that her parents were away.  Uh, oh...she didn't have her house key.   She called her dad and he told her they would be home soon.  I offered to take her back to my house with me and have her parents pick her up there.  Or, I told her that I would prefer to hang out with her and walk around looking for something to photograph.

Recently, I downloaded an e-book (http://craftandvision.com/books/close-to-home/).  The premise of the book is to express the author's opinion that you do not have to travel to exotic places to find interesting things to photograph.  He writes that someone posed this question, “Everything seems so ‘ordinary’ where I live compared to other people and other places around the world. What can I do to create something original or different; something out of the ordinary?”

His writes his response:  "Here’s another thing to consider. Other people who live in other places struggle with exactly the same problem: how to make where they live look different or better… or just not ordinary. It’s a variation on “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”  Right now, there’s an urban New York City dweller who longs to photograph the green, wide-open vistas of the Irish countryside—and an Irish villager who thinks her photography would be so much more interesting if she could only get to New York City. Both of them, however, might just need to look a little closer at the place with which they’re most familiar."

As shot, SOOC (straight out of camera)
The above (sooc) image of a power line is very familiar and seemingly very ordinary.  Yet, when I think about how our culture and personal livelihood is connected to the power lines, it could be mind boggling.   From a photographic standpoint, the running lines and repetition to infinity combine to make a strong composition.   The exact same picture below was jazzed up a bit in lightroom.  I threw a dash of this and a dash of that preset in and came up with something that I think is a bit more compelling.  Actually, the presets that I used came from Matt Koslowki's blog http://lightroomkillertips.com/.   He offers some of his free preset plug-ins for lightroom on his blog.  He is a great teacher.  I have much to learn about photo editing.   

Continuing to look around, I noticed that Brandilyn was zooming in on leaves that were floating on the surface of her pool.  I am a copy cat so I went over there to do that too!  Then, I noticed  the tree on the other side of the pool was being reflected in the water ripples.  So, then I got kinda excited.  I thought maybe I caught something extraordinary from the ordinary. 


Lastly, I noticed my brother's work boots next to a bag of grass seed.  For some reason, I thought there was some kind of demonstration in this image.  What compelled me to take this photo?  I could not put my finger on it at the time of the capture.  But, I knew there was something that made me stop and take time to take 3 different shots.  What peaked my interest in my brother's work boots set against a backdrop of stark white, plainly marked Bermuda Grass Seed? ? ?  
It had something to tell me. 

I realized what it had to say as I was writing this post. 
Considering the adage that "grass is always greener on the other side of the fence",  it looks like my brother plans to grow green grass within his own backyard.  I think this could very well be a powerful metaphor if you allow.  To make the decision to actively create your own greener pasture could be the paradigm shift that changes your outlook in a positive way. 

Do you remember the good old hymn, "Count Your Many Blessings"?
Let the chorus roll around in your head until it sinks down into your heart.
Then, you will appreciate the 'Green, Green Grass of Home'.
Count your many blessings,  
Name them one by one.
Count your many blessings, 
See what God has done.