My Best Lie

Anyone that knows me well knows I love photography.  Gayla often refers to my camera as my “mistress” …and I have several.  I have always had cameras which I used over the years to snap shots of our family and capture places we went.  Most pictures I took were fine and served their purpose but weren’t anything special.  About 10 years ago, a short visit to a photo gallery in Breckenridge, CO convinced me I wanted to learn more about photography.  So many of the pictures I have taken just wasn’t what I saw in my mind.  I wanted to be able to capture what I saw, and the journey began.

Gayla bought me my first digital SLR camera for Christmas that year, and this time, I actually read the manual.  I also started researching photography books and magazines and found a great magazine book that was solely focused on landscape photography tips, with lots of pictures.  I’m a fairly simple-minded guy and with the help of pictures, I learned many techniques for controlling light, composition and other subtle details that make it possible to start capturing what I see.  Over the years, with lots of practice, I have been able to capture many images that represented what I believed I saw. 

I love taking pictures of flowers.  They are all unique and amazingly beautiful.  The Hill Country of Texas is known for the signature bluebonnets that bloom each spring.  Alpine meadows transform as the snow-packed fields give way to the expanse of wildflowers signaling summer has arrived.  Standing in a field of wildflowers and enjoying their beauty is one thing.  Capturing that beauty is a different challenge.  The key is often figuring out what story you want to tell and how do these flowers fit in that story. I have taken many, many wildflower pictures that just didn’t turn out to be “what I saw.” But, I din’t quit!! 😊

With all that, I would like to introduce you to my one of my favorite pictures and best lie:

This image was taken on a layover in Jackson Hole.  I landed around noon and had the afternoon off to go for a hike.  I took my camera and went for a hike out Cache Creek Rd, southeast of the town of Jackson.  I followed a well-developed trail system with a goal in mind of capturing this image.  I had taken flower pictures like this but none that I really fell in love with.  I knew exactly what I was looking for, just needed to find it.  I was looking for a beautiful Columbine flower with the sun lighting the face of the flower and the entire background was in the shade.  The background needed to be relatively non-descript and I needed to be able to stand about 15 feet away from the flower to zoom in closely using a telephoto lens.  This allowed me to focus solely on the flower and leave the rest of the image out of focus.  I always work to avoid disturbing the area and capture the image as it is in nature, no props and leave no trace of my presence.  Once I found this flower, I knew it was all up to me to make it happen. 

So, what’s my point…why is this picture a lie?

It is a real picture of a live flower taken in its natural environment with no backdrops or supplemental lighting.  This image wasn’t photoshopped, but I did make a few minor edits such as cropping and slight adjustments to lighting in the shadows.  My knowledge of photography allowed me to remove all distractions and let this one Columbine tell the story.  But was this what I saw?  Not completely.

If you were standing where I stood when I took this picture, would you have seen what I saw?  Not likely.  I was on a trail in the woods.  You would have been surrounded by beautiful trees, and grasses.  You would have seen the ground rich with fallen trees and exposed rocks.  There were rays of sunlight coming through the trees.  You would have heard a creek not far away and the sounds of the water flowing over the rocks, and felt the breeze blowing through the trees.  This was not the only flower in the area, there were lots of flowers, and many different types.  It is more than likely that you would have never even noticed this one, beautiful, Columbine. 

This day, I wanted to forego the larger picture and zoom in on one of those amazing little things that are often overlooked as we go through life.  This is kind of like life.  We can take where we are and focus on the overall beauty around us or sometimes temporarily tune out the larger world and focus on the beauty right in front of us.  Sometimes the larger world around us isn’t so pretty but if we look closely, there may be beauty right in front of use.  Sometimes we get too dialed into the trouble that is right in our face and get distracted from that amazing world around us.  In any case, we need to take time and enjoy life.

It’s all perspective…good day!