Spring in the woods

This morning is exceptionally warm for the time of spring that it is. The redbud trees in the woods where my house sits have just begun to bloom, and the robin that is looking for breakfast on the ground next the deck that I am on seems to be trying to tell everyone within earshot that it is indeed 65 degrees and sunny. A hoot owl just acknowledged the robin’s call. I watch with anticipation as the sun travels down the tree trucks and across the yard. My yard. The grass hasn’t been mowed yet this year – my mower is broke and in the shop. I have weird purple plants growing in the front next to the side walk that look as if they have aggressively taken over.
Then I think about photography. Life is so simple when you have a camera in your hand. Life is broken down to f stops, shutter speeds and composition. I could take a picture of my yard in this gorgeously warn sunlight and then use Photoshop to remove the weeds and bare patches. I could, but I won’t. Even though that is what I would like things to look like, it is not the reality that we live in. It is the reality that we aspire for, the reality that exists only in my mind.
Isn’t life like that? Don’t we aspire to have made accomplishments, make a difference in the world, be a good person, save lots of money, be the perfect mate, have a great job, enjoy lots of leisure time, look like a cross between Redford and Schwarzenegger, and be a great photographer? Unfortunately there is no Photoshop for life – only more life. Sometime life gets in the way, sometime life is celebrated.
Other birds have joined in with the robin. Chickadees and creepers. The beat is off a little – they sound like one of those fusion jazz groups…but they are happy – they are doing what they know how to do. What a great example for us – that we just need to do what we know how to do. Throw an empty card in the Nikon and walk through the woods – no expectations, no preconceived ideas, but just live – with our cameras as an extension of our eyes and our minds…realizing that the most minuscule objects are interesting when examined with a micro lens and the most ugly object can be made beautiful or at least interesting in the proper light and the proper angle…it is ours to wait for that light and find that angle. Both in the woods and in life.

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