100 Day Project 2021

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Photo-Heart Connection ~ March 2013



Have you noticed a lack of nature images on my blog lately
It’s not because I haven’t been trying
Nothing seems to be working
I can’t seem to take a decent picture
They seem blah
Lifeless
Boring
 
I am confused
What is wrong
 
I go outside
I walk
I take pictures
I come in, look at them, and delete them
 
I feel a little grumpy
Maybe a little down
I need to get outside
It is drizzling rain
I slip on my raincoat
I tuck my little camera in my pocket
 
I walk across the yard and into the woods
I walk slowly
Just a few steps at a time
 
I listen
I hear the raindrops
The tree frogs
The chattering birds
The water gurgling in the creek
 
I breathe deeply
 
I look closely at everything around me
I see signs of spring
Trees budding out
Woodland violets beginning to unfurl
Lichen growing on tree trunks and branches
 
I began to take pictures
I take tons of pictures
I keep just a few
That is fine
 
If one pictures connects with my heart
That is enough
 
The one that connected is the one you see above
All the little trails left by small bugs seem to begin at one place
From that point they wander around in different directions
In the middle of those trails I spotted this heart
 
This looks like it could be a little map of my wanderings
All the paths I’ve taken
All the adventures I’ve had
All centered around my love of nature

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks.
Most of the time we are simply not patient enough,
quiet enough to pay attention to the story.
~ Linda Hogan

 
kat eye view

17 comments:

  1. Cathy, this is such a beautiful connection, I love everything you wrote here. And I think we all go through times like this, I know I do, and think I lost my photo mojo, but then it comes back. Yours will too, but know this is a wonderful photo!!

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  2. Yes, this is a wonderful photo and I love the words you wrote. It's more than just a wonderful photo because it connected with your heart!
    I know about those slumps! I've had a few! Like Kim says, it comes back!

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  3. This really touched my heart. I think we all experience those times when our muse slips away and we seem to lose our love for photography, but it always returns and the universe is always there to send us those loving signals like the heart you found. Gorgeous! Thank you for sharing.

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  4. What a fascinating image, Cathy! What you describe so beautifully is familiar to all of us -- it's part of the yin and yang of life. And I love that you found a heart!

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  5. I love those little bug paths and the heart in the middle! like the way you followed your nose and just came across this unusual image!

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  6. Beautiful! It's a trail to the heart!
    Rinda

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  7. A beautiful photo, and heartfelt words. Thank you.

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  8. Oh this is beautiful. Your picture, which looks like a piece of digital art and your words. I agree we all have these times when nothing speaks to us. Only today I was asking my husband to look at the last lot of photos I took to help me understand what is wrong with them.
    Nothing he said, there is nothing wrong with them!

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  9. I thought I was the only one who bothered to take pictures of bug trails in wood! I'm pleased to meet you, Cathy! :-) I love the textures they make---I always wonder if it's a language that they are really writing hieroglyphs in the wood with some important meaning ... or are they just hungry? Looks like you found a keep photograph on this day!

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  10. i think you have expressed perfectly what we have all felt from time to time. the ebb and flow is so great on the flow side...not so great on the other. i happen to love this shot and the lines and texture in it. totally speaks to my heart. xoxox

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  11. Cathy - oh, I completely understand that grumpiness and dissatisfaction. Where every image goes into the recycle bin - delete, delete, delete. But I like the way you didn't give up - you kept going, took the time to breathe and to really study the changing world around you. And then it happened - that magical connection, back to your heart.

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  12. I love the thought process you went through with this picture. I think it is photographer growing pains, you want more and just not quite sure how to get it yet. That is why we keep taking classes to learn more and keep growing more :)

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  13. I hear you Cathy-I get it. I think it is normal to come into these slumps, especially after you've been shooting photos for awhile. I've been working thru these emotions for quite some time-days at a stretch of blah, blah punctuated by an uplift a couple times a week. One thing I have found helpful when that happens is to slow down. In my mind I think "what am I missing here?" sometimes there isn't anything, but often times there is.
    I remember when Kat found hearts out and about. I bet she'll like this one, especially since it's "organic". Keep on keeping on.

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  14. I love how you've translated this image into your experience, Cathy. Your writing is so poetic, and so clearly captures that lull that comes before new artistic growth. It is the dissatisfaction that keep you moving ahead, trying new things. It might be time to revisit some of the Find Your Eye material. Take some time to look at where you've been and where you are, and then listen to your heart on where you want to go. Amazing things await, I know it. Thank for sharing this with us in your Photo-Heart Connection this month.

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  15. I love the details in your photo heart photo and I can imagine why you select this one, I competly understand your feelings and feel with you, taking a lot of photo but missing the wow in it, take a little break from an hour or so ;-)) and than go again there are so many opportunitys to take your photos with fun, for me thats the only reason to walk with my camera, to have fun, when I have some pictures wich make me happy or where I have a connection with its is a gift. Your words are so great. Thats a gift too.

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  16. There are cycles and spirals and curves and meanderings in life aren't there? I love how you embrace this in your image and photography.

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  17. Cathy, I love your eye that sees these tiny details and captures them with your camera, and I love your words that add more beauty and meaning to the image. You've gotten to the deep heart of the matter.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!!