I think I've mentioned before that my camera and I have a wandering spirit. I just strike out and see what I can find. On many of these explorations, I have the time to slowly absorb the surroundings. I walk around and then something will catch my interest. A little voice inside me says "go see what that is" or "walk along this path" or "turn this corner." I almost always follow my intuition and more times than not, it has paid off. The images in this collage were all taken when I let my intuition lead me.
I think the first thing you're going to notice is that these are not my normal nature images. When I'm out in nature it's not so much intuition that leads me to photograph something, but discovery. Let me just explain a few of these shots and you'll see what I mean.
For instance the first one (top left) was taken in Jefferson, Texas. I had been to this small historic town twice before and never walked down this ally. This day I spotted the ally and something pulled me toward it; just a glimpse of an iron gate. I debated, I was supposed to be meeting my husband, but the pull was strong and I couldn't ignore it. I couldn't believe what was hidden behind that gate. A beautiful, peaceful garden tucked behind a brick wall on the backside of a historic hotel. One of the maids spotted me, unlocked the gate and let me take pictures to my heart's content. Hubby wasn't even worried, he knew I was wandering with my camera and I would get there eventually!
The sixth image (middle row, far right) was taken when I was looking for a county courthouse in a small town. I spotted the corner of this building and something made me turn the car around and check it out. I was thrilled to learn that it is one of only two remaining Carnegie Foundation Libraries in Arkansas that is still used as a public library.
Why did I walk the extra steps? Why did I turn around and go back? Intuition...plain and simple! I love to follow my gut feelings. I have pretty good instincts and I almost always follow them. If I had not taken those extra steps and the extra time, I would have missed some of my best memories of photo walks.
I don't have any trouble recognizing and following these feelings of intuition, just describing them. There's this almost child-like excitement, followed by an inner push that makes me walk faster and makes my heart speed up. When I spy that special thing, I always laugh! Always! It makes me so happy. It has happened to me time and time again.
In our latest assignment in Finding Your Eye: Journey of Fascination, Kat has us thinking about "intuition." She asked us to look through our images and see if we could remember any that were taking when we followed our intuition. I didn't find any!! Seriously, not one of the images above were in my inspiration folder. I've puzzled about this. I knew exactly where each one was, because they are special to me. Because they weren't in the folder, does that mean they're not special enough? Did I not include them because they're not my "usual" style of nature photograph? I don't really know the answer, but I've certainly corrected the problem. They are in there now! I'll be making sure that not just the best photos, but also the ones that make me happy are in this folder. When I look at the folder now there's the ones that make me feel awe and the one's that make me feel delight.
The photos are great!
ReplyDeletei love this so much cathy. i think it's a great reminder to me to trust my gut more. so often i'll pass by something interesting or that catches my eye. but i won't take a photo because i doubt myself or think, 'well that's just dumb. nobody would ever take a picture of that.' but when i have gone ahead and taken the shot anyway, more often than not it turns out to be one of my favorites. so funny the way that works. :)
ReplyDeleteI think the "best" photos are the ones that make you feel happy. Awe and delight both, that's what I want from my photography! Wonderful discussion of intuition. I'm glad you recognize it and follow it, and could remember these photos much later out of the thousands you've taken. Interesting they weren't in your Inspiration File - they are all worthy!
ReplyDeleteCathy, this post makes ME feel happy! I wish I'd read it before I wrote my own assignment, as I'm looking at it differently now. I love that you've added these photos to your inspiration file. I would like to update mine now, too.
ReplyDeleteLove that you've put them in your inspiration file now..where they belong. ;) Love hearing about you listening to your intuition and your images are beautiful - love the bike against the yellow building and the sun peaking out from the library building especially. It's amazing what's out there when we follow our instincts, thank you for sharing yours.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to follow along with your intuition and see the results of listening to it.
ReplyDeleteI loved how you described the feeling that you have - that feeling of child-like excitement. Your images say it all - about the joy of following our instincts. Regardless of whether the resulting photographs fall into our "normal" subject matter or shooting style. I agree with Kat - the best images make you happy.
This sounds so familiar. I love to just wonder, and when I go out to take photographs I rarely have an idea in mind of what I will take unless I am on a very specific project (and even then other things sneak in.)
ReplyDeleteI think you need to follow the Photo-Heart Connection criteria for your inspiration file :) The Public Library one is great and wonderful to know a little history to go with it.
ReplyDeleteI love how you presented these as a collage. You are a smart lady. Purple bike-great find. I too would have been drawn in by that gate. Finding a magical garden must have been so rewarding. Sounds like hubby has some intuition too. I think it's great that your intuition takes you outside your "tried and true" comfort zone. That's something to ponder too.
ReplyDeleteI love that you laugh when you respond to that inner whisper or nudge or whatever you call it. Your collage is filled with excellent images! Glad you listened and laughed and captured these.
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