To write or not to write?. The question has been on my mind a lot. As it turns out, it isn’t really the right question to ask myself. The right question is “What to write?” Cause something is longing to come out.
I recently took part in a writing course in which we were taught to start every day with a freewrite. A freewrite consists of spilling your thoughts and emotions into a notebook, keeping your pen glued to the paper for at least five minutes. It’s a warm up tool to dissolving road blocks on your way to free flowing prose. I thought it was useful. So that’s how I started my blog, with a freewrite. I let words and sentences flow like a babbling brook, which soon turned to a swollen river. Then I deleted the first 3 paragraphs.
When I investigated a few photography blogs online, I found lots of talented people residing in cyberspace. And even closer to home- in the Canadian Rocky Mountains – there’s a photographer hiding behind every tree, rock or furry animal. It is not uncommon to visit Vermillion Lakes near Banff at sunrise and find yourself surrounded by a dozen tripods and two legged owners.
Though I have sworn on occasion at the sight of a busload of camera owners, it’s all fine really. It turns out that –except from Banff Avenue- there’s lot of space here in the mountains. In addition, we all look at life from a different angle. What we have in common is a desire to get out there, immerse ourselves in nature and capture its beauty. With a bit of luck we walk away with a picture that speaks partly of a natural scene, but more often than not also portrays a bit of the capturer’s character, life and experiences.
This blog will not be about the aperture settings on my camera or carefully calculated shutter speeds. There are many great blogs for that. To hide my true self behind equipment details and technical ladida would no doubt be fairly safe choice, but would not feel -to use one of my favorite words- “authentic” to me. There’s another story to be told that inspires me more, like a spring that longs to be flowing. It’s about exploring life and the natural world that surrounds us. It’s about sharing and making sense of the sometimes challenging, sometimes downright funny experiences on our path. In this blog photography is the medium, wilderness the playground, life the subject. Hope you join me.