Opportunity

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I sit down to write, the weather outside is most pleasant – blue skies, some white, puffy clouds, and the temperature is 63 degrees – a good day to be walking outside, with or without a camera. Just a great day to soak up the sun, breathe in some fresh air and take in whatever nature has to offer. That’s today. In a few days a winter storm will bring temperatures at or below freezing. For some, this can be an excuse to put our cameras down. Some find it very difficult to be inspired or motivated to photograph in the chill of winter. Let’s not fall for that trap of excuses not to be creative.

Instead, let’s use the cold season (and the hot ones) as a wonderful opportunity to experiment, explore, play and simply do some different things indoors. Consider the definition of opportunity – a set of circumstances that make it possible to do something. There you go! Add the word “different” to the end of the definition, and you’ve got yourself a challenge. Think of the benefits – no cold, no wind, no rain, and no excuses. You’re able to control just about everything connected to this opportunity.

The two bunches of flowers and starting point for my indoor session (with phone)

JUST SOME OF THE POSSIBILITIES

If you’ve followed my writings and/or my photography for a while, you know that I enjoy giving myself assignments, taking on challenges, learning new things, and encouraging others to do the same. So, with this “opportunity,” I come to give you some ideas and some of the steps I use to get myself started.

In terms of indoor photography, consider learning how to gather items and create still lifes. It takes a little time to get the hang of it, but you can do this with just about anything you have around the house with some thought. The simpler you make them, accompanied with an idea before you throw everything down in a pile, the easier. I have a wide array of subject matter, ranging from oil cans, milk bottles, sewing tools, baking tools, old books to dead flowers, seeds, plants and many different vessels to work with. All these objects are rich with potential for still life work.

If you don’t have a green thumb or “indoor garden,” order some flowers (aka therapy) online if you’re looking for a specific kind. Or head to your neighborhood grocery store and pick up some flowers to bring home and play with. I do this often. You can also walk your neighborhood and gather all manner of plants, leaves and the occasional flower to bring home. The indoor flowers can be included in still life work, can be worked in the manner of floral portraits, and can be worked as macro and abstract subjects. They’re your flowers, you decide.

Simple start with cutting board and printed background.

SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY – HOW TO BEGIN

You know, sometimes it’s just not always easy to get motivated to do that indoor work, even though you know that once you get started you may not be able to stop. Talking about wanting to do indoor photography doesn’t move you closer to the starting. It just lets you hear yourself talk about what you want to do. If you do that talking long enough, you’ll eventually hear yourself begin to utter the dreadful “should.” At some point time and opportunity will slip away. Don’t let that happen.

So, here you go. Start here: DECIDE that you ARE going to pick up your camera and photograph indoors. Decide that you’re not going to fill your head with excuses. Just decide. And, since flowers always make me feel good, that’s where I would start. You start with what makes you feel good. Make the decision, and make a move. I’ll use what I do as an example … and it starts with deciding to do.

My next move is to head to the grocery store to buy the flowers. (I could just as easily go for a “gathering” walk.) For this blog (and my indoor assignment), I headed to the newly opened Trader Joe’s and picked up a bunch of pink ranunculus and a bunch of pink/peach roses. I selected two vessels (mason jars), cut the stems and set them in the living room. I set them there so that they could get acclimated, but also so I could enjoy them and gradually find inspiration. I don’t always know what I want to do with the flowers right away, so this is normal for me. As I write, I have the mason jar of ranunculus on the desk as a reminder.

Once my flowers are in water, I begin the process of considering where this photo session is going to take place. Often, I’ll shoot in my living room, or by the front door with the afternoon light. However, even with my small office, I’ve created a corner of opportunity with a square card table, an old-timey wooden school desk and window light. I’m able to control the light in most instances and never have to deal with wind or rain or cold or any other inclement and convenient deterrent. This time, the office corner will be my location.

A different look with Poppy Bee Surfaces backdrop

CONSIDER YOUR OPTIONS WITHIN THE OPPORTUNITY

What does this mean – consider my options? Well, believe it or not, there are just a few things I need to consider beyond the location and my subject. If working with flowers, what “vessels” do I want to use? Different flowers look better in certain vases or containers. Sizes, colors, shapes and textures can all make a difference on how the flowers are portrayed. I usually gather a small collection to work with as my ideas come to light. I gather shooting platforms and backdrops, and I have a wide range of those as well. I have black and white foamboard, black and white and colored fabric (solid or patterned), for example. I have also printed colorful backgrounds I’ve created on mat paper and mounted to foamcore (20×24”). You can do this. Consider colors, textures, patterns. These are convenient and portable. I also have some old baking sheets and a collection of old, crocheted doilies. You name it, I probably have it somewhere in my collection.

Part of the gathering – vessels, cloths, tins on the card table

I also have backdrops by two companies: Poppy Bee Surfaces and Replica Surfaces. I love both for different reasons. They offer opportunities to have a variety of options for backgrounds and shooting surfaces. The Poppy Bee backdrops are vinyl and roll up nicely in cardboard tubes, making them convenient to carry several at a time easily. I probably have between 15-20 of them and am always looking for new ones. Replica Surfaces backdrops are solid squares and also versatile for use as shooting surface and backdrops. They can be mixed and matched to create different looks. They are, however, heavier and less portable than the Poppy Bee backdrops. Regardless, I highly recommend your checking them out. Before I start shooting, I select more than a few backdrops to work with and have them on hand for experimentation.

What about some conceptual directions? Any ideas? Do I want to create a certain look – feminine, vintage, still life (with what in mind), busy and full or elegantly simple? What props do I want to gather to work with – old books, jars, tea cups, etc.? Or do I want to focus on macro and close-up with no props? Do I want to work mostly with my Lensbabies? If I decide on working with still life, I definitely need to have some starting idea to move forward with. I don’t have to stick with it, but having that “first step” is very helpful. (For this shoot, I was surprised that I didn’t go down the macro/abstract rabbit hole. In fact, I was even more surprised that when I tried to, it just wasn’t working. That happens. Go with it.)

Oil cans, flowers, placemat and a baking sheets

GATHER THE GOODS AND BEGIN

So far, you’ve decided to do something. You’ve gone and bought flowers or found something around your home or yard or neighborhood to work with. You’ve selected a space to set up and work in. You’ve taken away all your excuses. You’ve also collected vases and vessels, backdrops and such to use in your photo session(s). You’ve given yourself some ideas and a starting point in terms of what lenses you might use and what look you want to start with. All good.

Now, grab your camera, lenses, accessories, including your tripod. Yes, get your tripod. You’re inside, and you want to have sharp images, opportunities to slow down, select different areas of focus, re-arrange the objects and take advantage of the time you have. Indoor lighting, even window light, will give you slower shutter speeds. Unless you want to “jack your ISO up high,” (which I don’t), you’ll thank me for encouraging the use of the tripod. Granted, there will be perspectives and positions that won’t work with the tripod. I totally understand and agree with ditching in those times. However, I also know that the slowing down and the sharper images are more rewarding than the words I use when I look at images and know that they would be far better if I had taken more time AND used my tripod. Now, you and I can get to work. Just start shooting. You’ve done a good bit of the work already in your head and in gathering the materials.

Diffused light, flowers & oil can still life

Changed light with same still life

NO JUDGMENT – JUST PLAY

I think it’s important that you read the above words more than once. I need to do the same. No Judgment, Just Play. There are no bad ideas. You don’t have to share any of your work with others. This play time is your time. Give yourself the time and grace to get messy.

Sometimes, it’s easy to be disappointed – in yourself, in your efforts, especially when you find it challenging to achieve a particular look or image you’re going for. It’s easy to quit when things get too hard and too frustrating. Don’t do it. Just take a break. Come back later, even if it’s a day or two later and those beautiful flowers have shriveled up and gracefully aged. More opportunities await! (In this case, I took a break, leaving a setup in place. On my return, the light from my window completely changed, providing an opportunity for a different image.)

Keep telling yourself that this is your time, your opportunity to play, to learn, to experiment. Remind yourself that not everything will work, but you will learn something from it. You will learn from your efforts. You will learn that the time you give yourself to play with your camera and whatever subject you choose is good for you. It provides you with opportunities to use your imagination. It gives you chances to practice and improve particular skills without pressure. When we learn something new, we grow. If we stop learning and stop challenging ourselves (even when we don’t want to), we miss out on the growth journey.

I have to remind myself sometimes that I need to step out of my comfort zone and try something new, something that isn’t easy for me. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Knowledge is when you learn something new every day. Wisdom is when you let something go every day.” Martha Stewart must have taken a page from Ralph. She said, “If you learn something new every day, you can teach something new every day.” Isn’t it wonderful that there are so many people around us willing to help us learn? We can be sponges absorbing knowledge and skills, but the fun part for me comes when I have an opportunity to share with others and see where they go with the new skills.

Roses still life with photo background

Roses still life, add fan and pearls

Vintage tin, roses and photo background

FINAL THOUGHTS AND OPPORTUNITY (NO EXCUSES)

Remember the definition of opportunity? A set of circumstances that make it possible to do something. Nothing in this definition says that what you do has to be magnificent. Nothing in what I’ve written for you or told myself says that either. I simply wanted to remind you that winter (or any season or weather) provides a different set of opportunities to be creative and to practice and play and learn and share. The images in this blog provide you with some idea of what I did with the limited time and opportunity I had over just a couple days while the flowers were relatively fresh and while I needed to make myself play. Just play, and learn and share. When I take the time to do this, I’m reminded of how much pleasure I glean from flowers, from nature and from photography.

American poet, W. S. Merwin, said, “I go five steps in the garden, and I immediately lose track of time … it is a kind of joy in being alive in being in the world. I always found that in the garden. That is what it means to me.” While these small bunches of flowers are not an actual garden, they certainly bring me into a beautiful garden in a smaller way. Find something that excites you and explore it with your camera in a new way this winter. My guess is that you will bring something new to the gardens in spring from your learning and play in the “stick season.”

(Note: I used flowers in my examples; however, there are plenty of other subjects that could be used for this “play time.” Don’t limit yourself. I won’t either.)