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My journey to connect with purpose and passion.

One Foggy Lens...

Playing with lines and direction.

Playing with lines and direction.

This morning I set off into the pre-dawn darkness with my trusty sidekick (she who chases squirrels), my DSLR and an 85mm portrait lens.

I wanted to have only one lens and I wanted one unfamiliar to me for landscape work. This was about forcing a constraint that would allow me to see the everyday world I had grown so blind to. 

This is about finding ways to awaken wonder and feed my curiosity. Between client meetings, deadlines, to-do lists and the endless grind of everyday life, it is insanely critical that, as creators, we find a way to feed our curiosity.

I know because I had allowed the embers to become cold ash. It took a trip to Italy to re-awaken the spark and now I want to learn how to stoke these fires even when I'm not able to travel. 

A seagull soars out into the mist.

A seagull soars out into the mist.

 

It's amazing how a different lens can show us a whole new world. And an 85mm is not that far away from a 50mm which I might actually use for some landscape work in some situations. 

The wide vistas quickly slipped away and I was searching for compressed lines and tight compositions. This was my third day at Ashbridges Bay and it had transformed once again. This time via a lovely fog and my awakening curiosity.

As I was leaving the park, I saw a young gentleman struggling along with a camera bag over his shoulder, a bulky tripod in his hands and dragging a rolling camera case. He was stopping frequently to adjust his grip and free the case from the mire.

I smiled as this young man was me not some time back. Dragging an entire studio of lenses and lighting gear into the wilderness, is it any wonder I quickly turned to leaving my gear at home? 

Sean Howard1 Comment