I posted the below image of a soft, pale pink rose on Instagram yesterday. I received some super kind comments but I also sensed a reserved response to the image. I accept the photo is the complete antithesis to my normal trend for sharp images - I shot it at f 1.6 which was very brave for me!! It was even (light heartedly) suggested that it wasn’t in focus: no, no, no……I had just chosen how much focus I wanted and where I wanted to place it. I felt the rose lent itself to a soft approach and it was with this artistic intent that I chose the wide aperture. I love the image, it is exactly what I envisaged when I pressed the shutter, and thankfully I have reached the point where I no longer seek validation or approval. It is very liberating to aim to satisfy simply one’s own inner creativity.
I could deliver crisp macro shots pretty much every time I take my camera out. But wouldn’t that be rather dull if I was so predictable? Dull not only for you - but for me also.
I realise I talk a lot about one’s growth but I talk about it because it is essential to our overall journey. Growth comes from challenging ourselves, from stepping out of our comfort zone, from reading books, from watching endless YouTube tutorial videos - way past bedtime! Growth comes from changing our approach from time to time, so that we continue to produce images which come from our soul, but which demonstrate our creative evolution - avoiding complacency and predictability. Then we apply all that we’ve learnt, to approach the subject, in the way we feel best befits it.
So, in effect, I am saying that part of one’s growth should be to learn to identify how best to approach a flower, a landscape, a portrait and to connect with it to create our unique vision, just as I did here, with this soft rose.
Sometimes others won’t like the results, sometimes I won’t like the results, but my personal evolution on the journey, will ultimately take me to somewhere where, creatively speaking, I will be comfortable. And I will always be satisfied knowing that I challenged myself, and, most importantly - I will be content in the knowledge that I created for my soul and not to satisfy anyone else’s soul.
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