Like an owl, over time I’ve become wiser and more selective with my photography. We can all be our worst critics and sometimes that can work against us. Other times though it can push us to stretch our creative abilities and come up with something completely new.

The holidays wreaked havoc on my schedule and I’m slowly getting myself back out into the field. It’s been tough though as a quiet project I’ve been working on since the end of May 2018 has filled my days morning, noon and afternoons taking away the free time that I’ve had to go on walkabout. I miss being on walkabout and when I do happen to have some free time, the weather this year has been so uncooperative. So many days filled with rain and many others with fully overcast days.

But the reward of this quiet project is so heart-warming. Each day I’m greeted with enthusiasm and happiness. It certainly helps that it involves horsey kisses.

I’ve been out a few times recently and have come home with really not too much that I’m crazy about. The light was blah, the subject matter lacked depth. It’s not from an attempt to try to make lemonade out of lemons. Or perhaps I’m just being more particular about what I take a picture of. And there is the crux of it all. After photographing nearly daily for years I’m seeing that the number of images I’m bringing home are significantly less. But what I am bringing home are images that are congruent in their subject matter and appearance.

Lately I’ve fallen in love with a textured, vintage look reminiscent of the Hudson River Art School with homesteads, farm and nature being the subject matter. It’s been fun creating them with Smart Device apps but when I was recently asked for a commissioned piece of art-work they wanted the image to be produced 30 x 20 in size. A small image created by an iPhone and sized even smaller by the creative apps I love just wouldn’t cut it.

So I’ve been working on creating a similar look using Topaz Studio which I’m offering a workshop in February through Capital Photography Center.

With a new year upon us, I’m wondering what the year will bring in regard to the progression of my photography. One thing I have promised to myself to encourage creativity is to visit new places. Indeed, there are many tried and true places that I love to visit but it can also get me stuck in a rut. Also, our world is so big and there is so much to explore even in our own back yard.

So with this wisdom for 2019, more time will be devoted to discovering new places and to be more selective and critical of what I photograph when I’m out in the field. Once I find something that I’m interested in capturing, being aware of really staying with the subject and ‘working the shot’ is vitally important.

Working the shot is what will lead to creative captures that would have otherwise have been missed if I hadn’t slowed down and really started to think about what it was I was capturing and what message I wanted to convey to the viewer.

There is so much to look forward to in the new year that only a wise owl can know what will happen.