A vision change

It has been a bit over a year since I began to take an interest in photography. I have noticed a gradual change in the way I see things around me. One of the biggest changes is that I find beauty, and interesting things to look at everywhere. Before the viewfinder I wouldn’t think twice about a beautiful sunset, the contour of the hills, the way the light hits an open field, the twist of a tree, or the awesomeness of a cloud moving overhead.



It is a great irony that the viewfinder which acts much like a set of blinders, has increased my awareness of how beautiful the world is. It is strange how we can overlook things that are right before our eyes that are so wonderful and beautiful.



Case in point, I was editing a photo that I had taken at a recent camping trip. My father in law looked over my shoulder and said “Wow where is that?”. I replied that it was where we had been camping, about 30 yards from where we set up our tents. His reply was that it didn’t look like what he saw.

Photo taken at camp Monte Cristo 30 yards from our tent

Now my father in law is very complimentary of my photography (he wants to make me feel good) but it does illustrate a point. While we were setting up camp I noticed the valley right away. I liked the curve of the hills and the way the valley was bracketed by the trees at either side. There were some clouds that were moving in that I really liked as well. The light was just starting to get interesting, casting longer shadows as sunset was nearing. I was watching the light and the clouds like a hawk as I prepared the camp site. I was itching to move to a better vantage point, and really wanted to be there if all the ingredients fell in to place for a “picture perfect moment” (don’t really care for that phrase but it fits). The elements never quite combined in the way that I was hoping, but it was pretty good so I went for it.



Before my interest in photography I would have sat with my back to that scene and never have thought twice about the beauty all around me. I most likely would have been in a hurry so I could get back to a good book (love to read). Looking at letters on a blank white page instead of at the beauty all around me, seems such a waste! I was camping on a mountain, a Mecca of interest and beauty!



I feel that before photography I missed so much of what was happening around me. Me and Clayton found this little guy (above) hanging out on the front porch. Clayton was fascinated and scared by the Beetle.



To some, this sharing of my inner eye may seem like, "oh oh, Nate has gone over the deep end". At first it was all about pictures of the little boy (still my favorite subject). Then I started wanting to shoot (with my camera) friends and family. Now it has become everything, from mountains to people to little crawly bugs.

Go out and shoot, the more you do, the more the way you see things will change, at least that is what happened to me.