Pictures

I think often a picture taken captures more than the pen alone. Together words and a visual representation of reality are what we are left with after time passes. Even our memories fade - what was can never be again and such is time. A blogpost captures a moment in time but obviously is incomplete.

One of my favorite hobbies is the art of outdoors photography. I have dabbled in it since my first canoe trip as an adolescent to a place called Cabin Lake. The lake itself is desolate, with ironically no cabins to be found. Apparently, the remains of one can be found at the west of the lake but I can't recall ever seeing them, only hearing the story. I took a magical picture on that lake, of some fellow canoeists silhouette and won a prize at the Morris Stampede in my particular category.

Since then - the outdoors has remained my primary subject. One of my favorites is a leopard shot I took in Kenya on a game safari that I went on with my wife during our first year of marriage. No one had seen a leopard in the Masai Mara game preserve for three weeks and I managed to spot it's white tail just after capturing a rhino on film. I once spent three weeks clicking away at Grey Owls in the Sandilands Provincial Forest. Most of my best pictures involve a change in light - either just before sunset or just after the sun has risen. Summer storms as well have provided interesting subjects.

I think there are two types of pictures worth taking - ones that either capture a moment of friendship/family/travel or that of pure art. The second is rarer and often involves an element of luck. The first category is one of necessity - as time keeps ticking and change is inevitable. I need to capture those moments on film of my daughters growing up.

I am considering ending my musings blog and focusing more on exploreplay and the possibility of creating a third blog that focuses on capturing both memories and art in the form of digital photos and short descriptions. We'll see what the future holds...

For now - happy clicking!

G