It's the Light

It is interesting to think about how my perception of the world is changing the more I explore photography.  The other night I shared a post on Google+ from Sandra Parlow.  She was answering a question posed by Levi Moore, 'What was life like, before photography, for you?' and her answer mirrored a lot of thoughts I have been having.  Here is Sandra's original post...  What was life before photography...


And her list...

• Not noticing which way the wind was blowing.
• Not noticing the clouds and the way the light bounced and reflected off them.
• Not noticing the birds sitting on a wire singing their song.
• Not noticing that one lone tree standing in a field all by itself.
• Not noticing the way the water runs over the rocks.
• Not noticing the mysterious and beautiful nature of fog.
• Not really looking at the colors of the leaves on the trees.
• Not looking at the scraggly flowers or even paying attention to the tiny details of the beautiful ones.
• Not knowing that spending an hour alone in a field listening to the hawks cry could restore my peace of mind.
• Not noticing the smallest details and textures of things I saw every day.
• Not using my senses the way I should have been.

I agree completely with the concept of this list.  I am aware of everything now, or at least a lot more of what is around me.  I'm always looking to see if I should stop the car and take a picture, or if what I'm seeing would be a cool image.  I'm noticing the wonderful detail in everything and I find myself always thinking how I would position the camera to capture it best.  It's amazing out there...  and I'm just starting to enjoy it.