I am very likely to stand in front of a scene or object and wait for it to tell me something. Photography is like a meditation for me. It is such a concentrated moment. 

Stephanie Torbert

I’m sharing this over at This or That Thursday and Photo Art Friday. Come on over and have a look at the galleries there!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

I take photos and make images purely for the love of it. Of course, I enjoy sharing them with other photo buffs as well, which is why I joined Flickr a few years ago.

It never occurred to me that this would turn into an opportunity to license my photos for sale. So I was very surprised to find out that as a result of Flickr’s partnership with Getty Images, some of my images were selected for the Flickr collection on Getty. And some have even sold!

Some folks on Flickr go out and shoot photos they hope will appeal to Getty editors and curators. I could study what Getty is looking for and try to capture those types of images.

But I don’t. I focus on creating images that make my heart beat a little faster, and if others like them too, that is a lovely bonus.

I will admit that I’m happy when I get a request from Getty to license a photo, and it makes my day when I have a sale, but even if all that ended tomorrow it wouldn’t change how or what I shoot, or how much joy I get from what I’m doing.

Getty says that “the strength of the Flickr collection lies with the connection the photographers feel for their subject matter. The fact that many of the images are created with no commercial end use in mind lends them an unexpected originality and freshness that audiences can easily identify with.” That’s what I like about the collection.

Getty Images now has half a million images licensed from Flickr (!) and the collection contains images that are original, humorous and relevant. You can find imagery ranging from the highly conceptual to everyday scenes from all parts of the world. The collection appeals to customers looking to get away from airbrushed stock photos in favour of images of real life.

So while I don’t actively try to sell photos through Getty Images, I do have a small and humble project called Sparks of Grace, where I sell postcards and note cards based on my photography to raise funds for a local hospice project.

The response to the project has been wonderful, and it warms my heart. You can read more about Sparks of Grace here. I am truly grateful to all those who have supported the project with their purchases and kind words and sharing through social media.

My Photo Heart Connection for October

October was about surprising myself — seeing new paths emerge, taking turns I didn’t plan in advance, moving in new directions, going with a certain flow that felt right…

I’ve been playing with longer exposures, intentional camera movement and making composite images. I’ve diverged from looking mostly close up with my camera to trying to capture bigger vistas. I departed from taking only candid people shots and even did my first formal portrait sitting.

As I’ve experimented more with my camera and with post-processing I’ve made some unexpected and important discoveries.

Ever since I began taking photography seriously a few years ago, I’ve been striving to simplify my images and distill them to their essence.

I generally turn away from photos — my own and others’ — that are busy and cluttered, because they leave me with a feeling of unease and not knowing where to look. Instead I gravitate to — and try to create — images that are sparer and stronger in composition, where the extraneous has been eliminated.

I know that what I have been drawn to in photographs is a clarity of vision, almost a purity, as well as a sense of serenity, balance and even a certain restfulness. This has meant that many of my own images have featured a restrained colour palette — only one or two colours — or very soft, muted, desaturated analogous tones.

Now, none of this was done consciously: I only realized that this was common to my favorite images while taking Kat Sloma’s Find Your Eye online course recently. Here’s an image that illustrates what I mean.

So I didn’t expect to feel a strong affinity for the image of the trees at the top of this post. It doesn’t have any of the characteristics I usually love. It is quite colourful, it is very detailed, and there is no obvious subject. It is certainly not minimal, although it does feel a bit magical to me.

But a few months ago, I would have just discarded it without much thought. Now though, something in it keeps me coming back to look more deeply. Something connects. The image is clearly speaking to me, but what is it saying?

I’m still reflecting on this.

Maybe I am less overwhelmed by the idea of making an image that is complex and intricate but also clear and strong visually.

Or at a deeper more metaphorical level, I wonder if I was I seeking to focus on the forest in my photography because I feared getting lost in the trees? Maybe I now appreciate that the forest is made up of trees.

Whatever is going on, it does seem that my eye is changing. Maybe my vision is expanding. Maybe my preferences and ways of approaching the world are not set in stone forever, even now. Maybe I am realizing that I can shift and change and flow, and that that will be true as long as I live.

I’d love to know if you’ve surprised yourself lately…

Note: I use Kim Klassen’s textures all the time and love them. Sharing this with Texture Tuesdays.

If you’d like to read more posts like this, why not subscribe to my blog?

Every year our neighbours outdo themselves in decorating their yard and trees with ever more ghoulish creatures and body parts. Their kids and all the neighbourhood kids get such a kick out of it. And this year I managed to get a photo that creeps me out.

Wishing you all a safe and enjoyable Halloween!

Sharing with Texture Tuesday and Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Today, I’m thinking of all those who have suffered the ravages of Hurricane Sandy, including the families of those on the HMCS Bounty. Wishing them comfort and courage in the days ahead.

I used Kim Klassen’s magic textures and French Kiss’s Craquelure to create the image above.

Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. And Rule 17: Eat food cooked by humans, not corporations. 

Michael Pollan

After years of living downtown and devoting our small lot to growing a woodland garden and a Japanese-style meditation garden, we have changed things up and last year we planted a rather large vegetable garden in our newish, largish backyard.

We grew a long list of vegetables. Some did not do well (what’s up with those leeks and parsnips?) but others thrived. We gorged on beans, tomatoes, chard, leaf lettuce and radishes over the summer, among other veggies. It felt so wonderful to be more connected to our food source and to know it was not contaminated in any way.

What really thrilled me though were the beets and cabbages that we harvested recently. And both of these were so incredibly easy to grow. Tamp seeds in soil, mulch, pull plants out.

I’ve always loved fresh cabbage — it’s such a versatile vegetable — but I can’t say I had much acquaintance with fresh beets. Canned beets, of course, but they strike me as one of those “edible foodlike substances” Pollan talks about.

So this fall, I decided to get to know fresh beets. I steamed them, boiled them and roasted them. And I decided to try to make soup with them. Beet borscht.

I found a recipe that called for cabbage as well, so that was a double bonus, since we are awash in cabbages. If you check out the recipe link, you’ll find other ways to prepare beets from one of my favorite food bloggers, Elise, at Simply Recipes.

It’s clear why Tom Robbins calls beets “the most intense of vegetables.” What earthy flavour; what deep, rich colour!

I just love the way beets look after they are cooked and peeled. I admire their firm, round, glistening bodies. I had as much fun photographing these wonderful plants as I did cooking and eating them. And the beet borscht was a triumph.

Linking with Macro Monday and Sweet Shot Tuesdays.