Full steam ahead

It’s been a very busy start of the year but also very inspiring. Can you be busy and relaxed at the same time?

Two weeks of the Art of Photography course are behind me with two assessments passed successfully, two weeks are in front of me to be fulfilled. It’s obvious that the contents of the course can’t reach very deep in such a short term and within the wide range of topics and it’s true that I already know the basics. Yet there ARE new pieces of information included and I find it enormously interesting to listen to the lessons.

Fortunately I don’t have any problem to understand the videos and though I can spot a mistake in the video transcripts here and there, the transcripts are great when I want to write down some notes. Following the videos and quizzes takes more time than I expected but that’s because of the writing of the notes. Sometimes a bit unnecessarily, I admit, but writing the information down helps me to let the words sink in.

Some issues would definitely need deeper digging and I may not agree with absolutely everything what’s said but up to now, the course has an inspiring informative value. Also, there is a voluntary practical part you may or may not participate in which I opted out for the lack of time at the moment. I have the assignments recorded and want to fulfil them later, even if changed a bit for my purposes.

To sum it up, I like the course and feel satisfied to have enrolled on it. It makes me feel motivated and thrilled and willing to learn, practise and experiment. For example, I’m somehow not eager to experiment with perspective and this brings a great impulse to give it a try. It might be a tough but enriching experience. More space allocated to creativity and less to the fear of doing something personally unknown. I’ve become willing to make mistakes – which feels painful to state – and learn from them. The day of perfection may never come but the path itself might be the destination.

This is a flower I got for my birthday two weeks ago and when it started to fade, I liked the green that appeared inside. Eventually I captured a different image than I planned, experimenting more than I intended, but this is what was speaking to me.

Also the Be still 52 course I subscribed to has started and I like the message of its first week. Learn to become quiet and connect that quiet with taking your photographs. Many times I feel tensed, especially because of all the thing I need or want to do and they are quite a few. More than I’ll ever be able to manage. I myself often impose the stress on myself and there is no room for the quiet. Here I open the door and invite the quiet to help me broaden my mind and listen to my inner voice.

I decided to follow the advice given in the first week and started a notebook in my laptop where I want to jot down thoughts and links relating to the course to keep them gathered and easily accessible. My memory is too weak a tool.

Here is a photo inspired by the first week:

Fresh herbs are great for cooking and serving meals and parsley leaves belong to my favourites so I often have them at home grown in a flowerpot. I need to create a better place for composing my images but there was a beautiful soft light at the window-sill where the pot sits and I used it for this capture.

That’s it. Full steam ahead! …with occasional quiet moments…