Distractions are ever present in life, but almost a year ago an amazing distraction came into my life… my son. Below you can see him chewing on my lens cap to dull the pain of his upper teeth coming in. Cliche to say, but ever true, having a child is a truly life changing event. My old schedule, routine, and all that stuff went out the window months ago. I’m still sorting through it all to be honest and am behind on numerous projects.
Through it all though distraction and disruption have been a good thing. Clearly spending time and enjoying my son’s development has been one major aspect of this, but it’s been a great wake up call to embrace change and distraction. As I’ve quickly learned distraction can also bring new opportunities. If you’re in a mode of seeing (see Photography An Art of Observation) then no matter what you’re doing you’ll be prepared to see and photograph something.
You’d be surprised what you can learn from an 11 month old, now that he is crawling he is hyper focused and motivated to explore things he sees. His world to date has been all about seeing and now his world is transitioning to that of exploring. Everything is exciting, new and to be put in his mouth. With the exception to the last item noted there is something critically basic to be reminded of… never stop seeing and never stop exploring.
All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.
- Pablo Picasso
Before I got too enveloped by some domestic distractions over the past week or two (moving my home office, caring for a sick dog and tending to my pregnant wife) I read a great post by Jay Goodrich titled “Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?” I’ve had this blog post open for a couple weeks and I’ve reread it and rewatched the video numerous times.
Clearly if I kept this blog post open on my computer for this long it struck a nerve. Laughably it struck quite an odd nerve in me too. As a child of the 70’s I wasn’t exposed to 600 cable channels and simple things like the advent of color photography and color movies captured my imagination. With no video games at hand I often watched TV with an interest in a variety of old movies & sitcoms. At the time there seemed to be an equal number of black & white shows on TV as there were color programs. Between this and looking at old photo albums the world seemed to magically turn color only a short time before I was born. The more contemporary programs I’d watch were mostly sports focused and fed a youthful addiction to memorizing baseball & football team rosters and stats.
What does this have to do with Jay’s post? My “child of the 70’s” brain instantly thought of two programs that inspired me early on and later have surfaced in my photography efforts. Any guesses to the programs?
ABC’s Wide World of Sports
Replace “sports” with “photography” and “athletic” with “photographic” in the opening sequence of this show, as seen in the video below, and you’ll step a little closer to my mindset and inspiration. Photography has always been a technical challenge, and for me a sport unto itself. Plus who can forget/love the classic quote “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”. If you want to know what goes through my head when I get a shot or miss a shot the imagery of that sequence is what plays in my head every time.
Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom
As if I haven’t dated myself enough, most of my earliest exploration to the world of wildlife was through National Geographic magazines and books. When I first caught a glimpse of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom I was hooked. It was fascinating to see 1) diversity of animals 2) wild animals in context to man made objects (ex. a Rhino slamming into jeep/rangerover) and 3) the active efforts of conservation. My interest in exploring nature (studying ecosystems, understanding animal behavior, even learning about geography, etc.) can be traced back to programs such as this.
By today’s standards these shows would hardly grab the attention of most youth, but back in the day they were inspiring. Little did I know that they’d inspire so deeply or for so long.
I’m going to be taking a few day break from the blog, but before I do I wanted to wish all of my blog readers a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. While most photographers in a post like this might settle for a photo like I shared in my previous entry Christmas Wonderland, Yosemite National Park I decided to opt for something a little different.
Badwater Salt Snowmen - Death Valley National Park, California
Back in September while visiting Badwater in Death Valley National Park I had a surreal moment. The temperature was 114 at 4pm and not being too smart I hiked out on to the salt flats. About a 1/4 of a mile out I noticed 3 small snowmen built from salt. Each snowman was about 4 inches tall and I couldn’t resist photographing them. I set my camera down on the ground, put my lens close to them and snapped away. This photo proved to be the highlight of my 1/3 mile hike. The hexagonal salt formations I had hiked to see/photograph were not in good shape and I was overheating. By the time I made it back to my car I was feeling a bit woozy and had a growing headache. Only after I guzzled a bottle of gatorade and took the time to cool off did I feel back to normal. The moral of the story….
Never hike in 114 degree heat and always photograph snowmen in the desert.
