It's All Good

While awaiting my daughter's arrival,
I shot Adirondack chairs.

Taking a break.

The sun is too much!

Beach walking.

A pause in a busy day.

"It's All Good."

A Beach Bathing Beauty.

 The camera turned on me.

When my daughter arrived at the Martha's Vineyard Airport, I was waiting for her.  I had warmed up my camera on some colorful Adirondack chairs that caught my eye.  I realized that I have grown a lot more confident of photographing inanimate objects than people.  I have a friend who is a professional photographer.  I marvel at her ability to make light bend and to use shadows to enhance a subject's image.  I aspire to learn how to look through the view finder and finding the person, not just their image. That is what my friend succeed in capturing the spirit of the person in one particular moment in time.  Digital photography makes photography significantly more accessible than ever before.  However, there is still no shortcut to talent.  Nor is there one to experience.  My idea is that what I lack in talent, perhaps I can remediate with experience.  I have taken over 2500 photographs his year.  Almost all exclusively of nature and objects. Rarely, do I point my cameral in the direction of people. I simply do not have the confidence.  I decided that the way to change that was to dive in.  An apt analogy given the days I have been spending on the beach!  I recruited my daughter to be my model.  She agreed to do so for the six days she is with me.  However willing the model, I still need to work on my camera settings, my use, and awareness of, light and the composition.  My daughter has been kind enough to keep her assessments to herself. She, herself, is a fairly accomplished photographer and has taken courses in school to update her skills.  Join me on my learning curve!  There are two things I celebrate most due to this experiment.  First, I have time to spend with my daughter this week.  It is a blessing to be with her. Second, my health allows me to be out and about with her taking photographs and learning new techniques.  As I heard a young woman say to another young woman in Mocha Mott's Coffee Shop this morning, "It's all good."