The Snowdrop

Of all the flowers in my garden, it is the Snowdrop that gives me the most joy.  This humble perennial is short-lived, void of colourful blooms, and only a few inches tall.  I love it the most because it is the first sign of life after the long, dark months of winter; often appearing weeks before any other early spring bloom.  For me, the common Snowdrop is the embodiment of hope and renewal.

Opportunity within Adversity

Most, including myself, prefer to take pictures on warm and sunny days.  We do this because it’s convenient, more comfortable.  In a manner, we’re conditioned to do so.  For example, photo magazines are replete with images of happy smiling faces having ‘fun in the sun’.  So, we’re forgiven for defaulting to this mode.  However, there are opportunities for a worthwhile image in all kinds of weather, even when it’s cold and miserable.  Seeking that ‘catch of the day’ in poor weather can yield an image that the fair weather photographers are missing.  The effort may be rewarded with a shot that nobody else has.  I wish I could tell you this was my discovery but that’s not true.   I learned this from professional photographers whose work I greatly admire.

Now, while most are huddling indoors on those cold, dreary, foggy days I’m happily outside with camera in hand.  The scenes are very different as background clutter is usually obscured from sight.  Only essential elements are visible leaving the possibility for that wonderful visual state which the master, Freeman Patterson labelled as ‘dynamic simplicity’.  Simplicity: a wonderful tonic for a world that can be unnecessarily complicated.

Seal Bay Nature Park - The Mystery Forest

I’ve walked the trail to Melda’s Marsh a hundred times but on this one day, the intensity and quality of light revealed this mysterious scene.  It was the rare combination of a mid-summer day and the pulsing light from changing cloud densities that created an opportunity.  I had the sense this scene could soon change so I began shooting immediately.  Believing I had “something-in-camera” that resembled what I felt while drawn into this space, I began to pack-up.  By the time I was ready to leave, the light had changed and the scene was gone.  Every time I walk past this site I marvel at how it's so different and how one can return to the same place hundreds of times and leave with an entirely different experience.  That’s one of the reasons why I’m attracted to photography.  As in life, those snippets of time are so fleeting.