Little Things

So it has been a while since I have posted anything, but I have been quite busy.  We all do that, I suppose, get busy with "real life" and neglect the things that we enjoy but are unnecessary for day to day living.  That has, unfortunately been the case with me and photography.  I love to take pictures, but most of what I have done lately would best be described as "vacation snapshots" rather than planned out photographs.  There are some winners in there, by statistics if nothing else, but there hasn't been much that really made me happy.

I have decided to try and change that.  I have started dragging my camera with me to work everyday, on the off chance that I will find the time during the day to sneak off and take a few pictures.  I also have a new small point and shoot that is in my bag pretty much all the time for when it is impractical for me to drag my DSLR along.  There are actually a couple of winners in there, too.  It helps to have a camera readily at hand.  It is pretty hard to take a picture without one, in fact.  But I guess the point here is that I want to try and make the time to photograph.  

I am also trying to think about it more, too.  There are dozens of things that I walk or drive by everyday that have a picture in them someplace, I just have to find it.  I have always tended to look down at the ground when I walk, but I am trying to look up more, to find these photographs.  And when I can, I am going out intending to take pictures.  The picture in the post is a good example of that.  I was invited to a party at a house out in the country.  I suspected that there would be some great opportunities there, and I was not disappointed.  Although my light was fading fast, I got a few good shots in.  I am also experimenting with my post processing a bit.  Since the Sun was just about gone, this image had a little bit of a pale, washed out quality to it.  Oh, I could play with some curves and saturation and gotten it back, there was plenty of light for that.  But I decided to go the other way and crack the saturation down.  I wanted this to have more of an old time feel, like you were stepping back into a simpler time.  I am not fully happy with it yet, but I think it is a good start.  And aside from the small blue tarp (or bucket, maybe?) over by the barn, I am pretty happy with the strength of the composition.  I feel the eye is lead to the barn pretty well, but the blue tarp there (much more obvious in a larger version) kind of distracts.  Maybe I will clone it out.  Or maybe it keeps this image from feeling too contrived.  

The point of all this is that you should take the time to do the things that you enjoy.  Life is short.  You can't ignore "real life" completely, but don't forget to live life while you can.  Take pleasure in the simple things, like finding five minutes of light that is just right for a picture of a barn and a birdhouse.  And some blue thing that still distracts me...