Thursday, October 18, 2012

PhotoTao Card #5

Card #5

Tao is the Source
  The creativity of Tao is amazing.  Out of Tao emerges
 the hidden and the present, the obscure and the
 apparent.  Tao is far away and very, very close.

- Exercise -
After you have found a subject that draws your
interest, allow it to pull you in...from the 
apparent to the obscured.  Make a series of 
photographs as you move closer and closer
to your subject until you end with an almost
abstract close up.


   I do this almost everywhere I photograph.  I begin with my visual listening exercise, where I focus on the "big picture", the general impression of the whole landscape.  Inevitably I will then walk into the landscape in search of the fascinating details of the place.  Sometimes the image becomes very abstract but I try to make sure it still reflects the feeling of the location.

   This photograph was made in the Outer Hebrides, I don't remember which island; it doesn't matter.  The patterns on the sand left by the retreating tide is unique there...a most particular "sand script".  Although I love seascapes, and I made many while I was there, I think I love these close-ups more.  

   This exercise is one that has brought me many wonderful images over the years, images that I may have missed altogether if I had focused only on the grand view...the divine is truly in the details!

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