A Brief Moment of Illumination...

   I was reading in my sitting room recently and I caught a soft glow out of the corner of my eye.  It was the diffused light illuminating a single catkin of the pussy willow branch.  It appeared almost like an aura around the catkin.  I'm not sure why it totally fascinated me, (I did put it on my daily photo journal) but I sat transfixed, gazing at it for several minutes.

Whatever we look at today,

may we see it with fresh eyes.

- John O'Donohue

   It just faded away as the light shifted.  Such a simple, brief moment of illumination...the catkin's 15 minutes of fame...its moment in the spotlight.  It was such a lovely sight.

   I'm trying new things with my camera...trying to see things more softly and gently.  Not the tack sharp, high contrast reality that use to be an obsession with me way back when.  I wanted a more ethereal look to balance the extreme simplicity of the image...a glowing presence that spoke more of the spiritual nature of light than its physical reality.

   This moment of awareness brought me face to face with an idea of where I may be journeying with in my camerawork.  That remains to be seen but I do know that 2 or 3 years ago I would have never even considered making an image like this let alone having the experience of it effect me so much. Heck, up until 2011 I didn't even make color images!

   Every artist must experience this kind of evolution of expression otherwise they stagnate.  This is what the whole photographic process has become for me...a slowly evolving and awakening journey...one image, one reflection, one day at a time.  Always trying, as John says, to see with fresh eyes.  And, I might add, with a gently embracing heart.