Happy Weekend everyone - One of the strangest things that I have noticed about this hobby of mine here is how it has subtly started to change the way I see things. I remember reading in several books about "vision" and the "ability to see", and I must admit that they were difficult concepts to put my head around. It was difficult to understand in the academic sense how these photographers were simply seeing these opportunities in the everyday situation. It wasn't until I found a book by Michael Freeman, and others since then, that I began to understand that what they meant by "vision" was the ability to see the constructive lines and shapes in the everyday situations. Where I used to see people walking along the sidewalks, I started to understand that I needed to look for the line created by their eyes or faces or shoulders walking along the sidewalk. Then the craziest thing happened. Without even noticing when or how, I began to see the lines and shapes everywhere. Buildings, people, faces, objects weren't those things to me anymore. They were the composite lines and shapes that made them up. Then the breakthrough happened for me, when I could see those lines and shapes, I could more easily begin to construct images on the fly. Leading lines made more sense. Triangles made more sense. I began to find interesting subjects in areas that I thought I never would. This image tonight was from a rest stop in South Dakota. One of the sculptures is a teepee arranged with these pillars. I noticed the lines they made and the geometric shape against the sky. That was my subject, and it was one that I would have never seen before I learned how to "see." Enjoy your weekend -
Roadside South Dakota - Pillars of the Teepee