Last year, I read a great book by Freeman Patterson called Photographing the World Around You: A Visual Design Workshop for Film and Digital Photography. Yes, a long title - no, a very long title - and it was basically a photography book filled with words but it really made me think about the visual building blocks to making great images.
Ironically, Vince recommended the book to me because he had read great reviews about it yet he never ended up reading it himself. I tell ya, the boy loves to read reviews about anything and everything. He's my own personal maven, which comes in quite handy at times. All I have to say is, "I'm thinking about buying such-and-such" and, within hours, he'll have done tons of research on the item in question - including the best place to buy it at the lowest price.
Oops, I got sidetracked there - now, back to the book! Freeman Patterson had a fascinating way of jump-starting his creativity. He wrote about throwing a hula hoop off the porch of his house and photographing (1) only what lay inside the hula hoop and then (2) only what he could capture looking out from standing in the hula hoop. This made me realize I don't have to travel the world to find interesting things to photograph - all I desire may be in my own proverbial backyard.
His other project, which absolutely amazed me, was his paperweight photography. A friend had given him a clear glass paperweight as a gift. One day, the light caught it a certain way and he was hooked. Over a span of a year or so (or perhaps it was over the span of a few years), he took over 2000 images of this paperweight and his sense was that his work with this object had just begun!
I only wish that my passion for photography and light will be such that I will continually find wonder in simple objects. As I was trying to decide what to photograph for my 365:2010 project today, I came upon a glass paperweight that's been in our condo for ages. It must've magically appeared out of nowhere because I cannot for the life of me remember where we got it. And thus, so begins my journey.
(365:2010 Project - Day 35: Thu Feb 04)
