Thursday, January 30, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Eddie brought me flowers
Eddie brought me flowers.
I was photographing on the beach today, nature was my theme. My main focus the past few years has been portraiture. It felt like the old days, being a nature photographer. I had the perfect infrared sky and beautiful beach scenery.
I am on a family Island in the Bahamas. A Bahamian man walked by and said hi, we talked about the weather, how beautiful it was out and how the wind had changed and was coming from the south. He wished me a good day and continued on his walk. A few minutes later I remembered that there are no coincidences and every event or person you meet maybe an opportunity to touch someone's life or vice versa. I wish I had asked him to model for me. I looked up the beach and he was no where to be found. I had missed a moment. My New Years vision is to be more courageous when I meet someone that I want to photograph. Surprisingly enough I get very shy and almost feel like it is an intrusion so I don't even ask. With that said I feel when I photograph someone there is a bond, a touching of another's life even if it is for a brief moment.
So I went on my merry way photographing more beach themes and dramatic landscapes. I was in the water on coral rock and had just photographed trees that are underwater when the tide comes in. Out of no where I hear this man saying I have been looking for you up and down the beach. I picked you some flowers. They were lovely, a deep dark pink with ribbed thin leaves, nothing we have in the states. The man had intense eyes and his hands were large and beautiful. After I said thank you and asked his name he started to leave. Oh my, I got another chance. "Wait Eddy, can I take a photograph of you?" He said sure. Didn't question my motives or what the photographs were for, or was I a professional, all he asked was..... "should I take my hat off?"
A man I don't know went and picked me flowers, made my heart happy without any strings, maybe it made him happy but I think he did it to touch another's life. Such a kind jester. So my lesson was, you don't always get second chances like this. I am learning that when I am in a safe creative environment I let my guard down. I seized the moment, and then let it go. I capture the gift and I have the photographs to remember.
Monday, January 27, 2014
A beautiful surprise.
I am away from the cold and the snow, I am in the Bahama's in the light and in the warmth.
Around 3:30 am this morning magic happened. I woke up to a lightning storm way out to sea. It was in the clouds, hovering over the ocean. I watched it for awhile in awe. Then a speck of light appeared, traveling towards the lightning. As it moved closer it became brighter. Then it looked like a sail that was lit up by the approaching storm. Next it looked like a crescent shaped boat that glowed with the light. Am I dreaming? What was going on? As it grew brighter and higher on the horizon I realized it was the moonrise. Being so far south the moon rises as the mouth of the Cheshire Cat, smiling fooling my eyes, making me laugh and confusing me mind. I didn't have a tripod so I couldn't capture the rapture of the moonrise. So I captured it by watching it and being in awe. At sunrise I was able to take a photo, by then the moon changed its shape and I won't see the Cheshire Cat smiling again till tomorrow morning.
