For a while, I have been very interested in photography. There is something about the way that you can capture a moment perfectly in time that makes me crave the clearest image or the perfect angle. This way, I can show everyone the beauty and physique that I see when I look at things. Sometimes I see it right away. A front and center, head-on shot will occasionally do the trick. Other times, you have to get low, look at it from a new angle, an angle that no one has ever seen before. That is one of the best feelings in the world because it is like you are discovering something new. What I hope to do is inspire you, or even persuade you to look at things a little differently and see what can be uncovered.
1. Game Over
This photo is one of my favorites that I have ever taken. Recently, it was published in the literary journal, Lyceum, at the University of Michigan Dearborn. What I saw when I took this picture was a childhood. I saw a long, hot summer filled with baseball games in the park, with laughing and yelling. I saw a story unfinished. There are infinitely many stories that could go along with this ball. Was it the home run ball that was hit so hard the stitches couldn't hold? Or maybe it has been used to play so many games that it finally succumbed to the time and weather. Either way, this ball has a story to tell, and that is for the observer to decide.
2. Rock Me To Sleep
At first glance, you may not have guessed that this is a rocking chair. For me, I wanted to get so close to it, that you could almost see all of the years that it has been through. To the naked eye, no one can possibly see all that it has been through. But I know. I look at this chair and I recognize that frayed edges from where my cat scratched and stretched. The chipped paint reminds me of all of the summers I spent sitting on the front porch, and all of the snow that piled up around it when we forgot to bring it in for the winter. I can remember seeing old pictures of my parents holding me as a baby and sitting in this chair. The picture of the chair doesn't only hold the chair itself, but the memories that come with it.
3. Hello.
To some, graffiti is strictly vandalism. To me, it is art; an expression. There are so many ways that it can be interpreted, but only the artist will ever truly know. I found this specific piece while I was on a walking trail that lead under an overpass. The entire wall is covered with colors and works and pictures. Sometimes, you can't tell where the first person's picture ends and the next begins. I really liked this one because of how simple it is. I edited the photo so that the only colors that were visible were blue and red so that the light in the picture wouldn't overpower the message. The exact message, I don't know. Maybe there is deep meaning behind it, or maybe it is just a greeting. Like I said, we won't ever know for sure; and that is pretty exciting!
4. Perspective
The story behind this one is anything but. The picture captures a handicap sign in my church parking lot. What I was looking for here was a new way of seeing things. I wanted to find a way to turn something ordinary into something extraordinary. You probably can't say that you have ever looked at a sign from the bottom up. I imagine that this is what it would look like it we were small bugs crawling across the pavement, always looking up. From this angle, I felt that the picture was more open. When I look at the sky, it seems more and more endless. This picture is an example of showing people something they don't normally see.
5. Pure as the Sea
The reason that I call this "Pure as the Sea" is because of the purity of the picture. The genuine happiness on her face is, for lack of a better term, contagious. She is enjoying life and it is showing through her smile. This is a picture of my best friend. I took this picture while we were vacationing on Lake Huron. It also happens to be my favorite picture of her because it is so candid that the moment will live on forever. Telling someone to smile for the camera will only get you a certain level of satisfaction. Those smiles are not real. But the smiles that you get from people who aren't expecting it, those are their true smiles. They are letting their colors show, and you are capturing it perfectly in the moment. It is hard to get these pictures, but when you do, they were worth every second of time you waited to get the perfect photo.
