(I wrote this article as a sample submission for a website that I'm trying to get a "job" with as a monthly contributor. The website is just for women of Utah. I thought I did a pretty good job with it and thought maybe you would be interested in seeing it.)All of us have heard the saying “April showers bring May flowers.” But when May brings us more rain than sunshine, what do we get then? A little bit wet? Time to postpone our gardening? Depression?
I think it’s easy to get a little down when all we see are cloudy skies after a long, cold, winter. But I promise there are sunny days ahead!
In the mean time, I thought I would share some lessons I’ve learned from being a photographer that might help keep your spirits up even while the skies are a little gray. (All of the pictures below were taken on a VERY rainy day.)
1. Zoom in
Sometimes when you look through a camera lens, something that could be rather impressive to your naked eye is just rather blah. But, if you zoom in on the details, you get an interesting, artistic photograph.
Take this old church building for example. It’s a large building with tall, imposing steeples. The windows are interesting, too. But when I took a picture of the whole building I was unimpressed. The tree in front of it has no leaves, and the gray sky makes for a boring, washed-out background.
When I zoomed in on the details, though, I got this interesting, geometric shot.
Often, we go about our lives doing the same things and seeing the same things day after day (and if you have small children, saying the same things, watching the same things, reading the same things, singing the same things, etc. etc.). Our houses, our neighborhoods and our families can sometimes seem rather unimpressive just because we see them all the time.
But if you take a closer look, sometimes beauty can pop out at you in places you wouldn’t have expected.
2. Take a different angle
Often turning your camera just a little bit can make all the difference. Tilting the camera can give an otherwise stagnant shot just enough movement to make it interesting. Shifting your view point two inches to the right can bring something into the shot that brings it to life.
I thought the bright colors of these flowers was really pretty against the black ironwork fence, but as you can see, the boxy camera angle and busy background make the picture a little blah.
But, when I tilted the camera at just a slight angle, and shifted my viewpoint just a little to the left, I got something with just the right amount of contrast and a little movement. It looks much better, don’t you think?
3. Zoom out
Occasionally the key to a great photo isn’t getting closer, it’s moving away. If you are too focused on a piece of a shot, you miss the grandeur around it. By zooming out, you put the piece you found interesting into perspective, which is often what brought it to your attention in the first place. When you go to the ocean, it’s not the water around your feet that’s impressive, but the sheer amount of water compared to little old you.
Here is a farm building that I thought was interesting. I especially liked the red of the barn against the spring green crops growing in front of it.
The shot captures what I found interesting, but when I zoomed out a bit, it’s easier to see why it grabbed my attention.
There is the old saying, “Don’t miss the forest for the trees.” I think that is kind of what I’m trying to say here. It’s easy to lose perspective when faced with the worries and drama of daily life. Don’t be so focused on the dishes, and the kid crying, and the groceries, that you miss the fact that you have healthy children, a roof over your head, and the freedom to make your own choices.
Even though I would prefer warm, sunny skies to cold, drippy clouds, I think May showers can give us more than just a case of the blues; they can give us the opportunity to look at the world in a different way. When we make the effort, I’m pretty sure we’ll see something beautiful that otherwise we might have missed. The flowers hold their heads high despite the rain and so can you.
Post and photos by Sabrina Watts of Sabrina Watts Photography
