Redefine ‘Beauty’
Mary and I are planning a trip to Ireland in September, and as as much as I love using my Canon Mark 6 for landscapes, shlepping it along with even one lens and a tripod, is just too much. And so I’m reacquainting myself with my travel camera, a Sony a6300. I’ve used it on trips before, but every time I use it it seems like the first time again. There’s so much to like about it. It’s so lightweight that I can carry it and an extra lens or two with no problem. The 24mm prime that I use most often is a real gem, and even the kit lens, an 18-105, gets good results. But it has buttons everywhere, and I still don’t know what they do. I just haven’t taken the time to make it an extension of my hands like I have with the Canon. That’s a long introduction to this photo I made last week walking around downtown Phoenix.
I decided to take an hour or two wandering and shooting, getting the feel of the Sony again, but just as I was getting in the groove, the battery died. The battery I’d just charged to 100%. I later discovered I had somehow pressed a “record video” button and had a 8 minute view of the pavement. That’s a button to figure out.
In between beginning my walk and the battery dying I made some shots, several at this spot. I wanted to find some black and white compositions, and I thought the tones in the wall might make a good contrast to the sprawling weed bush. I shot it from different angles, tight and wide, left and right, above and straight on. I liked the white plywood, wedged at an angle in front of the bricked window. Then the battery died.
I wasn’t too excited about loading them into Lightroom, but I felt obligated to check out the 7 images I’d captured. When I opened this and saw it in color for the first time (the camera has a B&W mode), I was a little surprised and even happy with it: the blues in the wall, the deep green leaves of the weeds, their rust-colored seed heads, the bricks spotted with moss.
Sometimes it’s tough to motivate my self to get out and shoot: the dogs need a walk, it’s too bright or hot or late or I’m hungry. But every time I do it I stand a better chance of being delighted by what I discover, in this case beautiful color in the middle of industrial Phoenix. A colleague of mine once said that every time we make a photo we redefine beauty, and I’d do well to keep that in mind.