6/28/2013

Finding the silver lining

27





All these many years later and I still remember something I heard
as a young student of photography ... 
Ansel Adams used to say - and I can't recall his exact words - that whatever you are focusing on,
 turn around, because the best picture might be what is behind you.

I still put those words into practice to this day
and that's what happened with this photo.
Riding the ferry, shooting the landscape from a rain spattered window
on an almost-empty passenger deck ... I turned around in my seat
and saw this sky.
Like I've done many times before, I thanked him and snapped this rear view.

And then I chuckled,
wondering what Ansel would have done with a phone camera.

:::

You don't make a photograph just with a camera.
You bring to the act of photography
all the pictures you have seen,
the books you have read,
the music you have heard,
the people you have loved.

~ Ansel Adams ~

:::


Linking with 'Friday Finds' over at Kim's place





27 comments:

  1. gorgeous sky Miss SP ... even if it ISN'T sunny, which I'm kinda jonesing for right now... and I love Ansel Adams. LOVE. his southwest photos make me swoon.

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    1. Hope you got some rays after all, miz J, no fun to sit around yearning for what isn't ;>/
      And me too, on his sw photos ... and the backroads of Yosemite. What an era of photography in CA.

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  2. Hello Sweetpea!

    What a fun Blog you have. A kindred soul I've found! I love your image and quotes that I will gather to add to my collection. I'm visiting from Kim's Friday Finds and I'm delighted to meet you.

    Have a good day,
    Karla

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    1. Karla, how kind, thank you.
      Shall pop over to your spot and say, "Hi!" in return.

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  3. hi christi...what wonderful words of advice...turn around! Such a beautiful sky and water...sigh. I love your blog...so glad to have discovered it!

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    1. He was a wise man behind that lens!
      So happy to have you visit her, nancyjean ;>]]

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  4. The tones in this shot are awesome. What a great "find"! Ansel would have been proud.
    Visiting from Friday Finds.

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    1. Many thanks, Lisa, for your visit & comment. Not sure if Ansel would have been proud ... since it was a *phone* and all that ... but I think he might have appreciated my intention.

      Will be 'round your spot to say "Hello!" shortly ...

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  5. He probably would have reversed the camera :) Good advice to remember and so true.

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    1. I'd like to think so ;>]]
      Wish I'd kept count of the number of turn-around photos I've shot because of him. Absolutely one of the truest things I've ever heard ...

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  6. turn turn turn... Roz Hawker has a link to that old song as done by the Byrds on her blog at the mmoment... wise words from the camera man

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  7. Hi Christi
    You are so lucky to have turned around at the perfect time to catch this perfect picture.
    What a wonderful view to bring peace and harmony to your soul.
    Marvelous.
    xx, Carol

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  8. Beautiful capture.
    Beyond our peripheral vision is where we
    need to look more often.

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    1. Oh, ain't THAT the truth, Nancy ... those words are spot on!!

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  9. Beautiful posting and beautiful words. I think too often we focus on what's in front instead of checking the dimensions around us, behind us, below us and above us.

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    1. That's a perfect expression of - what would be the right word? - expansiveness, perhaps.
      Yes. I think so too, Penny.

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  10. an important reminder about 'looking' -- as I have just done, through June - what gorgeous pictures you take!

    and thanks for your comments yesterday over on my blog.

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  11. Beautiful photo!
    I suppose you can say the same about what you put into your art....

    all the pictures you have seen,
    the books you have read,
    the music you have heard,
    the people you have loved.

    .... lovely thought.

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    1. Worth holding onto, I think and yes, for art too. Definitely
      Thanks, Robyn.

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  12. That is such a beautiful shot, Christi. A magnificent sky - looks like it has spilled over from the heavens and come down to touch the earth. I like that quote from Ansel Adams too - one to bear in mind when confronted by people who don't understand what goes into a good photographer's work, and regard all photos as 'snaps'!

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    1. ... spilling over from the heavens, ooooooh, I do like that thought, Janice ~ thank you!

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  13. Wow. That is such a captivating sky and the photograph draws me in.

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    1. Whenever I look at it, I can smell the sea that day.
      And I wish I was on the water under those clouds again.
      Many thanks, Susan, so so nice to see you over here ~ hope you've been having a grand summer enjoying your family and life east.

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  14. I want to tell you that in the past six months I have continued to read your blog when maybe none other. You inspire my art spirit and soothe the soul. Beautiful. Just Beautiful.

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    1. Oh my goodness, Bobbie, such kind words ...
      thank you so much for that. I had no idea.
      Thank you.

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