Gut Feeling?
What's your gut feeling on the present situation? Level 4 and slowly seeing improvements in minimising the virus spread. We are making national progress. What resonates in the back of my mind are Hollywood movies that were made about this stuff. If you look back in history humans have predicted our futures well before they happen. Take Star Trek for example with the flip-open communicator in the 1960s. Then we saw cell phones from Motorolla doing exactly that in the 1990s. disappointingly no tele-transporter yet. And here we are with a global pandemic that is hauling humanity over he coals and halting the economic freight train and mass destruction on our planet for a brief moment.
You have to put the present in perspective and if you consider times scales in a geological sense this time scale does not even register. My gut feeling is going back to what we're doing previously is completely wrong. And if we do - I can guarantee another terrible disaster - pandemic or something else. This all may seem a bit doom n gloom, but it's not! There are so many learnings; so many opportunities from this. And I do not mean the ones that result in growing any economy or fast lane stuff. I mean we need to start thinking local, we need to consider what we purchase, we need to slow down and not think growth in the economy - more like stabilisation and manage consumerism.
What about community initiatives that work on ensuring our local suburbs are looked after for future generations. And limiting tourism so the amount of people coming into New Zealand is sustainable for the long term. My gut feeling is this could happen, but it will take a few goes for humans to get it. We will stuff this up. We need solid leadership from governments, politicians, and councils and community initiatives that change our culture. Four weeks of rāhui is not enough to change a millennium of habits. Changing habits takes much longer. We also need to steer our selected voted leaders in the right direction too. I believe in the power of the consumer and fight against the tragedy of the commons.
(The tragedy of the commons is a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users, acting independently according to their own self-interest, behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling the shared resource through their collective action.)
So let's get thinking. How can we create a new norm that is great for our local environment and long-lasting? Changing habits takes both effort and time, and we are all susceptible to what we have learned in the past. Why not make that change now, for example;
- share some garden produce with someone close in your community ie a neighbour or someone you know close by in your street.
- Do some baking and drop it off with a friendly note,
- Ensure you compost, and
- buy local.
These are only a very few ideas that are not new but often forgotten. The trick is not to get caught up with trying to ponder the world's problems. Rather consider how do you want to live your life on a daily basis. - That's what counts. That's not easy when we have many things that are outside our control. However, I suggest you work within your circles of influence, not the ones you have no control over.
So my gut feeling is to reconsider how you live your life, start to build good habits that are good for your local community and environment and be the guardians of your local land. That way we start to create the new-new. That way we start to change the world. If you ever get the chance have a read of 'How to Change the World' by John-Paul Flintoff. - inspiring and helpful.
In terms of photography have you ever looked at a scene and thought - I am sure there is a photograph here. Maybe out of the corner of your eye you had that gut feeling. It's likely you are right. To create an image you have to start searching. You need to stop looking and start seeing. To do this start exploring with the infinite range of angles available for the right composition. Sometimes you may not find it, and sometimes you find gold. If you do not find the right image to frame up it may be the light is not right. I find that is the most common scenario.
Take time to work shots in the area. Move your feet, try new angles, take note of the light, consider what are your key elements, for example, the main subject in relation to other subjects. Consider how the frame is balanced and run your eyes around the edge of the frame to check for unwanted distractions. It is amazing what you miss on this exercise. and do not forget to breathe! And if you don't crack a great image be ok with it. I go out to photograph and often find that of many many images I might get one from 80 + images taken or ... or 0. In fact, today was one of those days - I took many but was not happy with any so the tally for today is 0. However, I do have ideas for tomorrow to follow up with.
So listen to your gutty. It is real, it counts in photography. That way you may just find the pot of gold image at the end of the rainbow you have been searching for :)
Cover Image
'End of the Rainbow'
This is a fun image I dressed up with a border. There were some distractions at the bottom of the image so I culled those out and cropped the image to a 16x9 to extenuate the length of the rainbow.
Canon EOS R, f/10, 1/640sec, 24-70mm ISO-100
'Morning Dawn'
Up late I discovered the start of a stunning coloured morning. With little time we raced out the door and power walked to the flag pole. There in the nick of time, we waited for the last spray of colour, listened to vibrant native bird songs and breathed in the stunning crisp Autumn air. This dazzling light show was gone in a flash so we were so grateful for this experience. Heading out was based on a gut feeling that it was going to be a stunning morning. I have been disappointed before but sometimes you just have to take a hunch and go for it.
Canon EOS R, f/16, 1/13sec, 20mm ISO-100
'Hereweka Last Light'
Often this time of year reaps beautiful light. I looked out and wow it was all happening. However, It happens very quickly so I managed to snap 7 images and later stitched these together. Hereweka holds a special place in me as it was where I proposed to Jo to marry me. I was extremely nervous. I got her out of bed and encouraged her up for an amazing sunrise. I cracked the question and the response was positive.
I am so grateful as love and life can be tenuous and fickle. And should never be taken for granted.
Canon EOS R, f/7.1, 1/250sec, 200mm ISO-400
Andy`s Photography Tip: 'Gut Feeling'
One of the four facets of photography I have suggested in the 8 April blog was Gut Feeling. Here are some tips to consider;
- Gut feeling is real so listen to it.
- If you can not crack a good image maybe plan to return.
- Consider what light you have - will this make a difference?
- Move your feet - search through the infinite range of angles you could take.
- Work your shooting time - take and try images - that is the joy of digital.
Please put a comment or emoji below. If you have any questions pop them in the comments box below or send me a video with your questions via Facebook - keep taking photos and get out there!
Andy Thompson