How photography enhances your writing

When you allow the world to revolve around your ability to notice fine details, you become a better photographer and a better writer.  Here’s a creative rendition of the thought I had in mind when I blazed those words out of my keyboard and on to the screen.

Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness. – W. Eugene Smith

Every day, simple life is filled with opportunities to expand conversant abilities in both your writing and photography skills.  I love that, it means you don’t need to travel far or even outside.

Yesterday I made my fasting day breakfast consisting of oatmeal, honey, cinnamon, and fresh blueberries.  The product impressed me with how delicious it looked.  My mouth drooling as I stirred the mixture together.  I immediately thought, “I should grab my camera to capture the moment.”  (Doesn’t everyone do that?  Jeez?)

I took several shots, as an aspiring photographer should do, replaced the lens cap, draped the camera strap over my shoulder, grabbed the bowl and went on my merry way to work in my office.

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I got busy doing work and enjoyed breakfast at a leisurely pace.  When one is fasting, you must savor every bite, every pop of each blueberry’s sweet juices, and the hints of complimentary honey and cinnamon.  If you don’t, it will seem like an incredibly long time between feedings.

It must have taken me a considerable amount of time to eat breakfast because the oatmeal was encrusting the edges of the bowl before I noticed it was gone – that is until I had to move the bowl, sitting there in my way, covering up my work that needed my undivided attention to get it done.  Sometimes fasting makes one delirious so I could be wrong on the facts of the day?  I’m also gifted with the ability to work around things, I’m adaptable in that way.

When I woke up from my low blood sugar daze, I dutifully returned the bowl of cemented oatmeal to the kitchen sink, doused it with water, and left it to sit and soak off the crustation, and headed back to work.

As I was leaving the room, I glanced toward the window and saw a silhouette of a cat sitting on a sturdy structure she had claimed as all her own.

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The warmth of the sunlight engrossed her, making her oblivious to me – the passerby.  She was so assayed with her world that I had time to get my camera from the other room, return, and then click away from different angles.

One advantage of photography is that it’s visual and can transcend language. – Lisa Kristine

The real test of seeing what I’ve captured with my camera is in post clicking mode.  During editing, I challenge myself to notice things that I hadn’t seen when I took the shot.

Now you go back and look at the photos again, did you notice the following when you first looked at them?

Did I capture in words what I saw?  How could I do better?  

Did you see tiny specs of cinnamon and the delicate star on the blueberry in the bowl?  Did you see the reflection of Tizzie in the window and the light bouncing off the chair to her left indicating that she was looking out a window, yet it wasn’t in the frame?    

What else did you notice?  How about leading lines, did I capture any?  What are your tricks for triggering thoughts to describe in words what you’ve done today or the photos you’ve taken?  I enjoy learning from you – leave a comment or your blog post’s link that you’d like me to see.  

Cee’s B&W Challenge:  Structure