The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer. - UnknownYou may recognize this quote from my previous post, My COVID-19 Backyard Boredom Project. When I found this quote I was blown away! I had never given thought about that but it really is true. I know there are more than a few examples of this in my portfolio and, if I am lucky, I will be finding more as the years go by. This post started out on my photography blog but I thought it was a good fit here because this is also a personal journey. Yes, I look at my photography as a journey as it takes me to places I never imagined; often without leaving my own back yard. The best part is that I can take others along with me. The past few months have witnessed quite a change for this photographer; being restricted to my yard has actually expanded my range. I initially mourned the loss of landscape photography as I could no longer go to the park for a hike, no sunrise or sunset either. That, in the long run, turned into a blessing in that it has forced me to look at things in an entirely new way - to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. There are days when nothing seems to go right; in the past I would go outside with my camera and just point the camera at something. It was therapeutic just to squeeze the shutter. Those excursions more often than not resulted in deleting all of the images. Now when I go out I go with more purpose, actually looking for a portfolio worthy image. There are still a lot of deleted images but I usually come away with at least one or two "keepers." All of the images used to illustrate this post were made over the past three months and all are from my yard. The peony has been in our front yard for about twenty (20) years and I never photographed it before. It has grown from a clipping my wife took from a plant my great-aunt had growing in her yard for many years. The Lily of the Valley have been growing for more than twenty-five (25) years and it took until now to stop and make some images. The first one came as I was sitting on the front steps with my camera - they just happened to catch my eye. That opened the floodgates and I think I went out every day for at least five (5) days to shoot them. The begonias are new; my wife bought a couple planters for the front porch and filled them with impatiens, begonias and verbena. I like the layers of petals inside the begonia and they have become a favorite for macro work. I've also played around with the impatiens but the verbena just aren't very photogenic - at least not for me. I like this image of the impatiens because they almost look like a couple pairs of lips. I wonder what they are trying to say. 😃 I think this might be a good time to wrap up. I hope you've enjoyed coming along on this little journey with me and maybe been inspired to get out into your own yard for a bit of exploring. There really is so much more than meets the eye - you just have to take the time to look. Oh.... if you know the name of the little yellow flower shown here - please let me know in the comments below. I thought it was a buttercup but can't seem to find anything that looks like this. Thanks!
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All photos are copyright Joseph S. Valencia All Rights Reserved They may not be used in any way without express written permission of the photographer. If you wish to use any of the photos you may contact the photographer at valencia32photo@gmail.com
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