Tag: water

Reading your environment…

Visual clues can be found all around us if we take time to observe what’s different, not only in our environment, but in the people who can impact us.

It would be a grave mistake to assume that everything stays as it was—that time and events don’t alter our perceptions and guide our future responses.

I was reminded this morning of a boxer we had when I was a child. Neighborhood dogs seemed to target her, even though her breed was more than capable of dominating. One day she was beat-up, one too many times, by another dog. After that, she became the aggressor—a surprising change in a dog who’d been a gentle soul. She changed because events forced her to.

Glitter paths are a visual clue that, if read properly, provide information on how rough a patch of water is. For a sailor out on the water, it’s a valuable tool to use when plotting a course.

Adaptation is more important today than it ever was. Be observant to changes in your environment and never assume the person you knew then, is the same one you’ll meet today.

She’s the sum of every molecule…

I can tell you of a place but don’t expect to find this image there. Every time you look at her, she looks different. She’s the sum of every molecule of water that has ever flowed into her.

We’re not that different—everything we see, hear, taste, feel, every moment and every event—affects us emotionally on some level and is woven into our very being.

It’s not possible to go through life unaffected by what we do and what is done to us. Some things pass through leaving a barely discernible trace, while others leave craters, a landscape forever changed.

Wisdom comes in recognizing the latter for what it is, or was, and perhaps Newton said it best, accepting that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

In a river or creek, the residence time for a molecule of water is about two weeks.

And if relationships are imbalanced, for example, you’re putting far more into one than you’re receiving from one, perhaps it’s time to let that one go—accept its residence time for what it was.

And once again, for me, the images that resonate the most, and allow for introspection, are (almost always) about the water.

Water Caustics…

The beauty of light as it interacts with a creek. The rays refract and converge through the water’s surface—their flickering forms created by an almost infinite combination of depth, wind, solar angle, and surface.

It’s (almost always) about the water.

Truer words…

if there is magic.

looking into a river and seeing the patterns emerge as water flows over rocks blue green palette


If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.

Loren Eiseley

Eiseley was quoted as being a scholar and writer of imagination and grace. His reverence for the natural world and his eloquent and poetic way of writing about it is nothing short of inspirational.

I share his thoughts on water. It compels in me a strong desire to record its transient nature and its variant forms.

The image above is part of a series that I have some special plans for and I hope that it in turns inspires people to look, really look, at the beauty of our natural world.

Note: Those of you signed up to receive my blog by e-mail received a link that was not functioning correctly. My apologies, I will post that when it is corrected.

Dwelling in…

conflict.

A used tire, coated in ice, litters the surface of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho while others lurk below the surface.
What Lies Beneath © Sheryl R Garrison

Light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error. It is these mingled opposites which people our life, which make it pungent, intoxicating. We only exist in terms of this conflict, in the zone where black and white clash.

Louis Aragon

Looking at this image makes me think that there really isn’t much hope for humanity. The simplest concept that the earth could go on without us but that we can’t survive without its natural resources seems to elude a large percentage of the population.

Perhaps those are the same ones that love to dwell in conflict. Where everything is never enough and the concept of accountability is just a word that’s too long to pronounce. The conflict becomes too intoxicating to put down and common sense falls by the wayside.

But I digress…

I”ll likely not be around in 50 years but those tires sure will be.

It’s (almost always) about the water.

Retrospective…

on the year.

DSC_1687-EditOn the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think

Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

John Keats

I think that it’s a sign of growth when we can look at what we do and how we do it and evaluate if that still works for us. For me December is the perfect time to do that and gear up for the coming year.

For example, I am a believer that how you keep your work space is a clear indicator of your mental health. I used to feel that a work space that was cluttered and filled with ongoing, unfinished work was a sign of great creativity. Looking back at that now I realize that you can’t be working to your full potential in a messy environment and taking it one step further, if you dig deep, I think you’ll find that it is an indicator of poor mental health and unhappiness.

I look at the images that I love to create and by far the cleanest, simplest imagery is what fuels my passion the most so why would I ever think that cluttered would work for me?

I’ve spent this year simplifying my life, my gear, my studio and in the process of doing so find myself finishing off the year feeling inspired and focused.

It’s that time of year…plan some goals, clean up your work space, and start the New Year off with a clear direction and a plan of how to get there from here.

Reading a little poetry won’t hurt either, I highly recommend When I Have Fears by John Keats.

Water…

in all of its forms.DSC_8314

No water, no life. No blue, no green.

Sylvia Earle

There’s something magical about dew soaked landscapes in the early hours of sunrise.

A single leaf becomes a canvas for nature to paint on.

For me it’s almost always about the water. Where it falls, how it sounds, the taste of it, the feel of it, the smell of the earth after a rain.

Life affirming.

Drink it in.

There must be something…

to astrological signs.

DSC_5852Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.

Rabindranath Tagore

I’m fast approaching two years of writing this weekly blog and while I must admit some weeks it feels a little like throwing words out into an abyss where they may never be seen, I think ultimately you have to be happy with what it brings into your own life and enjoy those times when it does resonate with someone else. I’m grateful especially when someone takes the time to add a comment or share their own story and it always thrills me to see the list of countries from around the world that check in to read my posts.

I like going through my images and finding one that fits with my week. It adds another element to the editing process already full of thoughts like what will I print, what goes on my website, what will I share to social media?

Once I’ve made those choices it gives me peace of mind that my images are off of the card, into Lightroom, backed up on an external hard drive, and sent to Carbonite for an extra back up. Just in case something fails, and it will and it has!

I recently had a conversation with another photographer who unlike myself does not immediately go through the day’s images and make selections. I don’t find that to be a chore, I am excited to see them on a large screen and see if I captured the look that I was going for.

Do your images languish on your card inside your camera for weeks? What do you do to ensure the safety and longevity of your images?

And this week’s image? Well, more often than not I do find that it’s (almost always) about the water...and yes, I am a Pisces!