I
spent an amazing 2 hours sitting at the Japanese Gardens (in Portland) on sunday afternoon. I had been planning on going here for years, but I never got the chance until now. I was almost glad that it had taken me so long to be able to spend so much time there for a couple of reasons:
1. I finally had a nice camera that I wanted to use and use and use
2. I had some time, to just relax, think about anything and everything that has gone on, is going on and will go on in my life
There are a few of you that will be receiving some emails about this, already have, or it will take some time, but just know, it was a very much needed time that I had to myself. From the moment that I left the hotel to go there, I decided to that I would be silent. I wasn't going to be rude, if someone talked to me, I would have said something back, but other than that....nothing. I think that I only responded to 5 text messages the whole time (and yes, I understand, that it very quiet for me!) and didn't answer my phone. When I got to the top of the hill, I realized that this was going to be like nothing that I have seen before. I have seen pictures of what it looked like before, but NEVER did I think that it was going to be the experience that it was. To those of you who passionatly enjoy photography, I highly recommend this experience to all of you. I took 75 pictures, each and every one of them were perfect, to me, in their own way. I was in awe of the beauty that existed in this seemingly small area.
As soon as I entered the gate, there was a feeling of zen that consumed me. The first area that I went to was the gathering area. There were, in the past, meetings, get togethers and weddings that happened there. I sat down for a moment, really quite overcome with relaxation. I began to try and tell myself that I was the only person there, that no one else mattered, to take the pictures that I wanted to and not worry about who was around, what they thought about me, or what I was thinking.
I walked past the first group of flowers, I noticed one, I thought that it would turn into a good picture, and I wanted to see if I could do the one thing that I loved to see when I looked at pictures like that. Click, first picture, and I was kinda hooked from that moment on, with that kind of picture and the preciseness that I was looking for with every shot. I wanted to make sure that I got just enough or none of the surrounding flowers. You should have seen me, sometimes the one that I wanted, was way to far up for me to see through the viewfinder, so I had to just guess, put the camera up there and trust my judgement.........that in itself was a positive thing for me, to trust my judgement.....anyway, those were sometimes the best ones!
So time passed by and sometimes I would notice that so many others were just like me, taking pictures of the waterfalls, ponds or the rock formations, but I noticed that I was looking so much deeper into every photo. When I would take a picture of the pond, it was about the movement, the way the water was flowing, the way that the single flower that was in the pond was moving. When I would take a picture of the waterfall, it was about every crash of water into the pond below, where it would be flowing from there, and when it would find itself in that place again. There was a moment that I was standing there, in front of a large flight of stairs. There is a picture of this in my page and I thought to myself, that alone is in need of a blog (and yes, I am sure that there is going to be one soon) and click click, another couple of pictures.......
In the end, the beauty that I saw on that day, cannot be explained by any amount of words or pictures. I (fortunatly or unfortunatly) took a lot of close up pictures, so there is no way that you could even get an idea of what it was like. Perhaps I did that in person, becuase even though it is just a park, a place where people go, a tourist attraction, it is what it is, and it was there that I grew, as a person and as a photographer.
1. I finally had a nice camera that I wanted to use and use and use
2. I had some time, to just relax, think about anything and everything that has gone on, is going on and will go on in my life
There are a few of you that will be receiving some emails about this, already have, or it will take some time, but just know, it was a very much needed time that I had to myself. From the moment that I left the hotel to go there, I decided to that I would be silent. I wasn't going to be rude, if someone talked to me, I would have said something back, but other than that....nothing. I think that I only responded to 5 text messages the whole time (and yes, I understand, that it very quiet for me!) and didn't answer my phone. When I got to the top of the hill, I realized that this was going to be like nothing that I have seen before. I have seen pictures of what it looked like before, but NEVER did I think that it was going to be the experience that it was. To those of you who passionatly enjoy photography, I highly recommend this experience to all of you. I took 75 pictures, each and every one of them were perfect, to me, in their own way. I was in awe of the beauty that existed in this seemingly small area.
As soon as I entered the gate, there was a feeling of zen that consumed me. The first area that I went to was the gathering area. There were, in the past, meetings, get togethers and weddings that happened there. I sat down for a moment, really quite overcome with relaxation. I began to try and tell myself that I was the only person there, that no one else mattered, to take the pictures that I wanted to and not worry about who was around, what they thought about me, or what I was thinking.
I walked past the first group of flowers, I noticed one, I thought that it would turn into a good picture, and I wanted to see if I could do the one thing that I loved to see when I looked at pictures like that. Click, first picture, and I was kinda hooked from that moment on, with that kind of picture and the preciseness that I was looking for with every shot. I wanted to make sure that I got just enough or none of the surrounding flowers. You should have seen me, sometimes the one that I wanted, was way to far up for me to see through the viewfinder, so I had to just guess, put the camera up there and trust my judgement.........that in itself was a positive thing for me, to trust my judgement.....anyway, those were sometimes the best ones!
So time passed by and sometimes I would notice that so many others were just like me, taking pictures of the waterfalls, ponds or the rock formations, but I noticed that I was looking so much deeper into every photo. When I would take a picture of the pond, it was about the movement, the way the water was flowing, the way that the single flower that was in the pond was moving. When I would take a picture of the waterfall, it was about every crash of water into the pond below, where it would be flowing from there, and when it would find itself in that place again. There was a moment that I was standing there, in front of a large flight of stairs. There is a picture of this in my page and I thought to myself, that alone is in need of a blog (and yes, I am sure that there is going to be one soon) and click click, another couple of pictures.......
In the end, the beauty that I saw on that day, cannot be explained by any amount of words or pictures. I (fortunatly or unfortunatly) took a lot of close up pictures, so there is no way that you could even get an idea of what it was like. Perhaps I did that in person, becuase even though it is just a park, a place where people go, a tourist attraction, it is what it is, and it was there that I grew, as a person and as a photographer.
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