"We are,each one of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another." Luciano de Crescenzo
The exciting thing about digital photography is the idea that no image becomes old as long as the photographer is engaged in the learning process and upgrading his creative skills. With winter settled in here in our corner of the world we've been hunkered down with our share of ice, snow and gloom and, with my being close to the grips of "cabin fever" I have finally begun to deal with Photoshop CS5 and some of its tools. I've avoided learning this editing software because Adobe Photoshop Elements has been just fine, but just like young boys learning to coexist with young girls, I decided to move on in the creative process...on a first date basis.
The challenge is really no different than learning new tools in the wet darkroom except for the fact that the digital world is never standing still. The one thing that I've had to come to grips with is that no matter what I learn today, tomorrow is a whole new lesson. While this may seem to be a never ending challenge, in truth it means that not only is ones creativity always on the move, but the persons work may always have new meaning day, months or years later. Add to that the fact that when a photographer is lined up in front of a subject they have more skills to use for the "previsualization" of the final outcome of an image.
The above blog image is something that happened on a trip to Florida several years ago that started out in frustration. This Osprey had been combing the beaches nearby and while I had a 100 - 400mm zoom loaded on my camera, I was really having a hard time trying to get some "pass" shots of this marvelous creature. As I've said many times before, "as luck would have it" the Osprey found a stream of air overhead and for several seconds we stared at each other. "What can it be like to have the use of wings?", I thought right before making this capture.
Once at home I was delighted with the image, but disappointed with the blank blue sky overhead. It seemed to suck the life out of the living creature, but recently I've had the opportunity to revisit this image with a new tool called Fly Paper textures at http://flypapertextures.blogspot.com/ . These textured overlays are exciting to work with and offer a bundle of choices for creative use. The result put a whole new life in the capture and also a whole new impetus in my learning experience. Also, one other great resource for learning is a new book "Layers" by Matt Kloskowski, which was suggested to me by my good friend Anthony Vodraska of "X-Alt Art Studio", and has provided a great starting point for learning about the use of layers in editing.
Of course this simple lesson for creativity is applicable in our daily lives giving new purpose to what may seem to be mundane occurrences or tasks that surround us. We are all born with a creative Spirit and, like learning to walk, if we don't get up on our feet once in awhile, we forget how to move forward.
Christmas is just around the corner, a time to embrace one another, and new years is next, a time to reinvent ourselves and our purpose! Wishing you all the very best for the season and a prosperous new year.
