Working with the new camera (a Nikon 3100), and learning about it, and as well, general photographic principles, is yet another challenging endeavor. I’ve been writing, and studying writing since the days of wagon trains, and so I take for granted what I know about this particular art form. If I had to begin anew, relearning what I once knew about writing, I’d be disheartened.

A term common to both writing and photography is composition. I suspect that as with writing, every instance in which you take a photograph presents a problem. Once in a blue moon, the odds are in your favor, and you have a good day, and there is no problem and the composition materializes with little effort. But this is because you previously encountered and successfully dealt with the problems that this piece might have posed. So, this isn’t luck, but rather a happy blip.

Yogi

I learn, and internalize information in a very piecemeal fashion, knowing that this will have an unforeseen affect on my composing process. I’ve been reading Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley – she shows her readers the path of her character’s thinking – which is loose and associative. Her sentences mimic this; they are like her character’s thoughts, long and winding. I internalized this, as can be seen in this dispatch.

We looked at some black and white photos in my Monday night class. I’ve begun to internalize – and have been thinking about where and what might constitute good photos. This isn’t coming as easily to me as I’d like, but then I’m new at it.

I remember taking a college photography class – for my final project I attempted to put images to poems. The teacher, who was a very kindly fellow, said that my ability to write was far ahead of my my ability to produce photos. I know now that this is always going to be the case. But I will, this time around, be less dismissive of the technical aspects of photography. I didn’t consciously attempt to do this when younger – it was again, that right brain thing

So today, work some on Raudi’s Story, and also get out and take some photos. Someday, it is all going to come together, whatever that means.

Once in a Blue Moon
The moon casts shadows,
tree limbs lengthen, stretch, extend—
Swaying in the wind to the sound of the wind,
creaking snapping, giving in,
falling to the ground, and merging with light.
On the drive home,
the radio announcer asks the interviewer
“When do you do yoga?”
To which the interviewer replies
“I’m always doing yoga.”
This, I think, is a man
Who occupies his own shadow.

Next: 51. 1/26/12: Random Thoughts about Breast Cancer