beauty is born in stillness (p.5)
“In this worried rush, nobody stopped to see the sun appear over the rooftops. Unnoticed beauty lost in the need to be everywhere, in every waking moment.”
-Mala Naidoo
I posted this picture on Instagram this week, and my dear mentor commented, “Ohhh this light!!!”. I started thinking about how I have been photographing lately, especially in the last year.
Light has become more my focus than the subject itself, it seems. In fact, I always move my flowers or whatever I am photographing, so that the light touches it in just a certain way.
To really see where the light lands, I slow down my shutter speed. The more I slow it down, the more my picture only reveals what the light chooses to expose as the background fades.
I typically did not take pictures this way before because it usually required a tripod and I felt tripods were too limiting. I couldn’t easily move around or get a different angle. My options seemed much more limited this way. Honestly, I felt restricted… claustrophobic of sorts. I felt I would miss “the shot” if I couldn’t be free to move around.
So, one day, I pulled my tripod out and attached my camera to it. Something happened. Instead of feeling limited or restricted, I began to feel more creative. Having fewer options, sparked more ideas on how to use my camera settings and figuring out ways to create what my eye could see but had never managed to capture.
Instead of the fear of missing out on all the options I could not do by using a tripod, I had a calmness, and focus. With beautiful music playing and a warm cup of tea beside me, I became more creative. By slowing down, using one angle, and sitting with my subject, I began to create.
Now, as the tides are changing, I hope I remember what came from being quiet and still as I go out and embrace this beautiful world. I found beauty by slowing down myself and my shutter speed. It allowed me to sit, with permission. My wish is that I listen to myself, more than my fear of not doing enough. Because as I have found, beauty is born in stillness.
Have a beautiful week. ❤️
