MUSINGS ON PLAY ON A COLD WINTER DAY
Play.
As children we all played. Some of us with footballs and hockey sticks, others with Barbies and Easy Bake ovens. Hot Wheels and GI Joe have given way to X-Box and Wii, but children still play.
As adults some of us still play. Perhaps a weekly game of hockey, recreational slow pitch or a trip to the mountains for a ski or a hike. Or, more commonly, we play at watching spectator sports on a big-screen TV.
But we usually don’t put “play” and “photography” in the same thought.
But we should.
Play is an essential part of creativity.
On a recent trip in Northern Ontario I wasn’t happy with my photographs of autumn leaves. They were to sharp, too literal, too, well, ordinary. So, on a short hike with family members, perhaps inspired by my great nieces and their cousin skipping stones on Lake Superior, I had a moment of playful inspiration.
Choosing a slow shutter speed I moved the camera up and down, turning the static scene into a fluid image of birch tree trunks and yellow leaves contrasting with the green of a spruce tree.
I was just playing, just trying to see what I could make, just having fun with photography.
wow, keep playing!