Tales of the Trilliums

As I had mentioned in the previous blog I was going to do a photo shoot specifically targeting Trillium's. A wonderful day presented itself to me and that was the opportunity that I'd been waiting for, so off with tripod and my Sigma 300mm combination telephoto macro lens in hand I began my trek into the Rouge Valley in search of the tri petalled pride of Ontario blooms. The previous week I had spotted a number of likely clusters by the sides of the trail upon reaching these areas I was not disappointed, on the contrary I was ecstatic at their abundance.

Trillium as I stated in another blog are very sensitive plants and if disturbed may not bloom the next season and for that matter may never bloom again. There's something very metaphorical about that, as children if we are left alone after receiving the proper attention there is a tendency to create our own lives and do so quite well in most cases, however if we are over protected or intimidated by some outside force there often times is a profound stunting of the creative process that is our lives. Wall flowers are created by the very walls they cling to.

Getting back to the shoot I chose to use my remote shutter control to avoid any shake due to the close proximity of the subjects. My camera does not have an anti shake feature, it demands the hands of a statue especially when using low shutter speeds and high magnification lenses. I was quite happy with the results the light was diffused by passing clouds at varying intervals and this was a great assistance to avoiding the burn out that sometimes occurs when photographing white flowers. After a while I felt the old familiar back pains from hunching over the tripod so I thought I'd take a stretch break.

Silence is something we never truly experience and while I was stretching my ears started to pick up on the incredible amount of birdsong that was issuing from the canopy above me. My curiosity was tweaked as I wondered what the birds looked like that made these beautiful sounds. Scanning with my eyes above me I began to pinpoint the various birds that were showing off their musicianship to whomever had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. Then came somewhat of an epiphany I first of all thought to myself ..."Why aren't I trying to capture some of these warblers?" Continuing along this line of thought I came to the realization that I was for the best part of my time in photography either looking all around me or straight down at the ground. My creative glances had never for any significant amount of time ever concentrated on what was above me!

Once again a life lesson in the key of metaphor! My sights had never focused on the loftier side of life I'd never really thought of gaining that pinnacle where greatness is found. Perhaps this was to be a new perspective illustrated to me by that which I have always called my greatest teacher nature herself. I don't believe there is any such thing as something happening by accident in ones life this was no accident either. Certainly as an artist some of us have dreams of making our mark on the world but sadly some of us have bought into the old adage that says" artists' are always poor and never become known until they're dead. " That is not always the case there are always exceptions, why? No it's not just because of connections or good luck it's not even depending on how much talent you have. You know what it really depends on? WORK! WORK! WORK! If you don't believe me think about this, how many people do you know that are incredibly talented, more so than a lot of the so called present day masters yet they go unrecognized at least a handful right? To be recognized as anything there must be a consistent effort not just on the work itself but on the promotion of that work! One without the other is virtually useless take it from me I've messed up on promotion plenty of times but the main reason I didn't succeed in the past was due to the fact that I didn't persist at the promotion end of things I'd get lost in a painting and fall back into the old bad habits of the past with thoughts like. "If my work is strong enough it will be recognized in the end." Bunk! If nobody is seeing or talking about your work you don't exist in the public eye and if you don't catch the attention of the masses you're going to lose your well you get the idea.

Okay now that your heads are up in the sky tracking those freedom fliers, remember when you're done shooting or creating whatever, you have to start finding your promotional wings if you want to fly with the eagles. I'm still finding mine, but if I can be of some help or inspiration to anyone out there or vice verso that is trying to ascend to a higher level in life then let's do it.

I will be posting some of the shots I took on this shoot as well as the first shot of a bird telling me what I ought to have known already. It's not much of a shot but it's a start.

Till Next Time ....