Hello from Missoula, Montana. This is Day 5 of a six day photography workshop at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography and I am practically buzzing with all I've learned. What a great experience this week has been so far.
I have been pushed in ways I had not yet imagined...which is, I guess the beauty of putting ones self 'out there'. The pay off of paying attention to an urge. A dream. An intuition. Of listening to what makes you happy. Of taking a risk.
The truth is that doing what makes you happy, I have found many times over, isn't necessarily easy. The fact that there are angst inducing decisions involved....that there are times I am forced to stretch and grow and see things differently....tempts me to allow my life to remain, every day, 'as is'. The past few days I have been busy and tired and missing my home. I've gone to sleep late, jumped out of bed early the next morning and needed an extra cup of coffee in order to make it thorough the following afternoon. I have entered a room full of strangers and made an effort to get to know them all. I've carried heavy equipment for blocks, been caught out in rain, wind, sleet and snow for hours and managed not to fall into a rushing creek.
Has it been worth it? A definitive 'Yes'! Every single moment! I have learned to see subtleties that one week ago I may not have noticed, improved my technical skills, scrawled pages of notes and asked a lot of myself creatively. I've explored options on my camera's menu I have not used before and discovered further all the places this camera of mine can take me. I have had wonderful conversations with wonderful people. Been challenged to see and compose and shoot in new and different ways. I have defined what I'm capable of...... and realized I'm capable of even more than that. I've settled comfortably into what previously seemed...... uncomfortable.
I have fallen into bed happy each night. Challenged and fulfilled and encouraged and wanting more and more and more of this. And feeling, most importantly, that the pursuit of continually learning and improving my photographic skills is the absolute right path for me to be on.
Wishing you a wonderful week of your own kinds of discoveries!
Warmly, Margaret
3 comments:
Lovely photos, and lovely message! Glad you're having such an inspiring time. I hope I'm able to attend one of those workshops someday, too!
Thanks for reminding us all to take chances. It isn't easy!But, like you said, it's so worth it. I needed the reminder today.
Love those photos, too. The first one has kind of a sense of fluttering movement to it. Does that make sense? -- Michele
PS -- How in the world did you find time to post on your blog this week??
Roxanne; I hope you are able to attend one of these workshops someday as well. It was a great experience and I bet you would love it!
Michele: Thanks for taking a look. I did love taking photos in this old fashioned candy store. I actually felt the same way about the wrappers! Someone mentioned that maybe I could have turned them over in order to visualize the candy better...but I liked the 'fluttering'too! Hahaha....the ONLY other thing I did this week besides the workshop was post! XO Marg
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