Choosing

Choosing 29.5.22

I have been asked why I choose a particular photo for each blog and why, when I am writing about the heron, for example, I don’t put a picture of a heron up. I am using my own photos at this stage, so the selection comes from the photos I have taken myself. Of course, I might change later and use file photos, but for now I am happy to use the ones that I have. When I have finished writing the blogs, I go over to my photo selection and decide which colour feels appropriate for the piece I have just written. I am fortunate where I live and in the aspect of the house, that when sitting on the couch, the view to the west is just to my right and I am able to see the magnificent colours of the sunsets as they unfold, thus I end up photographing many of the more spectacular ones. Of course, the photo that comes out doesn’t always depict the actual colours that I am seeing, but I can only capture what my phone will allow. From time to time, I see photos that others have posted of the same sunset and realise that each of our phones deciphers the colours in a different way. One phone I had would show up the ponga fronds in a beautiful green when using the flash, but with my latest two phones, the flash ignites at the wrong time, leaving the leaves a dull greyish colour. I always take far too many photos, meaning to delete the inferior ones at a later date, but this seldom happens, thus I have hundreds of sunset photos which I have categorised into the different colours; pinks, yellows, purples, oranges etc.

I have always loved colour, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, that is why I love my flowers and my crystals and most likely why I enjoy attempting to permanently retain the evening’s glory and on rare occasions when I am up early enough, the morning’s too.

I am using sunsets at the moment, because I love them and I feel they take one to a mystical place. As most of my blogs are intended to unite the ordinary with the spiritual, I feel the similarity in the sunset. These take us into the sky and up into the higher realms.

When I was working for one of the newspapers, my job was to take the photos as well. I wrote several stories about a chap who rescued birds. I got some great pics of morepork, albatross, and kiwi, but my bubble was burst one day when an angry reader complained that if he ever saw another photo of this particular man, he would never read the paper again. At least he wasn’t complaining about the bird component, but each pic did contain the bird-rescuer. The point here is, if people start to feel like that reader did – those sunset photos are getting on my goat, please let me know. That’s liz@pjlee.org and I’ll substitute them for something else. Feedback on any other matter is always welcome as well. Take care out there everybody.