Life Lesson 4: It's Really Only About Perspective

People can have the exact same experiences and, yet, they experience them differently.  This is because we are all operating out of our own agendas, beliefs, past experiences, state of mind, etc. It truly is ONLY about perspective and we can choose to look at something in any way we decide.

A while back, I participated in a photo ecourse where we were to pick a topic and take photos of that topic over the next the 30 days.  I chose to take photos off my balcony from exactly the same spot so I could watch the space transform with the changing of seasons (we were moving into spring).  Truth be told, I didn't finish the course.  I had high hopes but they fell flat as other things crept into my life during that time frame.  In the past, I would have seen it as a failure.

BUT I didn't view it as a failure.

I was just shifting my direction towards something that needed it more at that time.

I found this new perspective early on in the course when I missed a day.  I was so mad at myself.  I did feel like I failed - at that time.  And then it hit me...it's all perspective.  Maybe I can just shift my focus a little.

And so I did.

I moved to a new place on the deck and took a different photo...a different angle. And that was that.  Just perspective.

Photography as given me a lot of healthy perspective over the last year and a half, not just in the photos I take but in life.  I carry my camera with me almost everywhere I go and am blessed to have people who support this quirk in my life.  I see a subject with my eyes...I look at it through the lens and sometimes I see something completely different.  I look for points of interest...interesting to me.

And then it starts all over when I get home...I bring those images up on my computer and look closely to see what I see...did I miss anything?  Does it tell a story?  How do I feel inside when I look at it?

Photography has allowed me to begin to see things in a new light...a way I hadn't seen them before.  A simple shift in perspective that has changed my life.

Here's a few of my recent favorites photos.

[caption id="attachment_8405" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Off the Deck[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_8406" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Minneapolis Skyline + the Lake[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_8407" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Photo Shoot at the Arboretum. This caught my eye in the distance as I was leaving.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_8408" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Photo Shoot at the Arboretum.
I've never done anything like this before. We had 4 models for about 12 people and took photos on the grounds of them in sundresses and lingerie. Way out of my box and very fun.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_8409" align="aligncenter" width="685"] Another Image from the Arboretum Photo Shoot[/caption]

Edited 8/19

I had to add this photo because it seemed to be such a perfect example of perspective.  The photo below was actually a "mistake."  My camera didn't focus the way I wanted it to and I didn't capture the intended subject but what came out (which I almost deleted as I breezed through the images the first time) I really love.