Photography

Note: these three photographs were actually shot by my son, Jonathan. See my response to Kate in the comments for more information.

One of my first (among several) artistic loves is photography. But I learned to love the dark room a lot...that is where the manipulation of the images took place. The dark room was where I could make the image my own, so to speak and I could do so even without a camera. But in these so many years, I have continued to use photography to inspire my other endeavors. When digital photography came about, I was somewhat reluctant to give in, but once I realized I could use the computer to manipulate my images, and without the chemicals, I was sold.

The little cameras which are so easy to carry around are very enticing, but for my photography work, I prefer my digital SLR. I like to be able to change the lens and manipulate the shutter to suit my needs. How much control do you like with your photographic experiments?

Lately, we have talked about how gardening is such an artistic inspiration and being able to capture those beautiful gardens with the camera is ever so delightful. When we lived in England the gardens were like nothing I had ever seen before in the US. I have shared a few of those photographs before. It seems as though flowers just love that environment and everyone seems to have a green thumb there, too. Now these photographs don't show those gardens, but they are some photos taken from the upstairs window of our cottage out over the back garden.

This is a rising moon in the evening sky. If you look closely, you can see the top of a tree in our garden. But what is that green light? We have never been able to figure that out. Any ideas? I have another photograph with the green light closer to the moon.
Obviously, this was taken earlier in the evening. It is looking toward the Channel Coast. Isn't the sky beautiful? We saw many sunsets like this. I also love the way the vegetation presents itself as black against the softly colored sky.
This is a similar photo taken to show the horizon as more defined.

I love these photos and find them inspiring. Photography in this house always brings a smile to my face, though. My husband, and his family, cannot understand photography beyond the human image. In every photo there has to be a person! No matter what! I find that so interesting...of course it is totally what inspires them.

What does photography mean to you? Do you use it as inspiration for your work? Is it mainly useful as documenting your work? Or are you just rarely without your camera and have your computer filled with photographs? Do you find it difficult to delete images because there might be something there you could use?