Sunday, January 13, 2013

iPhoneography - Photo Journalism of Nature

I've come to realise that I'm somewhat a photo journalist .. but I don't report stories on people as much as I do about nature. And even then, not quite the animals ... but plants and the elements.

The skies, the trees and the sun .. all have their stories to tell.
Today, I want to share a little bit of a 'behind-the-scenes' look at a recent post I made on Instagram about a wildflower.

So I'm walking out of a store, and i see these weeds by my feet. Not much of a story here to some. But I heard it speak to me. So I took the shot with my native iPhone 4S camera.
Then, to fit it into Instagram .. I needed to find my story within a 'square'. Which wasn't hard to do, because i had already heard which part of the wildflower was talking before I took the shot above.
 I loved the natural sunlight on it, and decided that it was best as a Vintage shot. So I took it into Snapseed for a vintage edit.
 While I personally like the dreamy pastel look, this weed had too much character to stay pastel. So i increased the contrast and highlighted the story - the fact that there was only one last dandelion tuft left. And this was the story all along ... that of FINAL CHANCES in life. For as I had passed by the wildflower, that last little tuft had stood out ... calling me to pick it up and blow it to the four winds. Because it was my last chance to do so .. both in that moment in time, and from that little plant.
sometimes we are weary and get off the path we are walking on .. we sit by the wayside and it is there we meet .. that dream we once cherished but now seems but a memory .. life is calling us .. to pick up that dream and bLow it out on the breeze .. like the last dandelion of summer .. we find the unexpected bLessing of .. one more tRy ~

There are stories all around us .. and beautiful inspirations in the littlest unseen places. If you're like me, and you can hear nature talk ... why not take out your mobile phone and share the story? The beauty of a platform like Instagram or Flicker is the ability to share out your unique perspective of life ... after all .. we all have a story :)