Where there is well there is way

Well in the forest

ain’t that true ? or am i spelling out in a wrong way ?

I don’t think so. I shot this image after spending close to 2hrs inside a small temple in a remote village in Westernghats and almost winding up telling am done for the place/day and coming to a conclusion that there is nothing much left to shoot. I was just walking out of a temple and asked my friend if there is anything interesting outside – he told there is just a well outside nothing much. But I felt i liked the well more than anything because of the freshness & monsoon feel it communicated due to the moss on it.

Now why am i referring to it  ? Off late i have come across quite a lot of my photog friends telling that there is no time for photography and there is not much options left and they seems to be drying out on the creative juices which are getting evident in the random one or two images that am seeing from them. Having said that i just asked them how much of the last 3 months or last 6 months they have spent photographing something and their answer was a blank face. How can we say that there is no stuff out there when we are not making time to go out and shoot something or trying something new.  As a photo-addict myself i spend atleast an hour or two ( many times more ) in a day reading about photography things and will many a times ensure that i take atleast 1 photo a day of something which is happening around me so that i can keep something going on. As a nature/wildlife photographer one need not always visit a national park or a fantastic serene landscape to capture the vista. A flower at home, a plant in the pot in terrace, the sky which we see when standing out on our terrace at office/home can give us options and opportunities to try and test out some of the things if we really think we don’t have time. Given that there is 24hrs in a day am really not justified if someone says in a week comprising of 7 days they dont have even 2-3hrs of free time to do something on the artistic side of photography than just visiting forums and blogs and commenting in technical jargons.  The reason for this rant came into existence after i came across some really nice podcast and blog entries eg 45-Days by David Duchemin , F-What ever and be there by Prem Sagar which specifically tells (i interpret) like stop whining about technical things and lack of time but just go out and shoot.  I recently was listening to John Shaw’s podcast over at Nik Radio and the best piece of advice he could give to improve the craft was to go out and shoot and practice and there is no substitute for regular practice. For all that we know we are in digital world and you ain’t no spending hundreds of bucks like in past on film rolls or processing and scanning.  Social media addiction is good but not to an extent that it take the essence out of your personal and professional life. So something which is updated in social media will remain there and can def get your attention at a later date, take your camera and just go out and shoot and stop cribbing that you don’t have time for shooting. At the end of the day do we really want to market ourself with a 5yr old portfolio that we have in our website ? I trying out new things thats making waves or probably something which can make waves ( *wish* ) and i believe that if someone is not giving enough attention to your portfolio and your work then it means it stinks of some age old stuff and its an indication for me to go out and shoot something new.

Having said that, let me end this rant by the actual quote which says “where there is a will there is way . . . ” so make up your own will and spend time enjoying your art than complaining about lack of time to do it.

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