I dreamt I was taking photographs of the moon last night. But when I awoke, this is the image I was musing about.
It is the late evening flight of a great blue heron to its fishing hole where there is still a slight shine on the water.
I thought of this image rather than this one of the moon over Georgeson Island I took a little over a years ago.
Or this one of the moon at the waters edge.
I have always been a low-light or fall and winter photographer. Having extremely light sensitive eyes, it is in this light that my eyes are most relaxed – and my being is most receptive to what is going on around me. Still, I haven’t spent a lot of time setting up to shoot at night. Yes, setting up is required because a tripod is almost an essential. I did take these moonlight photographs without one – it is not recommended.
Every night
the owl
with his wild monkey-face
calls through the black branches,
and the mice freeze
in the snowy fields —
and then there is the long, deep trough of silence
when he stops singing, and steps
into the air.
From “Lonely, White Fields” by Mary Oliver
Sprout Question: Do you create using both your day and your night experiences?
© 2010 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
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yes ,the vibrant quiet of the night feeds something very different than the brightness of day. the combination of the two i would hope informs my work.
Thanks Jerry and I am sure that the combination of the two does inform your work:) I seem to remember you often paint in the evenings and late into the night. I was researching a full spectrum light a few weeks ago so I could extend my painting time during the winter. Otherwise I paint during the midday.
Dear readers, I have a note in my day book reminding me to start researching and gathering information to do a special feature on Jerry’s drawing and painting to post for the end of September or early October. I can hardly wait!
Well, Terrill, I think we were on a similar wavelength again this morning. I wrote a story which involved an owl & mouse & the moon here: http://risingnow.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/equinox/
Love your photos, even without a tripod. I have not had much luck in low-light because am not tripod-savvy yet.
Yes, I create using both day & nighttime experience. The writing blog (mentioned above) is probably born from the shadow of the moon. Lake Superior Spirit is born from the rays of the sun. Sometimes they interplay…but they definitively come from different energies.
Hope you have a good day.
An owl and a mouse and the moon… you two? Kathy, we must eat the same Wheaties for breakfast or something.
Tripods drive me crazy when it comes to shooting waterlines because it takes so little for them to be off and the photograph to be useless. I am better at getting things level freehand. If I use the tripod it takes a lot of fiddling. So I only take it with me some of the time – when I am feeling particularly patient and when I am not walking too far. I think tripods must be better for studio work which I don’t do at all.
Any other photographers out there with tips or opinions?
Wishing you the best of today as well Kathy.
i know this will sound so so strange but the last one of the moon looks like a sonogram… and you know what?….i think that is quite right: something between the night and day, borne out of the moon, is a blueprint of creativity.
i love these!
Annie, it does kind of look like a sonogram. I never noticed that before. I am sure my masters-in-physics daughter might have something to add to your comment if she happens to be lurking. She did her thesis research in the area of magnetic resonance imaging of which I know nothing – but I am very proud of her. Today, she teaches physics and other science classes at a private high-school. Plus (and this is to see if regular readers are reading closely) she is due to have a baby in at the beginning of March. Yes, I am going to be a grandma again.
Annie I am so glad that you are enjoying the sprout questions. Over the last nine months this format has work well for engaging in conversations about creativity.
Terrill – I’m still trying to get past WOW! WOW! WOW! These are fantastic photographs, and then I get a double treat because Mary Oliver is one of my all-time favorite poets.
Sprout Question: Do you create using both your day and your night experiences?
Ideas usually slip quietly into my heart/mind in the still of the night, but I act on them during the day.
Laurie sometimes your enthusiasm has me giggling like I am five and you are looking at my latest picture before sticking it on the fridge. It is a good feeling:) I love Mary Oliver too. Her writing is like a reflection of my living. I like your sprout too. This is my general practice as well. I am usually finished anything that is important before noon and after 4:00 pm tasks start to get put on the list for the next day.
Amazing that you took these sans tripod. They’re beautiful.
I love night photography, but I rarely think to bring a tripod out so my experience with it is limited.
Thank you Jul and welcome to Creative Potager. You have some amazing paintings over on your webiste Flogging the Muse. I like your tagline “making art is not always a peaceful process.” I see you are also another creative individual committed to daily practice. This is something I aspire to… beyond getting these posts up:)