my way of processing

 

When I talk on the phone, I walk, I pace, I wander. Being a very animated person I guess this makes sense. When I express myself, I use my entire body to do it. I notice this is especially true when I’m discussing something creative or when I'm brainstorming or when I’m processing.

The other day I was on the phone with a dear friend. We were having a major heart to heart discussion, as good friends do. It wasn’t unusual that I was walking the perimeter of my back yard. Pacing back and forth across the grass, talking, listening, processing. What was a little curious was that I was also shooting.

Yes, I hear what you’re saying.

Click.

Do you know what I mean?

Click.

Good point, I would have never thought of that.

Click.

I didn't really think anything of it until days later when I processed the photos and thought about what I was processing within myself at the time I clicked the shutter.

In a later conversation with that same friend, I asked her if she knew I was shooting photos while I was talking with her. She didn’t realize at the time but laughed at the thought of it and affirming that it didn’t surprise her at all. She knows that's how I do it. I work through things through photography.

I have discovered over the years how much the art of photograph helps me process my thoughts, ideas and emotions. How the very practice of seeing and shooting helps me make sense of whatever it is I’m going through in both my successes and struggles. Photography, time and time again saves me; in little ways and in big ways but most of all in ways that soothe my very soul.

My Best Shot Monday is one that was captured in my back yard during that conversation with my friend.

Share with us what you discovered this week in your Best Shot.

Comments

[Marcie]

My best shots happen when I'm not expecting to find what I find or see what I see:
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/home/2012/5/6/solid-and-proud.html

[rakusribut]

thank you for this wonderful post tracey, it feels like a real gift...:-()
all my life i have taken mental photographs of the things i 'perceive', little details i notice while going through my daily routine, sudden color pops in the landscape, interesting shapes and lines in my own home or on the streets, in the shopping mall, things that catch my breath, make me happy, give me joy just by being there at that time, in that light, beckoning me to 'see'... in my dreams i make movies out of those 'stills', create landscapes and cities, sometimes i wake up in the morning with a vivid image of that parallel universe still burning brightly behind my eyes.
i have always wanted to capture those images and share them with others, but didn't know how. photography is helping me on that quest, and has become a true healing force in my life.
recently i discovered the beauty of miksang, contemplative photography, and it felt a bit like coming home.... i feel inspired, strengthened and confident about where i am going with my photography, have moved another step forward in the right direction
http://momentsofperception.blogspot.com/

[Dotti]

For most challenges in my life, I use photography to navigate the rough waters. Sometimes, though, a really big problem comes along and inertia sets in. Usually, though, when I least expect it, that serendipitous shot is right before my eyes and the spell of inertia is broken, as happened just yesterday:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48337138@N04/7152033459/
http://focusingonlifegrp.blogspot.com/2012/05/sunrise-sunset.html

[marina]

I love your thoughts, here and on the links in the post. you made me think about whether I can say similar things. and I think that photography saves me because it gives me a means of expressing my creativity, and this is a wonderful gift.
difficult to choose the best shot of the past week, by I like this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mar_s/7005734076/
and I loooooove your photo, the colours, the softness, the discovery of the center of the flower. thank you for sharing your words and images, Tracey, you are such a great inspiration.

[art photography]

Nice thoughts.i see very rare people with such thoughts.Keep going.

[life in eden]

I had a rare moment in the morning to shoot, so different for me. It lead me to my BSM
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32837589@N07/6995768968/in/photostream

[Kathryn Dyche Dechairo]

I love how you talk about processing things through your photography. It has also helped me to process things on occassion too.

My best shot this week was an image I got of our new pup Ravyn.

http://dychedesigns.blogspot.com/2012/05/our-new-baby-girl-ravyn.html

[shirley lemay]

I realized that my daughter only has a three more years before she leaves for college. Must make the most of it, even if it is an inconvenience.

http://www.shirleybehindthelens.com/2012/05/animals-at-barn.html

[Meghan @ Life Refocused]

I love learning how you process and how photography is so much a part of who you are. Here's my latest best shot, capturing a little magic in the lens. http://www.flickr.com/photos/meghandavidson/7002953828/in/photostream

[spread your wings]

gorgeous capture.

photography becomes my microscope. it's not until I photograph my pieces that I see places in my work that need improving -a little more sanding here, a little less oxidation there, etc, etc. the camera seeing things my 50+ eyes can not.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/7006233640/
And while I'm down there in the dirt sometimes I discover other interesting things as well
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/7006224944/

[Meg]

I never look at the world the same way, as I do through the lens of my camera. Everything gets quite, and I slowly decide what is important, and how best to show case it. I also love to look back through my old pictures, and relive old moments in time.

http://pompeiipenguin.blogspot.com/

[linda]

a discovery in process - life , flowers, photos . . . me . . . everything. everywhere.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55092224@N08/7154378062/in/photostream


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