Light above the horizon
Right now, more than ever, I want to make photographs. Yet, I hardly have the time to do so. Work, family, lack of substantial (read meaningful) light is what keeps me grounded. I leave home at 7:15 am and come home between 6:00 and 7:00 pm. It affects motivation and awareness. I feel like I am in some kind of survival mode, waiting for the light to emerge above the horizon. I am waiting patiently, moments will come (again).
Photograph by Wouter Brandsma
Wouter Brandsma 
Boy do I hear you! The only time I can shoot is at lunch hour or on weekends, and even during daylight, many days are an even grey. Once in awhile we get some spectacular sunny, cold days, and I have made the best of them when I can. Or that rare moment when the light is amazing near the horizon. Beautiful shot here.
I am full of energy and I have a couple of ideas, but time, time and light. We all need light in some way. Thank you and I hope you get your days too.
This is very pretty. love the choice of b/w.
Thank you Miranda.
A wonderful analogy applicable to so many aspects of living! Thank you Wouter, as always.
It is not a pad thing, Jamie. But patience, eager, frustration, and lack of inspiration are sometimes very much relayed to each other.
Great photo! I think we’ve all been there, haha. While it can be frustrating to have such limited access to our camera, perhaps that is what makes those moments – just you, your camera, and the world lying in wait – so special and so full of inspiration.
Yeah, the world lying in wait. Maybe we all play the waiting game hoping for conditions to change.
Are long exposures not of interest to you?
Admitted, I have thought about that. But you see it everywhere, many not even knowing that Michael Kenna is best known for this technique. Maybe I could use it for completely different subjects.
One of my photography heroes, Richard Koci Hernandez, says in every interview that his process for taking pictures is being “purposefully aimless”. Photos are a by-product of normal life, you should not go out of your way to make images (one of the reasons why this Emmy Award winner en Pulitzer Prize nominee has chosen for a camera phone as his main camera).
And as much as I want to follow this “rule”, I struggle with the concept in daily life. Going from appointment to appointment, trying to catch a bus, meeting friends or going somewhere with my girlfriend – I miss the calm to look for that one interesting image.
Maybe we are making things too complicated?
Richard might say so, but even makes up some time for making photographs. Photographs are not only a by-product of life, but maybe even more of mood. In the darkness it however lacks life. I haven’t seen many or probably even any pictures from Koci in the darkness. We all pick our moments.
True. And living and working in sunny California does increase your photo opps, I guess.
However, this week I found myself in a lot of dynamic moments (because of the bad weather and disrupted public transport), and I can’t help thinking that people like Hernandez or Chase Jarvis (“There are least ten great pictures waiting to be taken within ten meters of where you are standing right now”) would pull off some nice shots in these situations. I just felt annoyed and cold, and couldn’t care less about photos. Maybe, that little bit of extra dedication makes these guys who they are.
“And the wind is making speeches / And the rain sounds like a round of applause” (Tom Waits)
The waiting always seems to be the hardest part. And when I leaving in the dark mornings & I’ll return when the spare light is already fading patience is my constant companion. And my frames are filled with darkness. But it’s a kind of mediative thing. Just like this great frame of yours, Wouter!
All the best & safe travels, Fritsch.
When the light returns, the patience will fade away. Thank you
Wouter, I face the same situation here and I don’t like it either. Is it at all possible to go shoot something over your lunch break? I try to do that myself and I find it helps.
In a month we will get better light early in the morning and late in the evening. I prefer these moments to reflect the day. It will come Ryan.
Hello Wouter.
I like your shot. The Light, the Dynamic … – Apropos “moments will come (again).” – in the Clouds of your image, maybe – Death, Life, Birth, Future, Present, Past, Love, Hope, Courage and…Everthing – maybe, its all connected. For your moments – all the best.
titus
Simple but an amazing click… loved it.