I managed to take a pretty good photo one evening while strolling in a marina on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida.

 

First of all, Winnie the Pooh makes a cameo in the upper right hand area of the picture.  The two manatee-shaped clouds in the center seem to be engaged in a passionate French kiss while the lower cloud is flapping both of its perfectly visible wings; in addition the setting sun has pronounced eyelashes.  Oh, and the composition is perfect.

This is my own, rather biased evaluation, of course.  I’d love to hear yours.

The artist who inspired me to start taking photographs is Joci Sirak, master of composition and off-the-beaten-trail topics.  He claims: “…the most important aspect of photography is composition, a search for balance within the milieu of light and shadow, sharp and fading elements” (My Vancouver in Black and White, 2010).

Of course, nowadays it is much easier to take good quality photos than 20 years ago, thanks to the ever-improving technology.  The mythic science of photography is evaporating with the availability of automatic cameras and the practical magic of digital format.  What you need today in order to take a really good photo is patience, good eyes, and artistic inclination.  These attributes will serve as a basis for recognizing the moment when it presents itself for you to capture it.

The fun is being “there” at the right time.  Being there with camera in hand is just the icing on the cake.

Worth checking out:

(Click on covers)

      

HH.