Photography Lessons

I had a tough day yesterday and decided towards the end of the day that grabbing my camera and going on a blossom search would be a good way to decompress.

I was racing against incoming weather and loss of light, when I decided to stop at an orchard on Cherry Street in Vineland.

The blossoms had moved beyond the perfect, pristine crispness that is such a joy to see at this time of year. But the slight deterioration was just a reminder that the blossom is only the precursor to the tree’s true purpose - the fruit.

While the blossoms where past perfection, that only served to highlight the underlying ‘support system’ - the tracery of branches is definitely part of the appeal and the beauty of a blossoming orchard.

These blossoms turned out to be a metaphor that was a perfect learning from the day I’d had.

1) Things don’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

2) Look beyond the obvious for the beauty and strength beneath.

3) The way we fulfill our purpose is constantly evolving.

Fall headlong into your talents

My friend Erin Wilson penned these thought-provoking words following the death of Prince a year ago. They continue to inspire me every day. 

Make something. Fall headlong into your talents and master the things you love most. Practice again and again. Create—from your own heart and mind. Invest in your own creativity. Spend time alone, refining and polishing, again and again.

By all means buy Purple Rain and listen to it on repeat. But if Prince's work leaves you a consumer of someone else's work instead of a maker, you missed the point."

I added some photos from a recent afternoon visit to Good Earth Food & Wine in Beamsville, Ontario and created a Steller story. I created - from my own heart and mind. Thanks Erin.