The Art Of Seeing
My niece is traveling to Mexico next week. She will be visiting two towns, Cholula and Puebla, which I have always enjoyed for their photographic opportunities. She had asked me if I had any "requests" and I had said no; that she should shoot whatever catches her interest. I know that she subscribes to this blog. I won't make requests, but I will offer a couple of bits of advice.
Relax. The first step in learning any skill is to relax. If the photographer is uptight, he or she is focused on themselves. A required first skill is observation, learning how to see simple, familiar things. My garden has not only become a source of food, but is also an incredible collection of shapes, textures and colors. I had never before seen the beauty and complexity of a head of lettuce.
Each day should be a new adventure. The Discovery Channel is running a campaign this summer. The theme is that "we live on a pretty amazing planet". We do, and the photographer's day should be full of happy accidents. Of course, Helen, if you don't carry your camera, the accident is only a memory. Or a tall tale.
Happy accidents. On a trip to Australia I was feeling depressed as I wandered a beautiful stretch of the coast. Nothing caught my eye. About to turn back, I gave myself one more bend; one more turn in the road. I arrived at the one spot where a group of young men were practicing for the World Lifeguard Competition.
So Helen, relax and recognize the value of the familiar. Carry your camera so that you can record those happy accidents. Spend some quiet moments before you leave observing your collection of shoes, or the towel collection at the gym. Learn to "see". If you cannot find beauty in your backyard, what will you see on the other side of the world? A child raised in a desert village will cry with delight when handed a bouquet of dandelions. A flower in a tin can is one person's garden.
You may also enjoy reading: Acadia's landscape had its beginnings long before sunbeams.
The Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in the comic book Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), the first of a three-issue arc fans and historians call "The Galactus Trilogy".
Originally a young astronomer of the planet Zenn-La, in order to save his home-world from destruction by a fearsome cosmic entity known as Galactus, Norrin Radd made a bargain with the being, pledging himself to serve as his herald. Imbued in return with a tiny portion of Galactus' Power Cosmic, Radd acquired great powers and a silvery appearance. Galactus also created for Radd a surfboard-like craft — modeled after a childhood fantasy of his — on which he would travel at speeds beyond that of light. Known from then on as the Silver Surfer, Radd began to roam the cosmos searching for new planets for Galactus to consume. When his travels finally took him to Earth, the Surfer came face-to-face with the Fantastic Four, a team of powerful superheroes that helped him to rediscover his nobility of spirit. Betraying Galactus, the Surfer saved Earth but was punished in return with everlasting exile there.
Stan Lee enjoyed the character and decided to feature him in his own individual title in 1968. John Buscema was penciller for the first 17 issues of the series, with Kirby returning for the eighteenth and final issue. The first seven issues, which included anthological "Tales of the Watcher" backup stories, were 72-page (with advertising), 25-cent "giants", as opposed to typical 36-page, 12-cent comics of the time. Thematically, the stories dealt with the Surfer's exile on Earth and the inhumanity of man as observed by this noble yet fallen hero. The Silver Surfer comic book series became known as one of Lee's most thoughtful and introspective works. Englehart writes that Buscema and Lee were "pouring their souls into the series".
Waldo County, situated in mid-coast Maine along scenic Penobscot Bay, has genuine New England character evidenced by working port towns and quaint rural villages. Visitors are awed by the area's unspoiled beauty. From striking coastal views to sweeping mountain vistas, dramatic natural settings abound. In addition great care has been taken to preserve and refurbish numerous historic landmarks, homes and buildings. Consequently, the Maine of yesteryear is still found here.
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