Beauty Unexpected

As a creative person–a designer–I’ve come to learn that I see things differently than most people. As a gardener and plantsman and someone who appreciates, or at least tries to appreciate, the smallest details of the world around me I’ve learned that I see beauty and opportunity in places that most people just walk on by. As a photographer, I’ve learned that even the minutest of details share a kind of beauty that is lost on so many.

Each day I try to find something that offers me a glimpse into this natural beauty that is all around us. Many writers will tell you that they write SOMEthing on a daily basis. It might not be any good, but they write. It might only be a few lines, a scribbled down thought on a legal pad, an idea that has been floating around but never put into words. In much the same way, I carry the camera with me every day. I try take a photograph of something on my way to or from work. Some days it might just be a few snapshots of a job site. Some days I try to be artistic and creative. Some days it works. Some days it is an absolute and utter failure. On the best days, you come away with a few shots that please you. On the rarest days, you come away with something that may eventually get published. But even on the bad days it keeps you looking through the lens, focusing on your subject.

This shot may or may not be one of the greatest shots I’ve taken, but it’s one of those that offers that intimate glimpse of inner beauty that most people just walk on by. I mean, really, how many people do you know who get down on their hands and knees to look underneath a mushroom? Have a beautiful day!