The end of May has finally come and, once again, the weather has been the big story for the month. Thunderstorms, tornados, derechos, heavy rains, flooding. . .it seems the only weather event May hasn’t thrown at us has been hurricanes, but don’t worry. . .those are coming. And, just like last month, I again missed being involved in tornadic activity by just a couple of days. I had spent last week in a hotel in Rogers, Arkansas, checking out and coming home on Thursday. Late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, a tornado tore through Rogers. The exact path of the storm hasn’t been determined yet, but I suspect my hotel was a lot closer to it than I want to believe. After last year and now this year, I’m beginning to think the severity and frequency of these storms isn’t a fluke and is only going to get worse.
WHERE I’VE BEEN
I was able to get out twice again this month. My first trip was to the Old Mill in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Despite the fact that it is close to home, it was the first time I had been there since 2019. I was hoping to be there at the peak of Spring color, but I was a couple of weeks too late. There were a couple of other people there when I arrived, but I think the heavy overcast sky encouraged them to leave relatively quickly. The rain eventually began to fall forcing me to pack up and leave, but not before I got a couple of nice images I liked. This one is probably my favorite from that visit.
A few weeks later, I visited Petit Jean State Park, where my last visit could be measured in months, not years. After stopping at the Lake Bailey Dam, I drove the Red Bluff Drive loop. I stopped at an overlook but didn’t see anything that I thought was particularly photogenic given the lighting conditions. But, when I turned around, I discovered, right across the road from the overlook, this little this forest scene.
CATCHING MY ATTENTION
“I can’t hold myself to expectations I can’t control. . .I can only control the quality. So, if there’s a hundred people like it or a hundred thousand people, it doesn’t change the quality or the importance of the thing I did.” – Andrew Paul
“Give yourself permission to create garbage. Just create for its own sake. You don’t have to share the results with others. Be ridiculous. Be absurd. Just do it and don’t judge yourself on the results. Most of it will be garbage, yes, but you’re just creating for the sake of creating. And in the process, you might just stumble upon genius.” – Richard Bernabee
When you press the shutter button, do you sometimes wonder how many likes it might get on social media? In his blog post “A Word About Art-Making”, David duChemin discusses the importance of making art (photographs) for your comfort, not the comfort of others. https://davidduchemin.com/2024/04/a-word-about-art-making/
One way to become a better photographer is to practice, practice, practice. But, for a lot of people, getting out with the camera on a regular basis can be difficult. Or, is it? This insightful video by Teo Crawford discusses the idea of making photography a habit by taking your camera with you everywhere. Taking the dog for a walk? Take a camera. Running errands? Take a camera. The pictures don’t have to be award winners or even shared on social media. The idea is to make photography a habit and simply make photograph. “To shoot good photos, you have to give yourself the chance to.” – Teo Crawford
That’s all for this month. See you again in June.