Election Night 2024. Millions of people were at home watching with bated breath the events unfold on television as the votes were counted. I was not one of them. I was sitting in a hotel room in south Arkansas, and my TV wasn’t even turned on. Instead, I was catching up on some photography videos on YouTube and feeling thankful that now, regardless of who won, the months (years?) of endless campaigning would finally. . .be over.
After watching several videos from the likes of Thomas Heaton, Nigel Danson, and Alister Benn, I decided it was time to go to bed. I turned off my laptop, closed the lid, and pushed back the chair. That’s when I noticed the position of the computer, mouse, and desk lamp and began to wonder about the photographic possibilities of the arrangement.
I pulled out my little 20 megapixel Canon Powershot G9X Mk II point-and-shoot camera that I try to carry with me most of the time. I could have used the camera on my phone, but I prefer a dedicated camera to my phone whenever possible. The little scene on the desk cried out to be photographed in black and white, so I adjusted the camera settings to do just that. After a couple of experimental shots, I came away with this image, which I rather like.
A single desk lamp shines on a laptop computer and mouse.
This is certainly not any kind of award-winning, knock-your-socks-off photograph, nor was it the kind of photography I do, a black and white still life. But, what surprised me about it was how much fun I actually had making it. I mean, I had a lot of fun with it. I wasn’t worrying about shutter speeds or apertures or anything else. In fact, I don’t even know what the settings were. I didn’t care; I was simply taking a picture of an everyday scene and enjoying the creative process.
The next morning, I got up and got ready for work. Remembering the fun I had the previous night, I looked around my room seeing if anything else caught my eye and saw these two compositions. Again, nothing spectacular, but they were still fun to make.
Hotel wall thermostat and room door
Three wall hooks and a framed image of three oil well pumps
Then, it was time to pack up and head home, but not before I learned an important lesson: If I want to improve my photography, I have to have fun. Stop overthinking and just have fun. Now, to see if I can put that lesson into practice!