My Single Reflex

we've all heard it said that perspective can make the same thing look entirely not the same. it's not hard to test that. from politics to pics, where you stand can make apples look like apples and oranges...or apples and penguins. take this fence, for example. ordinary chain link fence, to be sure, but if i'd not taken this photo, i'm not sure i'd know what it was. even knowing, it's hard to look at it and sort of mentally swing myself 90 degrees counter-clockwise to see the chain link fence we all know and love. i enjoy finding different perspectives, in pretty much anything. if i ever think that i've landed on the sole reality of a situation, it's a sure sign i'm leaving some point of view out of the picture. reality is not 2D. it's 3D and made up of millions of points from which to see it. it's a good part of why i remind myself often that part of what God requires of me is to walk humbly. no matter how much i try, or how much i think

my new 50mm f1.8 lens' paperwork say it sees the world the way my eye does. it doesn't zoom in to pick up far away details. it doesn't shoot wide angle to gain a fuller perspective. it just looks where i look, and focuses where i focus. perhaps that's why i love the whole depth of field thing i get in this shot. the distance is still out there, and i'll eventually get there. but if i've focused on it, i miss the up close. i'd miss this...these leaves and branches that show a beautiful gold in the setting sunlight ("beautiful light", one of my photography informational sources, Nancy Merkling, calls it). i like this lens a lot and i'm a long way from really pulling out it's potential. hopefully a long spring and summer's worth of shooting will acquaint me with it, up close and personally.

it was 60 degrees here yesterday...on February 1st. 47 the day before that. in Chicago. on January 31st. 51 today. it's no wonder this seed pod was confused. unusual weather misinformed it. so, as it is wont to do, it opened and jettisoned its cargo into the springtime air...except it wasn't spring. if you believe Pete, the infamous groundhog, we're still in for 6 weeks of winter, and those of us with Chicago winter experience know that we're good for sub-freezing temps well into March. temps that will kill those floating seeds sure as Lysol does germs. if only there was some way to say, "hey...hang in there for a few more weeks. your time is coming. it's not here yet, but it's coming." if only...