Looking...

Everything I've ever read tells me that being a good photographer is about changing how you see the world.

Most of us look at a scene and see... the scene. People. A sky. A series of items or objects in a particular arrangement.

A photographer sees differently, though. She sees the spaces between objects, the shadows they cast, the possibilities in the tiny details that the human eye captures that are often flattened or bypassed by the camera lens.

I'm trying to learn to see again. It's a challenge of training, of attention and of taking that one extra breath and letting my brain tell my eyes and shutter finger when to snap.

So far, so fun.

Today's photo is a tiny detail of a much larger (and more boring) photo of a table centrepiece arrangement I put together for my son's birthday party this past weekend. I've included the original photo (above), and then today's 365 Project photo is below. Can you tell which part of the photo it is?



Partly Christmas, partly birthday (a blingy ornament from the dollar store) it gave the table some sparkle. By enlarging the centrepiece and playing with contrast and colour intensity, I came up with this photo.

And yes, the de-decorating continues apace around here. Did I mention I chair the Procrastinator's Club in my community? No? I was going to tell you.... eventually. *grin*