“Our views are influenced strongly by the past. Breaking the habit of the familiar is not easy, but opens up new possibilities” – Ed Lehming

The evolution of this photo has been an interesting exercise for me. Over the years, I have developed certain “styles” that I go to because the results are pleasing to me. However, I don’t believe that doing things the same way is necessarily a good thing. There is always room to “evolve” and to improve. Doing this requires us to get out of our comfort zone. I find myself very comfortable shooting certain scenes a certain way and processing my images a certain way.

A few days ago, I went out on a cold and dull December day, with the knowledge that I had a bit of a limited opportunity before bad weather settled in for several days. As I walked along the lakeshore at The Dunes, part of the local Sandbanks Provincial Park, I surveyed my surroundings and proceeded to shoot several images in my standard method.

I paused at one point to change my lens and took my sunglasses off for a moment. What struck me was how different the scenes appeared in the bright, unfiltered light. It was like I was seeing a whole different landscape, and I proceeded to shoot the images slightly overexposed to get the same effect. I have to say, I like the result. The images are somewhat subdued and subtle, not bright and colorful, which I usually prefer. The images capture more accurately the “feel” of the scenes that I photographed, which is more true to my photographic intent.

As I edited my photos, I began philosophizing, as I often do during this process. My photography has taught me many life lessons, as I spend intentional time interpreting my photos and letting the images speak to me. I’ve also been very deliberate in curating my social media feeds, weeding out as much as possible the negative content that is so prominent. I’ve completely exited Twitter/X, and am in the process of winding down Threads, which I had so much hope for. A friend of mine started on BlueSky and piqued my curiosity. On BlueSky, I have full control of what I see and don’t see. After a few weeks of self-curation, sans algorithms, my feed has become mostly very good photography, art, and thoughtful articles. I found that removing the negative also changed my overall outlook, which has flowed into my creative work.

I’m trying to move forward, informed, but not ruled by my past experiences. So far, it’s looking promising. I hope that shows through in future photos as well.

Nikon D800
Tamron SP 24-70 mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 46 mm
1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400