Finding the Extraordinary

Blech.

I hate spiders. All I wanted to do was capture some detail on the web that this one had woven in a small pine tree by the barn. The web spiraled into the pine tree, leaving a sort of hole to look in. 

I have no idea why I looked into the hole. Curiosity killed the cat, remember?

Color me curious.

I was terrified the whole time that the thing was going to jump out and grab onto my face, attacking me with its fierce little pincer things, over and over again. Until I keeled over, dead.

All because I'm curious.

I painted all afternoon with D. We're taking our watercolor class very seriously. We have homework to do.

Let me tell you, it's hard to paint wooden clogs. And wooden floors. 

No photos of my attempt at this. I'm in need of some serious assistance from the teacher.

Something I figured out while painting this afternoon is why I like out of focus photos. 

They remind me of watercolor paintings.

Less detail, muted colors, soft lines. Just a suggestion of something, a vague representation. More like a memory of something, something that whispers in and out of your mind, teasing and then dissolving before the memory solidifies.

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It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary. (David Bailey)