For me it is photography but it could be painting, poetry, dance, music or any art form that helps us see the images within the images. This past week I was looking for them in the morning hours at a couple different locations. Viewing through the lens helps me focus on details and compositions I might otherwise miss. (Got tripod? Use it!)
In a vineyard in Napa, although by noon it was over 90 degrees and sunny, the morning dew was still in shadowed areas. One in particular that caught my eye was the dew on the spider webs that were blanketing some yellow grapes like new borns wrapped in their first swaddling cloths.
There was something about these old and un-harvested vines that touched my soul. So I began to sing the Grandmother Invocation by Gwen Jones: “Grand mother I see you sitting in the east, you are sacred and you are looking at me. I pray to you, pray to you. You are sacred and you are looking at me… south, west, north, sky earth, heart…â€
And today I am thankful for the work and voice of justice of “Yellow Bird Woman†– Elouise Cobell who after a 14 year law suit against the US Government won a 3.4 billion dollar settlement for the misuse and theft of monies belonging to Native Americans. Elouise Cobell, a woman of “compassion and grit,†died this past week at age 65. The legacy she hoped to leave behind was a world better for our children. May it be so!
My second image was in first light at the newest pier near the Ferry Building.. The design of the railings is compressed with the use of a telephoto zoom lens set at 400 mm.
Graphic images, shadows and golden morning light can be intriguing. In one direction you have the city skyline and the other end of the pier you are looking to the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island. But extractions can be just as powerful as the grand scene. It is fun to be out and about at first light.
“Morning has broken…like the first morning”
….wonder what that would be like?