Mundane Wandering...

Lately the weather has been nice, especially given that we are in the winter months in New Jersey. When a nice day comes along and coincides with the Digital Photography Classes I teach through my gallery/studio, I can often be seen wandering around Medford Village with a student by my side. I think actually practicing makes things much more solidified for my students and I am grateful to be able to teach them and then walk out the door of the Creative Genius studio and help them practice too. It couldn't be more perfect!

Wandering around always gets us discussing technical things as well as seeing. I know that might sound weird to any non-photographer reading this but seeing and training your eye to think through what is in front of you without over-thinking is a part of the art form of photography. People with an eye can see something that someone not possessing that same kind of artistic eye won't come close to spotting. I have been told in the past that an eye is not something you can teach, that you are simply born with it. Well, that might hold true for some folks but I disagree. I have actually seen people improve greatly in this area and it was fun to be a part of that journey. 

Lost chair

As I teach and I wander around the same streets repeatedly, it becomes more important than ever to see with a fresh perspective, regardless of how many times my students and I have strolled past the same things. I purposely focused on very mundane things with the photos shown in this blog post, with the goal of having fun, seeing beyond the actual subject and goofing with the post-processing aspect. It is something that I think my intermediate students really love--not just shooting technically but seeing beyond the shoot to the next steps, all while enjoying the creative process.

The images in this post represent absolutely ordinary things throughout Medford Village. They could be anywhere. And that lack of distinctiveness is what I was going for. 

Here's another version of the house...I couldn't decide if I liked the color version better than the black and white...

I love the earthy colors and the outside textures on these pots....

This tree I came across was FILLED with birdhouses...very unusual...

I named this "Get Serious"...can you figure out why--Besides the obvious: that anyone who puts a hat on their mailbox might want to "get serious" ;)