Photography: After the Rain (Post #2)

I sometimes think the artistry is more in the mistakes than in the intentioned actions of the artist.  It is not to say that I am an artist… but perhaps a more accurate word would be an active observer.  I bring along my camera in the hopes that something catches my eye.  The thing is… sometimes, when I intend to focus on one thing, nature or perhaps just life gets in the way and makes me realize my attention would be better suited elsewhere.  To think, that after all this time of taking photos… I still haven’t even taken the ones that I really desire to take.  I don’t know exactly why I haven’t, but the moment has never felt right.  Perhaps someday those images that I see each day and take a picture of mentally, will be given voice.

 

Anyway, the Daily Post Photography Prompt this week is liquid, and I cannot think of a better prompt, considering we went to the gardens the other day in hopes of taking beautiful photos and we were stuck in the rain.  Not only were the early spring flowers long gone, their only presence known by a bit of stubble and empty stems, but the rain brought hail.  The remaining flowers that were out in the open were decimated and lay in heaps around all the garden beds.  Sometimes only a petal or two were left, drenched and hanging loosely.  At any other time, I would have just turned around and gone back home but being stuck indoors with the kiddos doing school prompts you to do desperate things in search of time outdoors.  So we continued…

 

I don’t know if it is only my own inclination, or everyone has the desire to run indoors if there is rain.  For fear of what, I don’t know… perhaps getting wet or looking like a mess?  Fortunately, it only drizzled, and we decided to continue walking.  What I found walking along those rain-soaked paths held my attention and it makes me wonder how many times we let opportunities like that pass us by.  The thing is… rain is beautiful.  There’s nothing like watching a leaf with raindrops trailing her veins.  If you look long enough, you can watch the water drip and a new drop begin.  Leaning flowers holding a weight of rain glimmer when the sun reappears.  Sometimes, even puddles grow inside them, and you see the reflection of the sky.

 

Aside from what you can see, you can also learn to listen.  Listen to the raindrops splattering gently against the leaves of trees, hear it patter against the ground, hear it gurgle as it rushes down sidewalks in search of a place to settle.  I think we all miss out on that… on those experiences that are so necessary for us to feel grounded.  We need to rethink what we are chasing and learn sometimes that we just need to be, without all the distraction.  We need to allow our thoughts to be colored by the scent of the wind, to be painted by the roar of rushing water, to be sung like the hues of a field of flowers inundated by a swarm of bustling honeybees.   Perhaps if we learned to allow these things to touch our hearts, the world would truly become a better place… because there is no way that we can walk away from these experiences untouched.

 

I hope you enjoy the images.  They are of one of my favorite things… finding beauty in something as simple as a puddle.  No matter how small, no matter the location… I’ve always found a beautiful view.

 

(c) Sumyanna 2018