September. This is my favourite month - not only does my birthday fall in September - but each year I feel that it is a time for a new beginning. It's the month where many start or return to school and university after what usually feels like a short summer break. And typically, we are all unsure how the summer months had soared by. The continuous windy and rainy days remind us that we'll have to wait till next year to bring out our summer shorts and dresses.
Now that it is October, I'm confused as to how those 30 days are over and how we are halfway through autumn. I'm not sure about you but to me this all sounds absurd. This led to my reoccurring conversation with my amma on time and how each day seems to hurtle.
Having said this, the past week has felt snail-like and by Tuesday I was convinced that surely it should be the weekend now. The conversations around time combined with my tiredness throughout the week made me realise that most of us are constantly on the move.
In what feels like perfect timing, I had just finished reading, Minimal: How to simplify your life and live sustainably by Madeleine Olivia. As I closed the book, I began to see how precious our well-being is. Whilst this is not the first time I had read around this topic, at the time of reading I felt the words on the page charging right at me. This feeling was evidently a sign of a necessary break.
A break is not necessarily the same for everyone. To understand what was required in my break, I thought about my daily routine. And it involves a great amount of time tied to a computer and desk! So, it seemed obvious that I stepped away from this. With my growing love for going on walks, I knew that this'll be a great way to start my weekend.
Perhaps it was that I hadn't used my camera in a while, but I felt eager to take some photographs!
The upcoming images were taken along my walk to a park and interestingly I noticed a pattern as I started taking more and more of them.
I constantly found myself walking towards to vivid flowers and bright red autumn leaves, that stood amongst the deep brown branches. I shortly became interested in capturing strong contrasts in colour within my photographs - similar to the process involved in building my pencil drawings. This process of focusing on areas of contrast in nature allowed me to form an engaging atmosphere within my images and importantly, appreciate my surrounding environment more.
You can also note how I enjoyed taking close-ups. Primarily because they allow for details such as subtle changes in colour and texture to become more apparent. And this further understanding of the colours and textures within nature brings me reminders about its delicacy and therefore, the importance of preserving our environment.
The images above are a product of some experimentation with overlapping. Where I expected the overlapping image to create a clear dissimilarity, it happened to converge in a slightly more subtle manner. I find it amusing how this overlapping technique creates an opportunity of us to look twice at what we see and therefore, watch how light filters dimly onto the olive leaves and as for the second image, the hidden dying flower.
Now, here is Sunny.
Whilst I was taking these photographs, I came across Sunny and his nanny. Despite the cold wind rushing past my face and being stuffed in a puffy coat, watching them build sandcastles reminded me of the beach and the odd feeling of sand in between your toes. I smiled at their circle of sandcastles and had a lovely conversation involving how much they love visiting the park and being outdoors. This conversation left me dwelling on the concept of growing up and how easy it can become to forget the world outside our phones and work.
As I walked back home I thought about how much I enjoyed looking for various colours within nature and simply how slowly I walked; after a long time it didn’t feel like I was rushing to go somewhere. With these thoughts in mind, I decided to scrap the blog post I had initially planned to write this week and instead share my experience with taking my short but wonderful break! Hopefully having read this you have an insight into the importance of regular breaks and now have decided to take your own. This could be a walk or a hobby of yours that you have unknowingly abandoned - but you decide what is best for you!
Having enjoyed the process of capturing my surroundings, I have decided to make a gallery page. Within this page, I'll update you on my recent photographs and hopefully, you'll see my photography skills improve! :)
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