Really Seeing a Subject
Neal placed the purchased succulents out where it would get sun light and grow. I noticed the planter as a perfect subject. Six shots, easy.
Moving it across the table I made the first photograph.
Simple enough: succulents, a table, the balcony, the ocean beyond.
Easy, I’ll do the moving.
A little closer. A little lower. Then to the side.
The plants had not changed, but the photographs certainly had.
Apparently seeing something once does not mean I have actually really saw it at all.
“Look once and recognize it. Look again and discover it.”
— Robert Smith
The ocean disappeared into softness while a few small leaves suddenly demanded my attention. Same planter. Same afternoon. A completely different photograph.
Getting closer removed the ocean and revealed what had been sitting right in front of me all along.
Green becomes lime, bronze, rust, and red along the edges. One planter. Several varieties. Far more detail than my first glance bothered to notice. Small webs appear, oh yeah, they were there too!
Same Subject, Different Choice
Nothing moved except me and that was enough.
From the side, the plants lean toward an ocean horizon. From above, they become shapes gathered together in a bowl. Sometimes variation is not waiting in the subject. It is waiting in where “I choose” to stand. I ask myself, “Did you notice the plant pattern on the sides?”
One final change in height brings the patterned planter forward while the plants rise into the blue beyond it. I love the reflections across the table, this became more than just succulents.
THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES
Change Position, Change What Appears
We are quick to decide what something is after one glance. Moving closer, stepping back, or simply changing where we stand can challenge that first impression and sometimes reveal something better.
“What might change if you looked again?”
“There is joy in discovering that what I thought I knew was only the first view. Attention can be flexible!”
— Robert
📍Ponte Vedra, Florida
Collection
Six on Saturday
Captured with
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Published by
Robert Snap Spot
Join the Conversation