A little boy watched me as I squatted down on the beach trying to capture a seagull in the middle of unrestrained squawking. “Look, Mom,” I heard him say with a puzzling intonation, “That lady is taking a picture of that bird.” Her response almost made me topple over in laughter. “Some people have never seen these birds before.”
Yeah, that’s it. I’ve never seen the ocean, or sky, or even people either. That’s why I am photographing everything in sight.
It’s New Year’s Day. TheMAN and me took a trip over the hill to the ocean. It was quiet when we arrived, perfect for just sitting in the beachfront coffee house sipping our drinks, reflecting on the year gone by and, for me anyway, trying not to set my focus on too many expectations of the year ahead. I look around and just observe – taking it all in without trying to change or judge what is before me. I do this with me eyes and, later, do this with my lens.
Today I have my FujiFilm x100s, compact, retro-styled, fixed lens digital camera in hand. I’ve named him (the camera) “Xabiere”, as I name most of my devices. The name means “chosen one” and, on this first day of 2014, indeed he is.
Xabiere’s fixed (23mm F2) lens is limiting in some respects as I cannot zoom in on far away objects. However, its compact body means that this powerful camera will be with me more often than not. I cannot say the same of my much heavier, Nikon (which I still love). However, I am finding that not being able to zoom offers an opportunity to take a wider view of my surroundings before honing in on a single object, perhaps walking in for a closer vantage point, or simply composing my photo within these new confines. This change in focus invites a opening to view a whole new world where I might see things as I have never seen before. It’s kind of cool; I just need to get to know my new friend a little better.