Those are the words that have been on my mind pretty much ever since this project began. They say that the process of taking a picture of an experience changes the essential nature of the experience. This is one reason to put the camera away once in a while when you're on vacation -- so that you can immerse yourself fully in the fun without trying to immortalize it.
But for me, this month, carrying my camera everywhere with me has also meant looking at things even more closely than before, paying attention to all the little details, and constantly asking myself "Will that make a good photograph?" I go to the grocery store just about every day, and for several days now I've been noticing the trees and the landscaping outside my local Fred Meyer store. It's a large, but not particularly imaginative nor well-maintained, installation, consisting of a couple of rows of white birch trees, interspersed with masses and masses of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Viburnum davidii, Nandina domestica, Mahonia, several Rhododendrons, and some currently leafless shrubs that I think might be Berberis.
It does have its charms, when you look closely, but given that this is the Pacific Northwest, they come in the form of lichens and moss. I finally took some pictures today, in the rain, while making a milk run.
