It’s been a couple weeks since I returned from a road trip to Portland, Oregon, with family and close friends, and what a trip it was! The breathtaking beauty of the waterfalls and vista points and the drive along the Pacific coast have put me in a vacation state of mind ever since. No, it’s not a state of throwback and hang loose, it’s one where the mind is less harried, less anxious, less restless. I feel more aware of the goings-on around me, ideas flow more freely, and interestingly, I seem to be more accepting of them, of possibilities.
On the road trip when cars on the road are few, and rolling farmlands and thick mangroves punctuate the vast sky stretching into the horizon, you automatically turn thoughtful. Your thoughts drift from the mundane to the nostalgic to the dreamy. You recall events past, the joys and the regrets, the victories and the disappointments, and you dream up plans for the years ahead. You open up. You experience insights and you get excited. That’s what road trips do to you.
What is my vision and how can I better express it? Do my images capture the essence of the moment? Do they tell stories?
Naturally, my thoughts drifted to photography. Between jesting with the kids and silently admiring the majesty of snow-clad mountains in the distance, I attended to photography questions and ideas and learnings that bubbled up non-stop. When did my love affair with photography begin? How can I get better at the craft? How to visualize better? I must start a personal photography project. What theme? What constraints? And what was that idea about framing I read the other day? Boy, was that a good decision to use that lens at the last photoshoot! What is my vision and how can I better express it? Do my images capture the essence of the moment? Do they tell stories? Non-stop indeed. I wondered if anybody noticed the palpable excitement my brain was whipping up.
I suspect my mind will revert to the mundane reality sooner than I would like but I believe the excitement will linger. My time on the road has helped uncover a few creative ideas to explore but at this time I also feel more open to taking risks. And while technical perfection is always a goal for the images I make, I want to focus more on their artistic merit.
It’s interesting, this vacation state of mind, and I sure hope it sticks. What’s even more interesting is that when inspiration and the creative spark elude you, you know they are only a road trip away!
Photo Credit: N. Roy
Did you see it? That white speck in the middle up top? That’s an airplane!
