Last night I spent several chilly hours hanging out with some photographer friends (that’s one of them above. Do you see her shivering?). We’d originally met to shoot at Nashville City Cemetary, but it was all locked up. There was some group hesitation about scaling the fence so we wound up at Bicentennial Mall instead. Now, it’s not the prettiest time of year to be shooting there (again, see above), but it didn’t really matter. Why not? Why would a relatively normal person wander around in frigid weather in a winter-denuded park that tends to get dangerous when the light fails and call it the best evening I’ve had in weeks? Well, dinner at MAFIAoZA’s afterwords helped, but really, it boils down to one word: PASSION.
While warming up, we talked over lasagna and pasta about what we love to shoot and why. The specific answers don’t really matter (if you’re interested I can let you know my reasons in the comments, just ask). It doesn’t even matter really whether we’re good at it or not. It doesn’t matter how experienced we are. Our group had wide-ranging photographic interests and experience levels…but we all have a passion for making images. And sharing that passion with each other (and with you here) is a richly rewarding experience.
I vividly remember two distinct conversations with co-workers at Wieland Designs years ago. During one I realized I really had no life beyond work (as I stammered with no answer to “What do you do for fun?”) and in another I struggled to come up with a single topic or interest I was passionate about. At that time, I was so tired, so burned out, so relationally stressed, so out of touch with who I was and what moved me, that I couldn’t drum up an ounce of passion about anything at all. And it had been that way for a very long time. It’s a dreary, colorless way to live.
I’m on the road to recovery, I can list lots of things I’m passionate about now. And one of them involves looking at life through my lens and capturing its moments and its people. To my photographer friends across the country who share that passion and their friendship with me, thank you for a wonderful 2009. To my local network of friends willing to brave cold weather, last minute arrangements and potentially “creepy people” to hang out and create magic (both images and camaraderie)…thank you for sharing your time, your stories, your passion, severe storms and beer and pizza with me. To those of you who allow me to share my thoughts in this blog with you, you have my eternal gratitude. Thanks for listening.
It’s the time of year for reflection and planning. If you spend time doing that this week, consider your passions and how they interact with your goals and plans. Is there room for passion in your world? What moves you? Create opportunities to do more of it!
