Walking to Clear My Mind
Today was the first time in a long time that I've gone out with my camera. My last blog post is from a trip to Rockville, MD that I took with my mom back in February. I went there to see a friend and I took my mom with me because I figured she'd enjoy getting out of the city for a weekend. We were only there for the weekend (one full day really), so I didn't get to take as many pictures as I normally do, but I was happy with what I got. I did go out one day at the beginning of this month, but for the most part I stayed inside. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm getting older but I just cannot deal with the cold anymore. Today was actually a really nice day outside so I decided to grab my camera and take a short walk to clear my mind.An odd choice for a first picture, I know. Construction is still going on in East River Park and will be for quite some time, but they are making a lot of progress and the parts that are open are really nice. There are benches, picnic tables, a soccer field (which you'll see in an upcoming pic), and a few basketball hoops. I went out today for several reasons. One was to break in my new sneakers (white and green Air Jordan 1 lows). The second was to test out my new Fujifilm x-t5. I traded in my x-t4 and got the x-t5 an I absolutely love it! The image quality is fantastic. I'm going to have a lot of fun with this camera when it gets warmer and I start hiking again.The third (and most important reason) was to try and clear my head. Like most people, trying so hard to ignore the stress of everyday life (work, personal) just got to be too much. It was so nice to be able to go out, walk around, and take pictures like a normal person and not be in a state of constant high alert, obsessing over things that haven't even happened (and most likely won't happen) and just being a paranoid mess in general.A big part of what kept me from going out with my camera these past few months (besides the cold) was that I just hadn't been satisfied with my photography lately. I'd see the photography of other people and wonder why my own wasn't as good. I know comparison in anything only leads to unhappiness, but it's a normal reaction that we all engage in from time to time. I would often look at pictures I took from when I first started photography in 2005 and wonder why I got so many interesting shots back then but nothing now and then I realized it was because I had passion for photography back then. I had passion for something. My mom and I always talked about taking one of these ferries, just for the ride. Trying new things is a great way of lifting your mood. At least it is for me. The first time we took an Amtrak train (about two years ago to Savannah, GA) was so much fun. The ride was about 9 hours or so, but with plenty of leg room and great views, the hours just flew by. The parts of the park that are still under construction are fenced off but I snapped this shot of a playground that's being built. It looks like it's going to be really nice when it's all finished. Hopefully by the summer more of the park will be completed and open to the public. I generally don't like to edit my pictures too much (just straightening and some basic color correction, and of course minor cropping if necessary) but aside from a very slight straightening of this picture, it is totally unedited. Although, now that I'm looking at it again, it looks a bit tilted. Is my balance off or something? Anyway, I didn't want to do any color correction that might mess with the slight rainbow on the bottom of the frame towards the right hand side. I noticed it when I was looking at it on my computer and thought it looked so cool.This is the soccer field that I mentioned before. The view is really nice with the East River right there and a view of the skyline. Pier 36 is also right there and they have a lot of boats (I think they're short cruises) and they have exhibitions there as well. I know recently they had some kind of balloon museum thing because as I was walking by there one night, a couple asked me if I knew how to get to the balloon museum. They were right there but with all the construction going on in that area (and the fact that there is a sanitation garage right near there as well), it's difficult to know where to walk and where the entrance is.This is my favorite shot of the day. I love watching water crash against rocks. I love the water maybe even more than I love mountains. I love anywhere that is quiet and peaceful and listening to the water crashing into rocks over and over again is very peaceful. If I was out with my camera for hours and didn't get any really good shots, I'd get really dejected. Nevermind that I knew that it is very rare for a photographer to get banging shots every single time they stepped outside with their camera. For whatever reason, I held myself to these standards and felt like a failure when I didn't meet them (much like I do in every day life). Then I thought about it and I asked myself why every picture (or even any picture) had to be great? Why wasn't documenting life good enough? It is. It's why I really like urbex videos on YouTube. Beauty in decay, finding interesting things in the way things are, not having unreasonable expectations and all that jazz. I'm still working on applying that way of thinking to my everyday life (work/relationships/friendships/etc.). Let's just consider that a work in progress.