So yesterday, after my scrambling around mountains in mist and fog from sunrise to sunset, I returned to an old friend. We first met on the 4th of February 2007. I was young and innocent and didn’t know how to handle the situation, but I was so enamored with the beauty in front of me, I just took a chance and clicked. That was the start of my love affair with photography, and every day since I have tried to relive the magic of capturing beauty.
I’m lead to compare my subject then and now, and also myself then and now. This lone silver birch tree is probably nearly as old as me, has endured harsh winters year after year, submerged to her knees, subjected to wind and waves. Like many of us she has a few scars and lost some upper body strength. I originally presented her as a lone tree in “high tide”, but I knew she had family and friends near by. Yet she did stand out and was a pioneer like all of her species, stepping forward to conquer new lands and create new colonies. She does not grow in rich fertile soil but on the thin living layer caught in the solid bedrock presented in her latest portrait “Passage of time”. She did not choose her life’s circumstances, but she endured and even thrived in them with acceptance and courage. I on the other hand, have always been searching for the next thing, place, project, challenge. It’s taken me a lifetime to realise life is the challenge and acceptance opens the door to participating fully in your own journey (whatever that is). So on that note, I’m going to take some time to enjoy my latest portrait of a very elegant lady.