Embrace the unexpected

My original plans for today were to be getting ready to welcome a dear friend and fellow photographer for a week-long visit. We had special plans to go to the mountains and photograph wild flowers. But within the last few weeks our plans and those of many people have been unexpectedly altered by something as tiny as a virus. Now I, along with most of the rest of the world, have had to find new things to do and new ways to find positive vision. So I decided to finally take the time to learn some new ways to use my camera to create interesting images. I have played around with some in home light painting using a tiny flash light tied to a string and hung from a ceiling light fixture. The image above is the result of putting a polarizing filter on my camera and taking pictures of plastic against an all white background. The polarizing filter can be turned to create different effects. In this case I was able to turn my white background totally black, creating a better contrast to the light coming from the white background and going through the plastic, which literally bends the light and makes these rainbow colors. I had never tried anything like this before, and the moment I saw what was happening with these simple plastic objects and light was absolutely thrilling. As with the light painting, this photography session has energized me both mentally and physically. Now most days I feel as though I don't have enough time to do even half of what I want to do. And that makes starting a new day a welcoming challenge. While I am blessed to have a photography passion that is helping me get through and even enjoy these days of isolation, I think most everyone can think about and try to do some of those things that they always wanted to do and put off because of lack of time. Maybe it is trying to learn how to cook something unique, work a jigsaw puzzle, paint a picture or even a room, or if they are fortunate enough to share a home with others, take the time to get to know them better and practice the fine art of a good and meaningful conversation. Whatever it may be, find ways to embrace this unexpected period so that when it is all over and we have gone back to what is more normal, we can look back and see that we have not only lived through a bad time, but we have become wiser and better people as a result.