To me, photography had a similar creative process to painting, but photography was about capturing the current, existing scene and whatever mood I happened to be in played a huge part, which was fascinating.

With great regard for a Flickr photographer friend John Leighton, I found in his bio a quote he picked up from someone else that seems apt:

..."Photography is a great way to lose yourself, and find yourself at the same time."

From Charles Hamilton of Scotland, another flickr photographer's bio page, were these quotes, which I found very insightful:

..."Composition must be one of our constant preoccupations, but at the moment of shooting it can stem only from our intuition, for we are out to capture the fugitive moment, and all the interrelationships involved are on the move."

But this small quote hit me with a big impact: ..."Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst".

What a relief since I constantly felt I could have tweaked something to the better. Both quotes by - Henri Cartier-Bresson

For a long time photography was the day-to-day steam I blew off to reach that breathless place where imagined art becomes reality. There is a sweet melody that plays in the soul when you find that perfect pitch between experiencing the view and recording it to your heart's delight. I miss that feeling and hope to eventually get back into photography.

Finding new friends on Flickr who guided me into becoming a much better photographer changed my life for the better in many ways. I'm not uploading photos nearly as often right now since I rarely photograph, for many reasons. However, I look back on my years with Flickr with great warmth and gratitude. Finding friends all over the world and being able to share our creativity with each other was life-changing and I appreciate every person who took time to comment on my photos.

---Laura 3-13-2024