Creative Photography

My Blogger friend Alana posted a lovely post yesterday about how being artistic and creative makes her happy when life has otherwise left her with a bad taste in her mouth. I so agree. We got to discussing photography as a creative process in the comments and I mentioned a picture I'm particularly proud of, and that I'd just have to post it here on my blog.

The picture is of the London Eye, and I love it because of the way the branches of the tree almost perfectly frame the wheel, only dipping down into the wheel itself a little bit. It's just another way of seeing a famous London icon.

When I take pictures, I actually try to frame them to best advantage. I'm not the person who carelessly clicks a picture of the Space Needle from far away--I'd much rather show people just how impressive it is from the ground.

A trip to Apple Hill is not just a chance to have some hot cider, but to show just how pretty fall can be.

The Bay Bridge is visible from many places in the San Francisco Bay. But sometimes, as you drive the streets of San Francisco, you see it in a new light.

Having tea at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, I want to show people how nice the tea itself was, and how lovely the setting.

Anyone can take a picture of the Eiffel Tower. How many people think to show the scale of this enormous landmark by snapping a picture of one massive foot with the "Eiffel Flowers?"

A trip to Monterey is a perfect opportunity to show off a popular food of the California coast: sourdough.

I love color, so the red mail boxes of England, coupled with the vivid greens and the purple flowers and the rugged old bricks, made for pure art.

An old building and a perfect new flower (For Alana--this is at the old mill outside of Salt Lake City. I can't remember the name, but it's a bunch of old buildings turned into cute little shops, and the mill is a restaurant. It's sort of near Kearns/West Valley City, I think).

Victoria, B.C. is an absolutely beautiful city. I have plenty of regular, straight-on pictures of the Empress Hotel...but I am post proud of this shot.

Again with color--a pink building, a bright blue sky, and the white of the anchor. This is in Victoria, B.C.

Even before I went digital, I was always looking for artistic shots. This was taken with a Pentax 35 milimeter camera. I love the single red sail on an overcast day on the River Crouch (Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, England).

Sometimes, nature gives you something stunning to work with, in the form of a sunset behind St. Peter's Basilica (Vatican City, Rome, Italy).

My parents' neighborhood always shows its pride on the major holidays. This was taken from Mom and Dad's driveway on July 4th a few years ago.

A rainy or cloudy day can provide just as much interest in a photo as a clear sunny day can. I love the winter-bare tree against the dark, rainy sky. Believe it or not, I took this on the playground at one of my school sites.

Finally, when in San Francisco, tourists always feel lucky to get a gorgeous sunny day--and no doubt, San Fran looks gorgeous in the sunshine. But it's famous for fog, and catching its most famous landmark on a foggy day makes for some great photo art.

In the last few years, I've started looking at texture and color when I take pictures, and I think this allows me to get some shots that aren't so obvious to your average tourist with a camera.

As I said in comment to Alana's post: Creativity = Happiness.