CONSTANTLY ADAPTING
fall foliage zoomscape 2019 :: © Nancy Szostak Wright
I have to say, 2020 has certainly been a year of adapting for us. Every. Single. Person.
Think of all the ways you’ve had to adapt in your own life. Wearing a mask. Working from home. One-way grocery store aisles. Homeschooling. Isolation. Social-distancing. Going nowhere. Zoom calls. The list goes on.
Today, I was thinking about how we’ve had a lot of practice with adapting. Nature is always forcing us to adapt.
Take autumn. We have to adapt to it getting darker so much earlier. The leaves changing colors and dressing up the landscape. Then the leaves dropping and making the landscape bare. Think of the weather. We have to adapt to cooler temperatures. And in New England, we must be prepared to adapt to the intermittent heat waves, or aberrant snow storm in October. We’re always adapting what we wear and what we do based on the weather. Each season brings its own reason for us to adapt.
I just looked up the word adapt: to make fit often by modification. Check out the example. Is that not a shout out to teachers right now? “Adapting the curriculum to students’ needs.” Meanwhile, school administrations must adapt to teachers’ needs.
We all have needs. Isn’t that what adapting is all about? Trying to fit the pieces around us together to meet our needs. We might be physically adapting to the climate. Emotionally adapting to an unexpected situation. Attitudinally adapting our mindset to forge a different path.
For me, in my adventures with photography, I’m always adapting. Sometimes, I need a different lens. Or a tripod. Or a filter. Or a different angle. Or warmer clothes. Or boots to avoid swampiness. I might get to my destination and realize it’s not what I thought at all, and have to adapt my mindset and my photo mission.
The big word this year has been pivot, which we all need to do at some point in our lives. A zig here. A zag there. You need to do what works for you.
Happy adapting!
All of these images are foliage zoomscapes that I like to call “falliage.” Last October, I was in my backyard and knew I wanted to take photos of the prismatic colors of the leaves.
As I stood before this wall of color, I felt the urge to do something more unexpected, so I adapted my mindset. Instead of straight-on typical foliage pix, I zoomed in and out while clicking away. It’s called Intentional Camera Movement (ICM). So fun and you never really know what you will get. Try it sometime!
I look at these photos and I feel all warm and fuzzy, knowing these magical colors were a gift from Mother Nature. Most of them don’t even hint at being foliage pix. So cool!
Where would this falliage series look good in your home or office?
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Prints from this series are available in the Falliage section of our Artsy gallery. Get 30% off using code PRINTS30 (expires 11/1/2020). https://wrightpixphotogifts.instaproofs.com/gallery/#events/1689208/3948237.
