When before the beauty of a sunset or a mountain, you pause and exclaim, “Ah,” you are participating in divinity.— Joseph Campbell
I went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.— John Muir
Light is God’s way of saying “Hello!”— Harry Hitzeman
2008 Leaf on 2009 Moss, Spring 2009
Around Christmastime we joke about the Seinfeld holiday of Festivus. “Christians have Christmas, Jews have Hanukkah, and then there’s Festivus for the rest of us.” There is a Festivus ceremony called “The Airing of Grievances.” I prefer to engage in the “Airing of my awstruckedness at the realization of my good fortune.” And these are — as related to my love of landscape photography — the following:
- Being alive in a time where I can fly to almost anywhere in the world, or just step out into my back yard.
- Being able to take as many pictures as I like with “free film” (digital files).
- Getting immediate feedback from my camera about the technical qualities of the image I just captured, and being able to see immediately the result on a LCD screen.
- Owning a computer and internet connection and image editing software so I can magically develop my photos in ways that even Ansel Adams could not do, and I can share my images with the world easily and quickly.
But most of all, having a really good Capricorn excuse for going outdoors (or into skinny slot canyons) and enjoying and appreciating the magnificent beauty all around us.
Let your beauty shine, too!
Dear Harry,
What a beautiful and inspiring list. You could easily add:
*living in a time when you can read the works of photography masters of the ages and learn from all cultures.
*living in a time when your life is filled with the luxury of running water, cement covered roads, in-door heating/plumbing, cooking elements with easy attainable fuel, clothes made by others to keep your body at a comfortable temperature, access to good organic food to feed and nourish your body. All things which give you the time to devote to your art…and give the rest of us the time to appreciate it and absorb the beauty which you are reflecting.
Always remembering….it is only that which is within you that you can see and reflect.
Prem,
Pranananda
Doubly beautiful comment from you, Pranananda. Thank you!!