Getting Back to Nature

Today I got the chance to photograph Plant of the Week. Yeah, that right, it's so exciting. Actually the truth is that Plant of the Week is very comforting. Normally I am rushing around shooting car accidents, fires and depressing stories that it is quite nice to photograph a beautiful subject. I enjoy Plant of the Week and any nature story. Being outdoors allows me to take a look at how beautiful the world around us really is.

Plant of the Week - The Dogwood tree at TJ. Nursery on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 in Chico, CA. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

I am considered an artist by some, but I don't feel I "create" as much as I "capture". Sure I can compose an image into something representing art; but I generally find that the Artist has already created His work and merely show others what I see. There are some "digital photographers" who use a lot of post-production in Photoshop to "create" and image. I keep mine simple. Auto-levels and curves. That is about it. I don't do too much dodging and burning which many film photographers still feel is a natural effect to photography. I keep my images pretty close to how I see them.

Plant of the Week - Blossoms on the Dogwood tree at TJ. Nursery on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 in Chico, CA. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

I always love nature shots because they carry many looks and feelings. I feel people are connected to nature in very similar ways to how they are connected to people. When you see someone with rosy cheeks and red lips you are embraced with a warmth. When you see people with direct posture you feel a sense of stability. These are reciprocated in when someone would see an image of a Dogwood tree blooming and feel a warmth from the vibrant red color. Or when someone looks up upon a Ginkgo biloba tree and feels a sense of strength and durability.

A Ginkgo Trees in front of 1417 Esplanade is one of the trees being looked at as a "Heritage Tree" on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 in Chico, CA. (Jason Halley/Chico Enterprise-Record)

I love nature and love to experience it. I always am more captured by what I can see with my eyes and not my camera. There are things in this world that are beyond comparison. I try to show people just a little slice of the world that we know. We are always inundated by so many distractions in our culture that we can't forget what a wonderful sight everyday the nature around us shows. Whenever we feel this world has little beauty to offer, we just need to get back to nature.