A new friend

I still can’t figure out why I woke up at 5:30am this morning. After all, I was tired when I went to bed last night at 11pm. And it’s been like that for a little while now. Go figure!

Anyways, I know for a fact now that getting up early allows to achieve much much more in one day. And since I’ve got plenty on my plate these days, why not? So I decided to get out of bed. I had no idea what the day would be, I had no specific plan, it was a blank page. I like blank pages. They allow you to do whatever you want. So early in the morning there’s not much sound outside, everything is quiet. I walked to my office window to look outside and see what the weather was like. Sunny! The window was slightly opened. Humm, that smell, unique. It whispers in my ear that I should get out and shoot some pictures. So I showered and got dressed, grabbed the camera and left home right away. When I do that I simply grab the G10 and walk around in the park to see what’s interesting.

You’d be surprise how much activity there is at around 6am in such a nice and wide park. Jogging, rollerblading, biking, people with their dogs.. and a photographer! But the best aspect is the sound, or lack of. It is so quiet. When I find myself in such context I’m just so relax and inspired. Everything seems different. The birds whistles are very present, the leaves in the trees, the water flowing on the rocks, the rubber tire of the bikes on the path, even your breath! Everything is so.. there! No rush, but no time to loose before the city gets busier with the usual activities.

So I decided to walk the bike path that follows the river from a distance of about 20 meters. I got some shots of the water and the shore, the trees. At one point my eye was caught by something unusual on the ground. I got closer and noticed it was a snail making its way across the path, slowly. Very slowly. So I decided to get a few shots of my new friend and relocated him 2-3 meters away in the grass. Hey, I saved his life! And then I saw another one and did the same thing. There was only two of them. Do they live in couple? Anyways, at that point I thought to myself that macro photography was certainly not what I expected to get when I left home this morning to shoot the park, river and trees. Sometimes we have to look down and be ready to catch opportunities as they come. Too often we are looking for the big stuff, while there are tiny things that have so much to offer.

On my way back home I could see things getting busier, the cars on the road, the buses, more people in the park. I was happy I decided to get out of bed early and did all that. It’s always satisfying to get back home, transfer the files, look at them and enjoy the time we spent outside. And there’s plenty of time to do all these things we need to do until the end of the day.

It’s not always easy to get out of the comfort zone, especially in the morning, but it’s really worth it. Just do it!

Good Light!

Norm

© Normand Primeau