IZ from across the table: I hope one of those shots is tilted.
He likes to give me (gently) a hard time for my too often use of the tilted frame. It’s a bad habit I’ve picked up, really. All those Thrifty Goodness listings are to blame. Great photos are a necessity for selling on etsy and the “artier” the better! In fact, those artistic shots are what get picked for treasuries. The more artistic the group of photos in a treasury, the more likely that treasury will make the front page. This little bit of information tends to tilt my camera lens. It’s become such second nature, I don’t even think about it.
Sometimes that art shot pays off. Which is why, after selling for nearly 4 months on etsy, I finally made the front page this morning! Of course, I slept through it. All I know is that I woke up to 3 sales and 2 dozen new people professing their undying love for Thrifty Goodness. Not exactly bad news to get before coffee.
Truth is, though, when I think about it… I like the camera angle. Tilted and tightly cropped. It appeals to my own sense of self. Tilted is how I see the world. Not exactly centered. Not exactly straight. It’s a visual metaphor of my point of view. A bit wonky.
I’m ok with being a bit wonky.
All those macro shots are windows to my soul. I don’t often see the bigger picture. I get lost in the small moments, missing the politics around me. Panning back, taking in the landscape, the world gets blurry. I’m myopic. Nearsighted in need of a telephoto lens sometimes, to see the world around me. I’m still trying hard to capture more than the moment.
I can’t help but wonder, are landscape shots of our lives only possible in retrospect? Is it only with time that our perspective becomes clearer? Is it only with distance that we realize we may have judged too harshly or spoken too soon? Do we really have any other choice but to live in the moment, hoping that when we string together all those macro shots we will have cobbled together a life? Perhaps not centered. Perhaps not straight. Maybe a little bit wonky, but probably a whole lot wonderful.
I don’t know. What I do know, is that while I might take a photo straight on from time to time, my heart will always be tilted. My head cocked slightly to the left, taking in this world. The view from a tilted frame is lovely.
(These photos were taken at the lovely Blue Scorcher. It’s a wonderful thing when the best bakery in town invites you in to sit down for a coffee, even though it’s well past closing time. )
We all have our preferences. I find that I get twitchy if I don’t use a square crop on a picture! 🙂
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Ah, good to know I’m not completely alone here. 😀 ~W
Oh…I do the same thing!! I love tilted shots…well, unless it’s landscapes, it makes everything so much more interesting! I also see really certain things in a room and find it hard to capture the exact view I have with the camera sometimes. A local who reads my blog snarkily said that I should start putting pictures on straight…yeah? Well? Get your own blog!!
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Ouch! Of course, you know what can happen when they get their own blog… but I totally agree. If you can’t stand looking at it, why bother? Right? It’s not like you’re twisting their arm to view your blog! ~W
I always love your wonky photos and your wonky thrifty goodness things (the melamine cream and sugar are on my “consider these” list)- but these are both straight up aromatically lovely.
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Oh, that set is a find! The photos of it just don’t do it justice, the white is so hard to photograph. And thank you! 😀 ~W
We all see life through our own “lens” of emotion, history, and life. I think that my views are tilted also. GREAT JOB as usual on the photos; you are amazing!
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Thank you!! 😀 ~W
I really enjoy your photos (and musings) tilted or otherwise. You have an eye for color and a natural gift for composition.
My photos are garbage – yours are such art.
Oh, and I’ll join you for coffee anytime.
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Well, I can’t exactly find my way around a spreadsheet, so it’s all good. 😀 ~W
I love your tilted pictures! Actually, I love all your photos and I agree with IZ that you have an eye for color and composition. Also, why is it IZ and not Iz? And do you say it that way when you talk to him? Should I start calling Josh “JOSH?”
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Heh, the story behind his name is convoluted and not that interesting. But he’s always spelled it that way, so I’ve followed suit. ~W
Congratulations on that treasury feature, and on the following sales. This post was right up my alley… but you probably knew that.
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Ah yes, your macro shots are divine!! ~W