Finding Simplicity

Finding simplicity in everyday life can help us on our journey of self-discovery… and sometimes provide some unique perspectives to our creativity and photography.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikon 10-100mm f/4-5.6 @ 48mm, efov 129mm, f/5.6, 1/250, ISO-160

Finding simplicity can occur during an early morning walk along a beach while on vacation. It can help us appreciate that we share this planet with a multitude of other living things. With that cohabitation comes responsibility.

Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikon 10-100 mm f/4-5.6 @ 46 mm, efov 124 mm, f/5.6 1/20, ISO-3200

We can come upon a padlocked gate. It can serve to remind us of the abuses that humankind continuously inflicts upon itself. Our inhumanity to each other holds us all hostage.

Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikon 10-100mm f/4-5.6 @ 27m, efov 72.9mm, f/5.6, -1.0 step, 1/40, ISO-1600

Slavery and servitude take many forms. It is instructive to examine our own desires and excesses so we can discover how they keep us in shackles.

Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikon 10-100mm f/4-5.6 @ 10mm, efov 27mm, f/8, 1/125, ISO-400

Our everyday lives can be spent under the illusion that we are open minded and accommodating. Individual realities can be much different as we are subject to our belief systems, perspectives, and prejudices. We see and experience only a small slice of the world around us.

Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikon 30-110 mm f/3.8-5.6 @ 66 mm, efov 178 mm, f/5.6, 1/30, ISO-3200, 20 mm MOVO extension tube used

Finding simplicity sometimes means coming face-to-face with primal fears. These can overwhelm us and cause us to miss experiencing potential beauty in that same moment.

Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikon 10-100 mm f/4-5.6 @ 50 mm, efov 135 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000, ISO-200

The Universe can send us clear signals and directions which we sometimes ignore at our peril.

Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikkor 30-110 mm f/3.8-5.6 @ 89.9 mm, efov 242.7 mm, f/9, 1/40, ISO-400

We yearn to hold on to security. To feel that we are in total control of our future. That we are firmly in the driver’s seat every waking moment. But… our grip is tenuous at best.

Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikkor 10-100 mm f/4-5.6 @ 100 mm, efov 270 mm, f/6.3, 1/1250, ISO-200

We may try to escape from the disappointments and challenges of everyday life. The more we try to hide from them… the more lost we become.

Kylemore Abbey Ireland, Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikkor 10-100 f/4-5.6 @ 100 mm, efov 270 mm, f/5.6, 1/160, ISO-1600

Hope for the future… however faint and flickering… sustains us through troubling times. It is the fuel we need each and every day so we can maintain the courage to press on with our journey.

Nikon 1 J5 + 1 Nikkor 30-110 mm f/3.8-5.6 @ 34 mm, efov 91.8 mm, f/5.6, 1/125, ISO-800

Ultimately we discover that duty comes of all living things. We had our chance at life. Only we will know if that chance was well lived… or ended with regrets.

Technical Note:

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard process.  Photographs were resized for web use. This is the 1,152 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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