As we wander around with our cameras round our necks or you’re your shoulders or in a bag, though most prominently when it’s on display, we find, or certainly I do; that just by simply carrying a camera, it’s like you’ve got a magnet to other photographers with cameras who will smile and strike up a conversation. We carry with us this silent attractor which allows us to start conversations with anyone and more particularly with people who have an interest in photography or our fellow photographers’.
A Long Walk
I think it’s a lovely thing that we carry this symbol around with us that attracts other people in to have conversations that leads who knows where. Just last week I was doing a photography shoot in a coastal town for overlays for the meditations on Healing with Photography video courses. It was a beautiful sunny cold day, those lovely winter days that you get. I was busy taking pictures and wherever I looked in this pretty and very much deserted town of tourists, people on the pier turned smiled and looked to speak, say hello and pass the time of day.
When it came time for the sunset, I bumped into a photographer there for the same reason. And we fell into conversation about how stunning the sunset had been the night before, and how unfortunate it was that neither of us had been able to get there to record it. As we parted company, me opting for a shot from the beach and a short further up the road, we shared the hope that tonight’s sunset would be equally as wondrous.
Watching him walking out of sight I realised that he’s a local and so he must know of a great spot to go and take photos of the sunset. I decided to follow and I realised that he was quite right. The sun was about to set behind the headland and where I was positioning myself and it would have obstructed my view. After a few minutes of walking up the road of thinking he must of found a great place, I rounded a corner and there he was walking back down towards me with a sad look on his face.
The place he’d wanted to get to was no longer accessible to the public. As we walked back down the road chatting, he gave me some business contacts for Healing with Photography and we also shared our experiences and love of photography. It was an absolutely beautiful moment and I cherish these moments where my camera makes me a part of a community that is kind and sharing, that wants to help others find good locations or pass on tips.
We split company as I decided I’d found a good location on the road back down for the sunset, a sun which was now quickly dropping and not at all as stunning as the night before, ah well that’s life. As the sunset finished setting I was playing around with a mist that was moving across the coastline in front of a village that was just starting to put on street lights when a couple came and joined me.
We struck up a conversation about photography and this local man told me of the same private road my new photography friend had been looking for. What beautiful symmetry. It turns out this road is actually accessible and he told how to find the place, and I’m so grateful. From simply having a camera around my neck, I got two business leads that day and was told of great location for future sunset locations. As I walked back I kept an eye out for the photographer to tell him that the road is accessible by foot, however it was late and mine was the only car left.
I’m so glad that my profession reaches out to everyone and that we are part of this beautiful community, just as we have this beautiful community here on Current Photographer. It’s a lovely way of passing some time and making new friends, and to you all I say thank you!
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Living in the beautiful rural county of Yorkshire it was perhaps natural for Ruth to have an affinity with the countryside and its wildlife. Creativity is Ruth’s driving force finding an outlet in television & radio she worked for many years as producer for BBC & ITV.
However a love of photography and for being surrounded by nature called her to go back to her photography training and bring pleasure and joy to people through her connection with our planet.
Staying in the moment when taking her images allows her to experience the natural magnificence unfolding before her eyes. It is this moment of mediation, of gratitude, that she evocatively conveys through her images.