Discovering the Latent Magic in Everything

Sometimes when you’re riding along it is impossible to stop for photographs. Your mind is so wrapped up in the ride that there is no room for anything else. Other times, stopping becomes irresistible.

I wish I knew what it was that makes a place or maybe a view call to you to stop and take a picture of it. But that’s what happens. Maybe some part of you sees latent magic that will blossom in the resulting image?

Grass, sky, motorcycle. Nothing Earth-shattering and still it strikes me as simply pretty.

But the same stuff isn’t always pretty. You can take 10 snaps of the same spot and only one of them will do. So there is something more to it than simply standing in a place and hitting the shutter button.

While stopped, my GoPro was apparently still clicking away and documenting my wandering around in the road. It’s pictures aren’t pretty even though it’s the same stuff. To me, the biggest difference – aside from framing and whatnot – is that there is a disconnect in feeling. It’s like a robot took the photo. Could that be a result of me knowing that there was no feeling or personal connection involved?

Perhaps the magic is in us. When we do things with our own hands, our hearts and with intent maybe we infuse ourselves in the image. Maybe that’s where the magic comes in – our own little sprinkle of pixie dust.

Fuzzygalore

Rachael is the whimsical writer behind the 20+ year old Girlie Motorcycle Blog. As a freelance blogger, she is on a mission to inspire laughter, self-examination, curiosity, and human connection. Girlie Motorcycle Blog can be found on several Best Motorcycle Blog lists.

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4 Responses

  1. Darrin says:

    What famous artists said something like- “I didn’t create the statue, it was always within this rock, I just removed everything that didn’t belong”…? I see some awesomeness in those other pictures… Perhaps just a little Photoshopping is all they need?

  2. Kathy says:

    I think the magic is in capturing what YOU saw. It’s not just the scene, but a particular way you saw it that made it special to you.

    Sometimes it’s hard going through life with a photographer’s eye. I don’t know about you, but I see the world differently. I see the whole picture, of course, but can’t help hyper focusing on stuff. Whether riding, walking, driving… Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just that some people don’t understand.

  3. Steel says:

    I am not sure it is the case “that some people don’t understand”. I would imagine that some people don’t understand, but I think a lot of us (myself included) simply don’t have the ability or talent to create certain types of artistry. The type of artistry in this case pertains to beautiful and appealing photographs. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t appreciate the view or the image when we see it.

    Fuzzy’s first photo in this post is absolutely stunning, and I agree with her, the subsequent photos are not appealing to me either.

    Personally, I don’t think it is due to a lack of connection, I think it is simply due to a lack of artistry in the subsequent Go-Pro photos. I don’t have the ability to create or compose the first photo. But I know that I love it when I see it.

    • Kathy says:

      Steel, the folks I was thinking of don’t understand, i.e., don’t appreciate the artistry in images such as Fuzzy’s first enough to care why I feel compelled to look more closely at things, take pictures, etc. These folks enjoy looking at pics as much as the average Joe, but don’t feel compelled to capture them and don’t have much patience for the process.

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