Heart Of Hearts Wins 2nd Honorable Mention
Heart Of Hearts
This photo was made at the end of October. I was photographing this colorful frosted edge Cottonwood leaf on a cold autumn morning in Yosemite National Park on the outskirts of a small Cottonwood grove along the Merced river. It was a cold chilly morning and the leaves were still delicately frosted on the leaf face and along the edges. I still use my old manual focus lenses from my 35mm film camera days, but now on a DSLR. One of my favorite lenses is the 80-200mm fixed f/4 lens. It has a single focusing ring and to zoom in and out the barrel is move in and out respectively. As I was working the camera was pointed directly down at the leaf. As I was metering the leaf, I kept seeing the leaf size changing as the lens’ barrel kept sliding down changing the focal length. Suddenly an idea hit me. What would happen if zoomed in or out during the exposure. I closed down the aperture to its smallest setting which gave me the longest shutter I could muster. I started the exposure with the lens zoomed in to 200 mm and then about 1/3 of the way through the exposure I quickly zoomed out to 80mm and allowed the exposure to finish. I must have made over 20 attempts to get both the zoomed out and zoomed in leaf well defined in the photo. This one was my favorite. My reflection about this photo is below.
Making photographs is an enigma to most when asked why the take photos, or at least it might spark some introspection. Photography, writing with light, is something that might be rooted deep in the need for us to share our experiences with others. It might also be rooted in the need to feel connected to what the photograph was taken of. It could also be rooted in the need to hold on to those things we find dear to our heart. When we look into our heart of hearts we just might find that photography fulfills all of these needs, regardless of what we photograph. In fact, even if the image is never really captured due to the absence of film or other capture media, the very act of tripping a shutter to trap the brief moment of light might be all that is needed to find fulfillment, reward and connection to the things that we love.
Heart Of Hearts has just been announced as the 2nd Honorable Mention on the NPN (Nature Photographers.Net) Editors Pick Awards 2011. You can see it on the NPN website HERE.
Heart Of Hearts is available for orders on the Organic Light Photography website at this link, HERE
Peace.
Richard on 10 Jan 2012 at 6:35 am #
Youssef,
I’ve viewed you photos for far too long without leaving any comments. Today it’s time.
Heart of Hearts is exceptional. They appear to be frozen as they slip thru time. I’m glad you got some recognition for it. I like your style, the way you capture the light, and just as importantly, how you share your inner self about life and earth.
Some time ago I ran across your blog on oatmeal. It’s so true. It made me think back to the day transistors hit the market. Little did we know that there was a new era of no more waiting ahead. No more waiting for the tubes to warm up, no more slow cooking and no more waiting to get home to hear any news. We were becoming an instant society. It’s no longer said ‘Slow down and smell the flowers’. It’s now ‘Slow down and see the flowers’ If we have to wait, it’s taking too long. But then again, good wine and good whiskey aren’t made over night.
Keep up the good work.
Youssef Ismail on 10 Jan 2012 at 8:46 pm #
Thank you Richard for the kind words. I am filled with hope and encouragement to continue my work when I have the kind of feedback you have left me. I’ll keep up my end of the communication if people like yourself keep up on their end of the communication, heck I’ll keep doing what I do even if no one talks back. Thanks Again and I hope to hear from you again soon.
Anil Rao on 14 Jan 2012 at 1:00 pm #
This is an outstanding photogrpah! Congratulations on the NPN win.
Regards
-Anil
Youssef Ismail on 15 Jan 2012 at 6:20 pm #
Thank You Anil. I am always surprised at what grabs attention from the work I produce vs. what resonates with me. This one did both. Thanks Again.