Quantity not Quality

The third part of the Creative Sandbox Course was to about Quantity not Quality.  It was about learning to let go of control and perfection and make mistakes and learn from them.  Professional Photographers often take hundreds of pictures before they find the magic one.

Here is one of the many I took in the fifteen minutes set for the task I was taking a picture of the sedums when Poppy stuck her head into the frame . She is looking at a bird on the trellis probably a blue tit.

It isn't perfection but it captures the curiosity of Poppy and the vibrancy of the sedums. Not worrying about the quality, not trying seek out the interesting, beautiful photo opportunity meant I captured some lovely moments with Pops in the garden.  I was hoping to capture birds but Poppy was the only subject that was there.  The birds had obviously been early to the feeders.

My Gremlins tried a new tactic to put me off exposing myself to the web by saying

"That wall needs painting you cannot take a photo there"

"Ohhh look at the mud on that path that looks awful" 

"Those are weeds, pull them out quick." 

As I snapped pictures the gremlins were making me feel that me garden was a mess, that I was showing my self up by taking photos there.

 I did  stopped taking photos for quite a long  while after a friend lost my camera. The new one he brought to replace it was smaller, had no view finder, I felt I couldn't see what I was photographing blah blah. What was holding my pack from taking photographs was not my camera but the unexpressed resentment that a friend had carelessly lost my original camera.   He seems to feel was no great deal.  He bought a new camera for me but did not let me choose it.  He just gave it to me.  I pretended to be delighted but really I was angry about the lose of my camera.   I did tell you yesterday my gremlins are male.   It wasn't until my  friend Jenny took pictures with it and they were good snaps that I started to use it..

I kicked the gremlins out of the garden and  I learnt to day that my gremlins are holding my back from being creative and I need to play in the sand box some more and make sure those gremlins aren't buried inside the sand ready to jump out to discourage me and keep me safe in my comfort zone.

I hope to go out for a walk with my muse Poppy and take many more photographs

Melissa Dinwiddle  talks about the joy a child has in creativity and says:

If you're worried that mucking around like a 4-year-old, not focusing on the outcome, means you'll never master your craft, let me assure you, as long as you aren’t being sloppy, if you take care of the quantity, the quality will take care of itself.

With Reiki Blessing

MerryB