Today, I photographed great friend, Flint in the Hui pool. Actually, I was really interested in his new tattoo that took months to do. This image is so personal to him and symbolizes his spiritual path and, in fact his life. The carp’s struggle through the rapids, tells of man’s quest for enlightenment and the difficulties along the way.
So three of us collaborated as we photographed in the pool. We had a good dialogue and checked out the images as they came up. I even shot a few in infrared as I knew that the water would turn black and the skin would turn white. I have photographed tattoos before in IR. All the stuff of loosing myself in the moment didn’t happen so much, but we had a wonderful time catching up.
Where things got interesting was once I downloaded the images into my computer. The graphic quality of the IR especially captured me. Soon, I was off on an inner adventure pulling in the full gamut of the potential of Photoshop, Nik’s filters, tone mapping and noise reduction. The only intention here was to communicate the power of this tattoo and it’s innate aliveness with Flint. My only guide in this process was the spark of excitement in me that guided the way through a whole world of potentials and opportunities that these programs offer. So here I sit indoors and lost in the process, filled with new enthusiasm. I just love it when time flies by and I’m having so much fun. I can’t think of a better way to honor and connect with a friend. Thank you, Flint.
Since the photo workshop, with the lawns cut, the electrical fixed, I have been scanning some of my old Kodachrome slides that are about 40 years old. For years I have been an advocate for the ‘the moment’ as the greatest gift in the process of seeing and connecting to the life around us. My strategies have been to show up in neutral, ready to receive, and when the moment connects me to the subject in a way that takes my breath away, I immerse myself in slow motion where time stands still and I disappear. All that exists is the subject that took my full attention. I practice for this moment so that it will stretch as much as possible. This is the reward. It fills me, aligns me and leaves me with a taste of profound gratitude. Usually I have forgotten to breathe so I am out of breath.
For the past days I have been revisiting some old favorite photos – dead cars that lead me into a life of photography. It is fun to feel the richness of color and stark sculptural presence they still have where their lives stopped in the environment. I can feel through the fog of time the thrill of discovery when I first found them. Today as I work on these images in Lightroom and Photoshop, I enlarge them to 100% and go into the moments like a window to clean the dust spots and sharpen the old lines. The result is a new freshness with these old friends. Now they are sharper, better exposed and in this moment digitally reborn.
I wonder what this does to me? It is exciting in a new way as I reconnect through time to these old friends.
With the photography class over and my final day with Jonathan coming to a close, I can feel the pace of my life about to slow down. So much has transpired in the last two weeks: a new computer system and time capsule hard drive backup, reorganizing and updating all of my systems inside, also learning new techniques in my photographing with my camera and computer programs. With all this has come a new excitement as I digest and assimilate all of this newness. A quiet confidence seems to be creeping in with my relationship the computer.
I’m slowing down so that I can notice things like this driveway (see photo) that I walk back and forth on all day. Occasionally, I take a photograph that reminds me of the beauty that is part of my everyday life. This process fills me with gratitude. I’m left to ponder what qualities does this simple gratitude feel like ? The most immediate responses that arise in me are a sense of fullness and contentedness that leave me quieter and at peace. My hope is to return more often to this place in me and to thank those who help along the way. For now thank you Brontums for all your behind the scenes coordination that make everything here at the Hui seem to flow so smoothly. Jonathan , thank you for all that you have taught me and for helping me to open the doors to new areas of creativity, all presented in such an easy manner. To our Hui staff, thank you for all the care you give in moving this endeavor most gracefully onwards. Each of you truly are an inspiration.
Here we sit again on the porch, hopefully quenched, at least full from a week of wonderful sharing, encouraging and witnessing our photographic process. Like a gardener watching his plants, I feel this year will be a bumper crop ready to be harvested in each of your lives.
This week is about fertilizer – a fertilizer for the soul that waters your being so you may come to your full blossom and live at the cusp of your overflowing cup. What does this look like? What does this have to do with Photography? Photography as a discipline has led me to a fullness of living, a place where I connect to my inner being and, from that place, to all life. Here I disappear and blend with all that surrounds me. When I can be fully in this place, it takes my breath away, time stands still and all the worries in my small world disappear. In those moments, I am overwhelmed by beauty and gratitude. I breath in and notice a large wave coming my way and about to engulf me. I grab my tripod and move before it is to late. (photo above). Later with the image, I can write and re-live much of what occurred.
This week I touched that place in me and witnessed it in each of you. Both in-front and behind the camera, our link to each other was exposed as we were in this quest together, tantalized at the throne of discovery. Revealed was a passion for seeing, for being alive and being part of the life that surrounds us. Thank you for helping to create the circumstance and opportunity that allowed this to happen.
May the fragrance of the moments we shared water your beings and bring them to full bloom through your creativity in your life, world and together through this inspiration we heal… even possibly in this moment our world.
My first entry into this blog. My first inclination is to catch up with so much that has transpired in this ever evolving full life. My hand hurts at the prospect of so much typing. So for now to just catch up with the current moment will suffice. First off thank you to Jonathan for all the inspiration and help to launch me on this new adventure. We have just finished a week of teaching “Rekindling the Creative Spirit” here at the Hui Ho’olana. The following post is my closing words of what was an incredible gathering of photographic seekers.
Richard A. Cooke III, has been a professional photographer for 40 years. Much of that time he worked as a freelancer for The National Geographic Society, where he traveled to much of the world on a variety of assignments. His main interest is focusing on the innate beauty of his subjects and honoring that.