Capturing Light - Karoo National Botanical Gardens

My camera has taught me to see, and today my photography is about capturing light.  That’s what happened in the very beginning when Alhazen invented the first pinhole camera: light would enter the tiny hole, turn itself upside down, and the image would be captured and projected onto the other side of the box as a negative, which would then be printed using chemical formulas to develop the image in a darkroom on paper.  And so, a memory was made, each experience adding to my understanding and appreciation of both photography and nature.

Playing with available light and capturing movement early in the morning can add interest. I tried using electric light, slow shutter speeds, and a large aperture, experimenting with ISO and Kelvin to see how light changes the mood of a shot. This exploration can help you feel more confident in your creative process. 

Later that afternoon, I went outside and took some photos at our beautiful Karoo National Botanical Garden. It’s autumn, which isn’t the ideal time there; lots of preparations are underway for the spring and summer blooms, when this semi-desert comes alive with colour.

I shot some images straight into the setting sun; in others, I focused on the seeds themselves and the rim lights as the sun just kissed the fading flowers and seed pods of these strange desert plants, which star as the subject and focal point.

It’s only when one makes the effort to pick up a camera, get to a location- any spot will do- and open one's eyes to the beauty around that nature truly reveals itself. You’ll likely see something that takes your breath away, even if it’s only a weed.  Nature is designed to please us, to calm us, and to awaken creativity, inspiring a sense of wonder and appreciation.

My Pinhole photograph comes courtesy of the  NIK COLLECTION’s black-and-white presets for the digital darkroom.

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things long after you have forgotten everything.”

— Aaron Siskind

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