May 2, 2008 by Amy

More morning light

I’ve been having a lot of fun with the early morning light coming through my dining room window. That’s my daily “me time,” when the house is empty and quiet, and I have a few minutes to eat breakfast and read before heading out the door to increasingly busy days at work.

What I’ve been reading lately is Ted Orland’s Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity. I used my finely honed speed-reading skills to bust through Weston’s Daybooks just to get to Orland. It was a wise move.

I’m trying to read slowly, savoring each page. Which is hard for me, especially when I’m so thoroughly enjoying what I’m reading. Normally I read everything as fast as I can, which is pretty damn fast. I don’t want this to end, though, because it’s just that good, so I’m consciously slowing myself down.

And because I’m noticing the light more these days, I couldn’t help but see how it just skimmed across the open page. I thought I’d play with depth of field and light and just see how it came out. I wanted to capture the texture of the paper, and the contrast between the pale page and the blackest black ink. It all just seemed to glow.

I think I did okay, but I’m not perfectly pleased with it. Just an excuse to keep working at it, I guess.