More Mushrooms

When I'm out in the bush focused in on these little beauties my enthusiasm usually results in a kind of tunnel vision that neglects the details. Then when I look at these photos later I think (taking the one above as an example), "Why didn't I move that blade of grass out of the way?" This kind of thinking is what has led me to being a writer. It's always possible to go back over a sentence and re-write. Change the words, move them around, take some out, add some, work it over until it slides smoothly through the mind leaving a trail of vibrant images. However, with a photograph one is capturing an instant in time. It is necessary to be much more concentrated during the actual creation than with writing. That errant blade of grass above raises another aesthetic question: whether or not to alter "reality" to suit one's artistic tastes. Nature put that blade of grass there; who am I to move it out of the way? For me there is no question. Art is about making sense and/or beauty of the chaotic and often unpleasant world we live in. Sometimes you can simply find that logic or beauty but more often you have to make it out of bits and pieces that are available in your environment.