This photo, JUNGLE, and SISI MOONS are the only edited pictures I included in my book. I used to look at nature pictures in magazines and websites and would get discouraged about sharing my nature pictures with the world. Honestly, I still get discouraged about sharing my nature pictures, and how others judge my pictures. I contemplated if I wanted to learn how to use Lightroom and Photoshop so I could make amazing nature edits, but I was always hesitant. I was hesitant because one, I don’t have the patience to learn it thoroughly and two, I don’t really like editing my nature pictures because I think nature is beautiful just how it is.
Self-doubt and fear of the unknown kept me from pursuing nature photography professionally for a long, long time. Prior to 2016, I was focused on getting my degree and beginning my profession; I was cool with nature photography being a hobby. Fortunately, my self-doubt was lightened a little after visiting the Van Gogh Museum. While in Amsterdam with friends, one person wanted to visit the museum. They didn’t wanna go in alone, so I agreed to go in with them. Great decision.
As we walked around the museum, I felt a rush of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. I was envious how and why Van Gogh has museums displaying his art in different countries. There are thousands of artists that have existed before, are currently existing, and will exist in the future; what makes Van Gogh’s art worthy of being all over the world? I was kinda curious if he was under the influence of psychotropic medications or psychedelic herbs while he was painting because of the distinct distortions in his paintings. In my opinion, Van Gogh’s paintings resembled the view from the eyes of a 90’s cartoon character like Tom or a Looney Tunes character who was regaining consciousness after being knocked out.
Regardless of my feelings of envy and curiosity, I was grateful for the opportunity to see Van Gogh’s beautiful artistic expressions through his paintings. I was inspired to continue on my artistic journey, in whatever capacity that looks like. After I left the museum, I read about Van Gogh; he had an interesting life and journey as an artist.
So, when I edited TOP VIEWS and fell in love with the outcome, I was given the simple reminder that no matter how much I edit, crop, or manipulate colors in a picture, art will always imitate God’s art.
Life Lesson:
· Art imitates God’s art.
How I Apply it to My Life:
· I like my nature pictures in their purest form, but sometimes I play around with photoshop edits to see if I can create a dope masterpiece, like TOP VIEWS.
Song:
· Drake – Faithful (Ft. dvsn & Pimp C)
SLIDESHOW: Top Views