What do you see in this image?
When I first saw this tree last week, I saw arms wide open, ready for a hug. I saw a mother tree, offering a sheltering embrace for her children. So I photographed it a couple of ways, but nothing came of them. They were flat, uninteresting.
But this week, after writing about arms reaching in my Photo-Heart Connection, I saw something else. I saw arms open wide, in celebration. Sending into the universe, receiving from the universe. And so, that’s what it needed to become. Arms wide open, in joyous celebration.
Hugging, sending, receiving… it can be all of those things. What do you see?
As I worked on the image, a line from a Gary Go song, Open Arms, kept running through my head: “It’s like open arms to me… Ready to… Ready to receive.” This was a favorite song of mine while I was in Italy, and it spoke to me deeply, connecting with where I was at that time in my journey.
In the way of beautiful art, it continues to speak to me, several years later, as I think about having arms uplifted, open. Ready to receive.
What speaks to you in this song, this image? What is it you see?
I see that tree, soaking up the energy of the universe and radiating its energy back in turn. And I can see how this better expresses what you saw and felt than the original image of the tree did. I’ve experienced that frustration before, but have never thought of altering images like this to try to express my vision. Maybe I could try thinking outside the box a bit more!
It’s not so much thinking outside the box, as I see it, but taken a slightly different point of view. The images I capture have become raw material, instead of a finished product. As my skills grow with editing, so does my ability to communicate through the images.
I see firstly the universe, then the tree as part thereof, as with your work here.
What I am seeing clearly at this time is that photographers the world over are using their cameras as a spiritual practice more and more, this is having a ‘ripple’ effect!
Your photo heart connection is one avenue of the ‘ripple’ effect…thank you. x
I love being part of the “ripple!” It’s nice to think of moving this energy outward, to more people, like ripples in a pond. Thanks, Sue!
Love the combination of the polka dots spreading out and the photography – such a beautiful image, and fits perfect with the song too.
Thank you!!