green revitalisation

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few." (Shunryu Suzuki)
In so many areas, once we become competent at something, we often get a bit stuck and it helps to go back to the basics that led us to where we are in order to release ourselves onwards from here. Back in my days of film, when 36 exposures cost a lot, I used to spend ages just looking at a scene or object, viewing from different angles, different focal lengths, different points of focus, and sometimes, after an hour of exploring the inside of a pincushion protea, for instance, I would decide that my experience wouldn't really translate all that well into two dimensions, and would contentedly wander off to the next thing. Now, with film effectively prepaid with the purchase of a digital camera, exposures are unlimited by cost, and I've found over time I've slowly come to consider whether to take each image less than I used to. Time to return the basics!
I've been so fortunate to spend time over the holiday period sleeping under the stars, swimming in mountain pools and relaxing under indigenous trees, absorbing their soothing green energy. Feeling enervated, I also decided over this time to give myself a rest from photography, returning instead to the original art of simply seeing, and enjoying the pure ephemeral nature of things (without changing the experience by attempting to make it tangibly durable). Still, I frequently caught myself mentally creating images from what I was seeing, wanting to hold onto them and share my vision with others, but more and more recalled my intention to simply observe, and thoroughly appreciate, what I was seeing in the moment. And, in pausing, saw so many more layers of detail again.
"As soon as you see something, you already start to intellectualise it. As soon as you intellectualise something, it is no longer what you saw." (Shunryu Suzuki)

During my wonderfully reviving stay at Platbos Forest over Christmas, apart from a handful of family snapshots, this view from the swinging bed was the only photo I took (thinking I might use it for inspiration for my bedroom ceiling).

Platbos is an utterly enchanting jewel of indigenous trees near the southernmost tip of Africa. I highly recommend a visit, or preferably a longer stay in one of their secluded forest camps, to experience the magic of the area. The Krige family are doing amazing work conserving and extending the range of the forest, and have initiated projects such as their educational forest walks, a tree nursery and the Trees for Tomorrow reforestation project. Their website at platbos.co.za is full of interestingness...