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This is a chapter from my seventh book called Bookeh - Through the lens of a Trinidadian photog


I woke up today and took this photo of this flower from my yard. There is something that attracts us to flowers similarly to how the insects are attracted to the flowers. We are part of nature. We are nature. Nature nurtures us. It reminds us that we are inherently drawn to beauty and harmony. This yellow cosmos flower embodies harmony through its balanced structure, complementary colors, ecological role, and symbolic representation of peace and cosmic order. There is a God and nature reminds us of this all the time.

Let us talk about the direction of this book. Each chapter starts with a photograph I take the day I start the chapter. I want this to be about sharing and about learning. I want to discover why photography means so much to me. I want the quality of my photography to improve. I want each chapter to carry some message. But most importantly I want to have fun writing this book. I think I do my best work when I am happy in a contented way. Photography helps us understand life and the world around us.

This was taken with my budget Samsung A14. No special or fancy gear. The best camera is the one we have. I took it during the start of the morning golden hour or magic hour when there is often a soft and warm light that can make even simple subjects look beautiful. These days I spend most of my time at home. I am a house bird so to speak. I do have a nikon d5000 camera that still works but I have no laptop to connect it to. My nikon camera was mostly used for tech events and tech blogging when my world was the tech world. I am glad that I am exploring more than tech these days. I feel more all rounded. My superzoom that I used for birding and taking photos of the moon was stolen. I hope that it found a good home and is being made good use of. I do not walk with my phone. I want to get a cheap digital camera to take on my walks. One that can connect to my mobile via wifi or bluetooth.

My scenery is limited but my creativity and imagination is limitless. Both things you need as a good photographer. Today I stare into this flower and I see myself. I see the cosmos. Carl Sagan said, "The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself." Today I asked myself the question, if this flower could talk to me, what would it say? But then I have come to realize that it has already spoken to me, else I would have nothing to write about in this chapter. Nature speaks to us. We just have to listen.
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