I’ll be honest with you, there are many, many, many things I’m unable to do. There are plenty of things that I can do, but would LOVE to have the talent and ability to do better. Photography is one of those things. I think I get too caught up in watching everything at once (cats, squirrels, birds, butterflies, shiny things…), instead of focusing in on the subject.
Story. Of. My. Life.
I am completely fascinated with the art of photography, though, and would love nothing more than to take the sort of pictures that take people’s breath away.
The lady who is doing a guest post for us today doesn’t just take people’s breath away with her photography, she refuses to give it back. She has such an amazing and artistic eye – I could look at her photography all day. Sadly, if I went out and tried to emulate anything she does, I’d have such a mess that even the robins would laugh at me.
Her name is Mindy Friddle and she’s as gifted with the pen as she is the camera. I’m thrilled to have her as a guest blogger today and know you’ll love her words, as well as her photography which is included in the post.
Mindy Friddle’s first novel, The Garden Angel (St. Martin’s Press/Picador) was selected for Barnes and Noble’s Discover Great New Writers program in 2004, and was a National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition summer reading pick. Secret Keepers, her second novel, was published by St. Martin’s Press in May.
Mindy lives, writes, and gardens in Greenville, South Carolina where she directs the Writing Room, a community-based nonprofit program she founded in 2006. She often posts photographs of her garden on her blog Novel Thoughts: Musings on Reading, Writing & the Earth.
Secret Keepers by Mindy Friddle
When I’m at my laptop working, when an impending deadline is breathing down my neck, the best way for me to get some focus–pardon the pun– is to take a few minutes and step outside with my camera. Although I don’t consider myself a photographer–have had absolutely no training– I love capturing images in the outdoors with my digital camera and sharing them on my blog.
Along with writing and gardening, photography is a way to lose my sense of self. And I mean that in a good way. There’s no pressure about how a picture will “turn out”– no ends to a means. I just focus on what’s in front of me–usually in the front-yard garden: a pitcher plant, a bed of sunflowers, a bluebird at the feeder. There’s always a lot going on out there– the St. John’s Wort is covered in bees, the swallowtail’s wings fanning back and forth on the yarrow, a black snake sunning itself. Last week, as I stood snapping a few photos of the bee balm in full bloom, a hummingbird zipped right up to me, RIGHT up to me– hovering there for the longest time, as if she were posing.
Behind the camera, you have to be still and alert. Your mind quiets. You witness the world through a lens that isn’t you– it’s more than you. And for me there’s an element of surprise in how the photographs differ from how I thought they’d look. The crowd of sunflowers look like they’re laughing once I see them on my computer screen. Who would have thought? I take it as a reminder of perspective, of the many, many ways of looking at the world.
When the publisher of my second novel, SECRET KEEPERS, requested some ideas about the book cover, I sent them a few photographs from my garden, pictures I thought captured the mischievous “ruined finery” of the novel. I was shocked when I opened up the image of the new book cover to find my publisher had selected a photograph I’d sent them. Those boot “planters” on the cover of SECRET KEEPERS are still on my front porch. I like to think they keep me down to earth.
———-
SECRET KEEPERS: strong storytelling, comic touches, prickly family dynamics, and the magical power of nature.
St. Martin’s Press
Read an excerpt at www.mindyfriddle.com
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When my writing isn’t going well I bake. My family appreciates it–my waistline not so much. I think when things aren’t going so well it’s the idea of completing something, anything, even folding laundry that allows you to say to yourself, “I have DONE something.”
I’ll have to buy both of these books! Are they on amazon? The photos are so beautiful, thanks for sharing. It makes me want to be a photographer and makes me want a garden.
I’ve gotten a few e-mails from people wanting to know the best place to buy Mindy’s books. I’ve been sending people to the order page on her website (http://mindyfriddle.com/order.html).
They are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Polly, aren’t the photographs just gorgeous?!