Carpe Diem

About a year ago I was working on a project for my Color Theory class and drove by an amazing old barn. I thought, “I have to use this somehow.” The next day I went back and had a magic moment; I captured one of my favorite images.

Look familiar?

This was the most beautiful barn ever. It was ragged and the paint was stripping off the sides. I had big hopes for taking people out there and doing some surreal portraits. But when I drove by a week ago my heart sunk. This is what the barn looks like now.

While I might not have gotten around to shooting there a second time; I’m so happy I was able to get the image I did. One of the best and worst things about photography is that you are capturing a brief moment in time. No two images are ever the same. You can try your best to recreate a photograph, but it can never be exactly duplicated. As photographers we have to learn to capture the moment while it’s there.

Henri Cartier-Bresson is widely known for his photographs that seem to capture the moment that we miss when we blink; he called this the “decisive moment”. Here is one of my favorite photographs of Cartier-Bresson:

Every photographer longs to perfect this art, myself included. When I saw that my pretty old barn had been “revamped” for more practical use I realized that I need to take advantage of every situation. I had planned to take more photos in front of the barn, but procrastination got the best of me.

From here on out I will be better about taking advantage of time. I don’t want to have another missed opportunity. And who knows, maybe I will channel Henri and capture a moment in between moments…

There is a new week ahead and I’ve got some diem to carpe!