vision

The first assignment for Kim Klassen's Beyond Beyond year-long class, and I'm actually on time.

A simple assignment such as this - one subject + several shots/settings/views - made it irresistible to me: I just had to get out my camera and shoot something. No time for over thinking..."Think YOU," she said...so I grabbed the first thing I thought of.

Kim's thoughts about being in the moment also resonated with me. It seems I am always trying to squeeze in a swim workout or a bike ride. So I pondered this part of the assignment as I swam my laps Thursday morning before work. It's pretty hard not to be in the moment when you are swimming, especially just as you get into the water (my least favorite part of the whole routine). Once I am warmed up and gliding through the water it becomes a soothing, insular, other-worldly experience. Oh, I stop now and again to catch my breath, wipe the fog from my goggles and adjust my earplugs, sometimes chatting briefly with the swimmer in the lane next to me. But it's mostly just me and the water. And the breathing. And my thoughts.

Swimming is for me a meditative, contemplative, often visionary experience - and a great way to start my day. I often climb out of the water with a great idea or some sense of clarity on some subject in my life.

Or at the very least, peace in my soul.

***

Pretty simple post-processing here: I imported about 30 shots into Lightroom, where I culled it down to three, which I fine-tuned a bit and cropped into squares in the Develop module and arranged into a custom Print Module layout. Then I applied a couple RadLab filters: Contrast and Highlight Separator at about 50%. Then I edited in Photoshop, applying two layers of Kim's kk_chill texture - at 60%Soft Light and 20% Multiply blend modes.

xoxo
Cindy