why flare is good.

It all started with flare. No, not the “Office Space” kind of flare, but rather camera flare. Lens flare.

I posted an image on my blog that had what I thought was an endearing amount of flare but I wasn’t sure how anyone else would feel about it. And then I received a comment from a complete stranger who actually liked my flare. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, I went on to check out this commenter’s own blog. That’s when I knew I was in for something good. One of the first pages I visit on another photographer’s website is the “About Me” page so that’s where I was headed.  The first image I saw was of Sean Norman surrounded by blocks of ice. I immediately knew the photo had been taken in an ice hotel so I started exploring for more details. I had never actually known anyone who had been to an ice hotel! Every page was better than the next and I took each one in as my jaw dropped lower and lower. I closed Sean’s site completely inspired. And my coworkers can tell you about the small obsession I had with ice hotels for a few days there.

So for the past couple of weeks, I’ve gotten to know Sean of Norsea Photography through emails and blog notes and have found lots of inspiration just oozing off the screen each time I’ve checked out his images. Imagine my surprise when I was visiting my Google Reader yesterday morning and read Sean’s “Confessions From Behind the Glass” as he talked about using artificial light and the challenges that some of us have dreamed up about mastering lighting techniques. My jaw dropped just like the first time I’d visited his blog when saw the note he’d written about me.

I share my excitement here only because it gave me yet another jolt of energy about the world of photography that I am entering into and I’d love to have a record of that thrill here. I’m so glad to know that I’ll be working in such a generous and kind industry and that I’ll be able to meet all kinds of people – no matter how far away they are. So, thanks to Sean for the kind words and larger than life images. Here’s one I grabbed off of his blog. I bet it’ll make you look at the sky differently next time you see it!