Stop. Observe. Instead of rushing everywhere, slow down and look deep inside the neighborhood that encompasses you. Behold the season, colors, dirt, light, sun, sky, rocks, flowers and birds. From the almost undetectable shadows to the vast panoramic mountain vistas, nature has provided a wonderment called life that we need to appreciate, admire, understand and protect. As a photographer, I simply try to capture and share it through the lens of my camera.
I was inflicted with wanderlust and the photography bug as a young child. Good fortune allowed my family to travel extensively in a single engine airplane throughout Canada and the United States. By the time I was a teenager, I had toured throughout a great deal of Western Canada and to over 30 states. Seeing so much of the continent from the air and ground sparked my desire to capture and share the journeys from this unique perspective.
The photography from my family's adventures became evenings filled with friends and family. Crowded around the living room, watching as slide after slide chronicled our latest trip, I did not at the time realize the impact that these journeys and evenings would have on me until many years later.
It was as an adult that I too, began to use the camera as a tool of trying to capture and share my journeys. Today, like a painter with a blank canvas, I use the viewfinder to seize the subtle differences a subject has. In the blink of an eye I can realign and refocus on the same subject, but come away with an entirely different end product.
Whether it is a day hike up a mountain valley or a visit to an exotic Asian city, I find capturing the journey's surroundings the highlight of the excursion. As simple mortal human beings, we are visitors to this wilderness called Earth. I believe that we are not placed here to impact and change it, but to observe, learn and exist.
Photographs really do speak a thousand words. I hope that the collage of photographs you see in my collection help you to listen and appreciate your surroundings, while understanding the unique fragility and beauty that exists within them.
Safe journeys,
Cheryl A. Goodwin
