Finding the Right Point of Focus

LUMIX G9 with 14-140mm lens

Sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have that we fail to see,
appreciate and use what we do have.
Jeff Dixon

by Skip Cohen

​It's Sunday, and I'm always off the topic of business and marketing, but this morning it was especially tough. In an effort to think through something to write about, I took a break, which lasted almost an hour. I grabbed my LUMIX G9 and went outside to photograph the Florida Powder Puff bush that's in bloom on the side of the house.

Well, two things happened. First, I was struck by the contrast around each flower. New buds yet to bloom waited their turn in line behind those in full bloom and those already long gone. Each cluster represented three generations. And as each flower died, the color changed to a muddy purple, then brown, and then waited to fall to the ground.

Second was my focus and composition. I love playing with depth of field, and while this isn't meant to be an infomercial for the G9, it's a kick to shoot with. When you're the client, the specs are whatever your heart desires. Plus, once I uploaded the images, the next challenge was composition and what I wanted to crop and share.

Stay with me because I have a point beyond being hokey and a little trite...

We've been hunkered down for over nine months in a state of sensory deprivation when it comes to contact with family and friends. By the time we finally get our turn in line for the vaccine and are comfortable getting back out, it's going to be a year. Our lives have changed, and our depth of field has become so narrow consisting of Sheila, me, and two pups. Yet, just outside our point of focus, friends, family, restaurants and life as we knew it are all there waiting. And everybody is in the same boat.

And there's my point - we all have the power to select our point of focus. As simplistic as it sounds, the whole exercise this morning got me thinking about the future and the pure joy of getting back to a level of normalcy. I've spent too much time thinking about the freedom we've lost and forgetting to appreciate and be grateful for everything we still have.

I've mentioned many times in the past how Sunday Morning Reflections is often written for my own benefit - well, welcome to my self-induced therapy session this morning. Everything we do and have needs to be kept in perspective, and to Jeff Dixon's quote above, it's sometimes hard to stay focused on what we all still have.

Wishing everybody a day of focus and time to appreciate everyone in your life rather than the frustration of what we've dealt with since March. It's all going to come back, and in the end, each of us will be stronger and more appreciative of so many little things we took for granted.

Happy Sunday...or Monday to my friends on the other side of the world.

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