One of the most precious gifts is time. It’s important to build enough into schedules so we don’t have to rush. Time allows us to slow down, get into our right brain, and create better work. One way I use my time is being flexible and taking advantage of moments that wouldn’t have happened if the forces out of my control hadn’t stepped in. For example, one day at the end of summer I had three photoshoots scheduled on the same day. One in the morning in Leland, one in the afternoon also in Leland, and the last one was in the early evening in Northport, all at least 45 mins from my studio. I drove to the morning shoot and the wind was too strong to drone - so I drove to my afternoon shoot early. The second shoot was follow up shots for interior architecture. The client wanted a sunny day through the windows. When I arrived there was no sun and clouds had moved across the sky as far as the eye could see. So that was scrapped. The evening session was with a family and one of the parents is an executive that could only start at 4:30 pm. I had a huge gap in my day and needed to find a way to kill four hours. I grabbed some lunch, take out because of Corona, and drove to Northport. Once there I parked in the little downtown area to eat my soup and looked around at the storefronts lining the small street. There was an art gallery called The Painted Horse. It was small and connected to a small bookstore. Love art, love books, so I went in! I found the artist at work, painting in the front, when I walked in the door. He greeted me and we had a brief chat. I began to wander around and realized all the paintings in the gallery where his. They were amazing! He joined me in the back and we started talking again. The conversation was lovely, he told me about his life, his career in painting, his journey coming to Northport, he talked about his wife who owned the cute bookstore next door. It was refreshing to listen and not hurry the chat, I had time to give him my full attention and enjoy the slowness and the oil paint. He wasn’t moving fast. I think he mentioned he was in his late 70’s early 80’s and I downshifted to his speed.
I visited his wife’s book store and then headed back to my car to make a few calls. That was two hours down between lunch, art, and books. The wind was only increasing and the evening shoot was outdoor family portraits. The call I made was to the mother and we decided to reschedule. Instead of feeling the day had been a complete waste, and how much work I could have gotten accomplished if I hadn’t been here, I was grateful to have the time to be in beautiful Leland, meet the owner of the Painted Horse, and enjoy clam chowder from Knot Just A Bar for lunch. Since I was there I might as well go for a hike, so I drove up to the lighthouse and ventured down a dirt road where I parked my car and found some beautiful landscapes to photograph instead. The color was just starting to show and the leaves where beautiful.
Taking time, slowing down, and deep breaths allows us to appreciate where we are and the beautiful people and places around us. The work was rescheduled and shot in the following weeks successfully. I built in time between the shoots to take another hike.
