Oh I wish I could write like Bruce DeBoerg. Bruce’s blog is named Permission to Suck.
Here is a portion of his blog entry I read this morning (after I shot the two photos below).
Blog entry: The Space Between Your Notes
Thu, Dec 17, 2009
“Music is the space between the notes” – Claude Debussy
“I thought of this quote before discovering someone much more intelligent said it first. I was at a show listening to bluegrass virtuosos play so fast that it was hard to discern a space between notes. It made me realize that there was only one interpretation possible. There were no spaces for me to think or feel anything but the energy of their content.
Allow me to share a favorite quote came from my recent interview with guitar great Will McFarlane: “It took me 10 years to learn how to play something vaguely interesting and the next 15 learning what to leave out.” Notes give direction but it’s the spaces that allow you to project feeling into a composition. Odds-on, this is where “less is more” originated.
Spaces give us time to anticipate, but what are those expectations exactly? Perhaps answers to equations, our soul’s rhythm, or a simple desire to return home, but to be sure, the more we experience, the more we tend to anticipate outcome. In turn, this leaves room for surprise; the unanticipated conclusion. Spaces between notes are like the unresolved questions; we search for direction and probe for answers.
Then again, unlike performing arts and film, the studio arts and photography have no external timeline. The spaces are created by holding back information – we consume the first ten years discovering how, and the next 15 learning what to obscure.
A color photograph taken at eye level and displayed actual size with infinite detail and accuracy for the scene may inspire through technical proficiency, but there is little room for interpretation. “This is a near exact replica of the scene, isn’t it lifelike?” A photograph summed up in this way risks being quickly dismissed.
It takes courage to allow others to interpret your work but that is where emotions reside; in the spaces between the notes. Make a statement then allow space for interpretation; too many answers create myopic works. Passion is heightened when we find obscured spaces or silence allowing us time to emote; The notes manipulate and the spaces allow feelings……………..”

The following photos are not in focus (obviously:-), are cropped and tweaked, and most importantly, not what I had hoped for when I clicked the shutter using the new Sigma telephoto lens in pre-sunrise light. But I liked them and didn’t know why. They just seem to have more emotion than my regular shots. I thought for sure Ray would poo poo the shots when I asked him for feedback. He usually dislikes any photo that is not in focus or is somewhat abstract,  leaving the viewing to imagination. But he liked the photos too.

So I uploaded the photos to WordPress to place on my blog this morning but because I can’t stay with one thing for very long as I’m most easily distracted,  I found myself reading the blog entry above from Permission to Suck. Synchronicity at work I believe.  These are the spaces between my notes.

I was ready for the geese to fly. Not want I'd hoped for, but I'm happy.

I'm learning how close I can get before they fly off.

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