Not too long ago (well, some time before December 21st) I was researching the traditions of celebrating the winter solstice and as I was looking down the google results one of the page titles grabbed me – “The Light Returns”. Ok, I may have caught a lump in my throat. “The Light Returns”. I read a great quote by a phogotrapher named Moose Peterson on the Photoshop Insider blog recently.
“When it’s a cloudy, rainy day, the one thing we tend to long for is the sunshine. … During a power outage, our instinct is to instantly grab a flashlight and turn it on. We make fun of moths heading to the flame and going down in flames in the process, but we’re not so different. We love and are drawn to light in all its shades, colors, emotions and complexities. It’s a science we explore (and at times curse) every time we pick up the camera.”
And that is so very true for me! As a photographer I am obsessed with light. I get emotional about light. And when it’s gone, it affects me. The weather had been dismal since November, the rain and clouds seemed to stretch on indefinitely. The daylight we did get was painfully short and dimmed by clouds. No sun, no light.
Which is why, when I read about the winter solstice and it’s traditions my heart about jumped out of my chest. A celebration of what I look forward to every year, the days will grow longer again, the winter will end, the light will return!
I knew I had to have my own little celebration of the solstice, so I set my alarm and woke in the grayness of the pre-dawn.
The Light Returns!
Dyes Inlet. It was absolutely as still and serene as it looks.
Even as the clouds rolled in and it began to rain (again), having been up and photographing the beautiful stillness in the morning, and basking in the first light (light!), put me in the most amazing mood. I really ought to wake up early more often.
