Leave something to the imagination
The best photographs always leave something to the imagination; they leave us wondering and thinking and wishing and “What iffing.” It’s the same with a good book or an engaging film or a compelling poem.
Anything that shows everything and leaves nothing to the imagination tends toward the boring and predictable. As human beings we love to think, to dream, to wonder, to create, to imagine.
Thoreau wrote, “The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon…and the middle-aged man builds a woodshed with them.”
Some of my favorite images have been taken with this notion to leave something to the imagination. As a photographer, my job is not just to document or capture what is there; it’s to help us see and experience in our mind’s eye that which is hidden just behind the curtain, just beyond the horizon. It’s to prompt us to imagine the possible, to wonder. Above all else, I want my photographs to help us dream and hope and wish.
“Fireflies in fairy tales, shooting stars and wishing wells.”
Over a decade ago I ran across this phrase and to this day I still love the way it sounds, the way it moves across the page, the picture that it paints. It just drips of innocence and imagination and hope and possibilities.
When we’re little wishing is a way of life. Blowing candles out on birthday cakes, pulling a part wishbones, finding four leaf clovers in the front yard, chasing falling leaves, and catching snowflakes on our tongue were all ways we tried to influence wishes to come true.
We’d look up into the night sky, close our eyes, and breathe out the words, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”
But even today, years removed from childhood, rarely do I pass a wishing well without scrounging in my pocket for a penny or a dime or a quarter to toss. And even today, I love coming home late on a cold winter’s night, getting out of the truck, and just standing in the driveway looking up at the stars, “Star light, star bright.”
At Beaufort Photography Co. we want to help you see your dreams, experience your wishes, and breathe in the wonder. If you’re searching for a Crystal Coast photographer to capture your engagement or wedding, I hope you’ll contact us soon.
“Like fireflies in fairy tales, like shooting stars and wishing wells, like happy endings rising after the storm. I know we were meant to fly, I know there’s a reason why, we held onto the dream inside and never let it go.”