Day 1 Writing Prompt | Autumn Lookbook

Describe the last photo you took.

It’s early evening, and rain has just passed through and the golden glow of evening light is a welcome sight. As I’m tending dinner, the light shifts through the window in the back garden and catches my attention. Imagining the glowing water droplets on the fall flowers is enough to pull me from my task and grab my camera. For a change of pace, I place a vintage Helios lens on my camera and the requirement of manual adjustments move me slowly and intentionally, a process I enjoy from time to time.

Slipping on a pair of shoes and grabbing my camera, I head out the back door and take in the evening light. It’s dancing through the elderberry that sits near the back door, the autumn-toned petunias on my bistro table, the tiny pumpkin I had set there the day prior. I start there. Click. Click. I take in the various layers of the garden, observing how the light and water are playing together, how the light breeze is gently creating movement here and there. Click.

I walk between the two borders, snapping a shot every minute or so before ending at the arbor where containers of freshly planted fall mums are just starting to bloom. Click. Short lived fall blooms, mums remind me of my grandmother and the brief, yet beautiful, transition as summer fades to autumn to winter. I look down as the sun streams in through the garden border to my left, through the rose covered arbor, and onto the top of the burgundy-colored blooms. Mostly tight buds waiting to open, no visible sign of rain, just an interesting color and texture combination. Click. The last photo before I go inside to excitedly look at the images I’d just taken. A desire to engage and immerse myself into the season has brought me to this new project: a daily writing prompt that I created (inspired by hope writers) as a way to viscerally connect with the way photographer’s see the world around them.

You can find more on the Autumn Lookbook along with photo and writing prompts here. I also made a short film of the garden walkthrough.