This is part one of a project of photographing our small city garden for a year. Life without a car means living closer to home. At times we miss jumping into our old Subaru and heading out for a hike on the spur of the moment. But we’ve also loved the fact that we’ve learned to appreciate our neighborhood and our city at a slower pace. So rather than heading up to the Cascades or the Olympics for a photography tour, I stepped out my front door and into our garden, day after day. What a pleasure to visit such a small and beautiful world so intensely. On my knees or on my stomach, straining to get the tripod in just the right position.
I also hope that this exercise in extreme local travel will help make me a better world traveler. How often I’ve been thousands of miles away in an exotic location, only to have my eyes and ears not truly take it all in. Wasted opportunities passing me by.
The photos in the show were all taken in our small city garden with no flash or filters. Take some time to soak in the beauty, then go out and take a walk. Travel is a state of mind and is only a few steps away.
stunning!
Absolutely Beautiful!!!
[…] Willie Weir has been photographing his Beacon Hill garden all year as part of an “exercise in extreme local travel” — enjoying the sights close to home that we often overlook. He’s posted a gorgeous video collection of last spring’s photos on YouTube. […]
Beautiful Willie! Just the ticket for a couple of stay in the house today folks. It’s been raining cats and dogs here on the Oregon coast and your exquisite photography with musical accompaniment make for terrific, soothing viewing. Your macros, closeups and synchrozized transitions surely give one the feeling of traveling to another place, which is what it’s all about isn’t it?
Nice work, Willie! Thanks for sharing this idea and the beautiful photos with me and the world! Onward!