Things that make me happy - Part Two

Travelling

There is nowhere in this world that I would not like to go. The planet and it's vastness, it's legion of cultures and tribes, it's gargantuan wildernesses and sprawling urban jungles. I haven't done nearly enough globetrotting yet, but I intend to explore this earth until either I've seen it all, or I die, whichever comes first :)
If I could have one superpower, it would be the ability to fly. To take to the skies when the fancy took hold, to look down on the world, to swoop above the oceans and feel the spray on my face, to glide over cities at night and marvel at the lights and shadows and the tiny people going about their lives. At a fairly young age, I realised this was possibly not going to happen. And so I moved along to the next best thing.... airplanes! This seemed slightly more within my reach, so I decided to make the compromise.
My parents got married in the pocket sized, but beautiful chapel beside Dublin Airport in 1973. At that time, and even during my childhood visits, the chapel seemed quite a distance from the terminal and was surrounded by a quaint, pretty garden. (It is now part of the car park and has lost it's charm.) Sunday was always 'family day' when I was growing up. We always went somewhere... walks in the mountains, vintage car rallies, markets, and quite often, the airport. There was always a visit to the chapel, a bite to eat in the airport cafe, and then my favourite part... the plane watching, either from the terminal windows (in those days you were allowed to move about airports a lot more freely, so we could sit beside departure gates and watch the passengers get on and off, the re-fuelling, the taxiing... all the day to day operations of an airport) or from outside the terminal, beside the runway. I loved it. From the approach to the airport when the smell of the airplane fuel would infiltrate the car, to watching the passengers enviously, wondering where they were going to or coming from, the intercom announcements you can never understand, the luggage belts, the hustle and bustle and the roar of the jet engines.
My love of airports hasn't dwindled at all. I didn't actually get on a plane until 2004. But when I did, it didn't disappoint. I don't think I slept a wink the night before.... a 40 minute flight to London was the most exciting thing in my world! I knew I'd love it, and I did.... so much so that when we got to Heathrow I was high as a kite from the adrenalin and I would have done it all again in an instant.
Since then, I have been to Amsterdam, Budapest, Malaga and Morocco, all absolutely remarkable experiences. And even from those few places, I have seen things I thought only existed in dreams. We are lucky to be able to go to Spain quite often and Marbella has become a kind of exquisite sanctuary for me. A place that now feels like home from home, safe, elysian; and I treasure every minute I get to spend there. I adore Spain. I've never been a 'sit by the pool all day' traveller. I have an intense need to explore wherever I am. I will go as far as I can by bus to see as many different parts of a country as I can, and I have done this with Spain. The reasons I love Spain probably won't be the ones you'd expect, but that post is for another day! We are flying to Malaga next week for a few blissful days of peaceful sleep and no worrying. So I intend to write while I'm there*, and try to explain why Spain, it's people and it's culture enthrall and seduce me so much.  


*October 2011 - This post is coming soon, I promise!! (better late than never right?!)

Things that make me happy - Part One

I haven't been around much lately. But having no followers, I'm assuming my absence wasn't mourned too much!!
I have the most amazing friends in the world, especially a pair called Hestia and Klement. These may or may not be their 'actual' names. Anyway, Hestia has the most fantastic blog.... she writes like I think. We share many of the same views, loves, hates and attachments. She has just posted a blog about things that make her happy, little things that always raise her spirits and make her smile. So Hestia and I being so alike, I got inspired... her post made me happy! It's been far too long since I posted here, and I have decided that I am going to make a number of posts, all based on a similar theme; the things that make me happy.

Life is chaos and things rarely have a definite order or ranking in my life. So there is no 'Number One Thing In The Known Universe' that makes me smile. There are many, so as they come to me, or as I experience them; I will write.

So here's the first thing that comes to mind.... Photography.

Not a huge shock to anyone who knows me I'm sure. My Dad was an amazing photographer, skilled in the art of manual cameras and old style development. He had hundreds of 'slides' that we used to sit and watch together and he taught me so much of what I know about the skill it takes to make a great photograph. Ansel Adams (one of the most amazing photographers of all time) said that you don't take a photograph, you make one. And that thought has always stayed with me. There isn't a big difference between creating a masterpiece on canvas and the induction of light, form, framing, observation and composition of a well taken photograph.
Sadly, my Dad passed away when I was only 12 years old, and though I remember his passion for photography and a lot of the tips he gave me, I wish I'd had more time with him to cultivate the same techniques he used.
I rarely go anywhere without my camera. I was so lucky to be able to get a beautiful Nikon SLR camera last year and it has been my absolute pride and joy ever since. I don't subscribe to the theory that having a good camera makes you a better photographer.... some believe that having the most expensive equipment, brand named of course, with all the trimmings, automatically puts them in a higher league, and if they're being paid for their work, they inevitably charge more when their equipment is upgraded. Some of my favourite photos were taken with my old manual camera, or any of the following digital cameras I have owned, even a few on my phone's camera. What makes a photo special has nothing at all to do with the camera, and everything to do with the person standing behind it.
 So why does it make me happy? The things I love about photography are many....way too many to list them all. But primarily, it's the creation, the artistic pleasure of seeing something taken from the world, transferred through the lens and out the other side. I see art everywhere, in the simplest things. When I look around me, I'm looking at shapes, light, perspective, tiny detail, colours and arrangement. I see beauty in everything. I am interested in everything. Things that move, things that don't, shapes of clouds, architecture, human expressions and moments, sneaky shots of real personality when the subject doesn't know I'm there. 
I love it when I just know that I have captured something special, something that can't be recreated. I love the response a photo gets when the subject sees themselves in a real way, a self affirming realization that awkward, staged photos reveal nothing of the person's essence. I love capturing that essence, and I love the fact that I can make people realise that real art can show one's soul (for want of a better word), the thing that makes them who they are and who they feel inside. Mister high end, over-priced camera man with his truck-load of equipment will never understand that kind of joy.
I adore animals - stay tuned for the upcoming episode of "The Things That Make Me Happy", that describes my absolute beguilement with the natural world. I absolutely relish any opportunity to take photos of animals. Of course, wild animals are in a class of their own, and those opportunities don't occur too often. But I am equally happy to take a great photo of a dog/cat/butterfly/horse that gives the viewer an idea of not only what the animal looks like, but what makes them the wonderful living miracle that they are. Seeing the smile on someone's face when I've taken a portrait of their pet and really captured them, really given them something that they cherish, well that makes me happy!
I love taking photos of anything and everything.... natural beauty or man made, tiny macros or panoramic landscapes, portraits, flowers, the changing seasons, unusual light and detail.... anything goes really.
 And maybe the number one reason why I love photography is because of how it makes me feel. I have been drawing, sketching, painting, designing and taking photos for as long as I can remember. I feel an almost childlike joy when I'm creating something. I love art in all it's forms and whether it's a paintbrush, charcoal or camera, when I am being creative, I am ME. I suppose being an artist is something that makes me proud, because it's all I've ever wanted to be. I feel it makes me who I am, and after years of having to somewhat subdue my creativity to make ends meet, it makes me smile now, to think that I am defined as who I really am. I have confidence in my photographic skills but in very little else in the real world. I am shy and awkward; self conscious and self critical. But photography is one thing I think I really do have a talent for, so with camera in hand, I can talk to a room full of people or a shy little child and be perfectly confident that I can be professional and get the right photo. I don't think that's arrogant and I hope I don't come across that way. Everyone has something that makes them feel like the absolute best version of themselves, and this is mine.