The Way I See

It's such an interesting experience, coming back to the place I was before with all the changes I've had since leaving.

It's been a while since we've been home, almost 20 months. Before leaving for New York, I'd spent almost all of my life living in the midwest. Day in and day out I saw the same country roads, same country farms, same small towns, same signs, same rundown buildings and weathered barns. But for me, so much has changed since I left. I see so differently now.

And even though I know this place from years of living here, I am seeing so differently. I know there are multiple reasons for this. One, I now live in the largest city in our country instead of my small country midwest town. My life is literally worlds away from the life I lived before. Two, I literally see better now. I don't think I realized how much I didn't see before, how I took for granted the world that surrounded me. Photography has helped improve my ability to see.

Right now is really the first chance I've had to sit down and just be. With my brother's wedding and family and taking photos and friends, I've been running and running non-stop since we flew in. Saturday morning I was up early to meet the bride and start the day of photo taking. We had stayed on my brother's farm, which used to belong to my great grandparents. He'd just moved in right about the time I was moving to New York. I was the only one up, and when I came outside and saw the fog muting the morning, I knew that I had to capture it, the gray mist of the morning. I wanted to capture the weathered farm, the old equipment that has seen years of work.