January 10

Failure is an avenue for gratitude. Failure allows ample room for grace. Failure is frustrating, sometimes painful, embarrassing, always humbling. It is through failure lie the best chance for growth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated: Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

I experience failure often in my photography so I will use different camera settings and take many shots. I check my histogram and monitor after shooting for lighting, focus and depth of field. When I upload my images on my computer I am hopeful that I nailed it on some images. Often I notice a problematic area, and if it is a doozy ,it can cause me to question my reason for photography. Then if I am not careful the negative floodgates open.

This week the clouds and light were exceptional one day so I went out with high hopes to Red Rocks. Here in this image the 'failure' was fixable and cropping came in handy to eliminate the sunspot and purple glare. Next time I will have a better chance to eliminate the occurrence of these. This is my best and surest route to mastery for I am one who learns best from trial and error (the hard way!)

Failures make successes all the sweeter for when I nail an image I am flooded with gratitude. It is my wish here that on your next failure remember to be kinder to yourself and get back up and try again.
There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Peace.