amateur photography: i'm learning

The photo directly below, taken recently in my neighborhood, was included in sfgirlbybay's blog today, which I was thrilled about because I like reading the blog for decor & shopping news, general inspiration, or just to see a pretty photo to break up the monotony of my day job. The grittiness and grime of this doorway actually makes it quite lovely.



When I took the photo, my intent was to make this diptych:



On that particular day, I was noticing how everyone's iron work and gates were so different and I started taking pictures of the patterns.



I liked, in particular, these two sunbursts.



In an undergrad playwriting class, we used to take walks as a writing exercise - to train ourselves to notice the details of our surroundings, and to test our levels of observation. I find, when I'm looking that closely, I see a lot of beauty.