The Big Picture

Oh.
I used the word "BIG".
A word that frustrated and annoyed me so much last week, after hearing politicians using the word excessively.

I'm in a peculiar mood.

The moon was low and a wonderful colour. So I went out to get my shot. Got set up (ten minutes from home) only to figure out that I had left my memory card in my computer. Back home. Card. Back out. Bit of muttering along the way ("stupid bloody woman, schoolboy error, always check the basics" etc etc) and I set up my shot again. By the time I had got back, the moon seemed to have shrunk somewhat and my glorious shot had pretty much gone.

I left after wazzing of 30 shots at various time settings, after nearly being run over by a bus and being observed as though I were engaging in major acts of a criminal nature ( I was stood in a railway station carpark, wearing dark clothes, a "Halo Reach" hoodie, carrying a camera with big 500mm lens and a tripod - not suspicious in the slightest). It was cold and I was paranoid.

When cropping I decided that I had maybe one too many moon shots with square crops, trying to get the scale of it. So I decided to be different, fill the shot with the black, cold, empty sky and position the moon top left. Maybe a little symbolic of needing a light or something to look towards to give us a bit of hope. I don't know.

I also thought it representative of discussions I have been engaged in today, about seeing things in isolation and seeing the bigger picture. It is easy to criticise, or indeed, not accept criticism, when we don't have all of the facts at our disposal. The thumbnail could have been anything. Observers could have commented on what an utterly rubbish image - they might still do - but it's not until you've seen the whole that you can make a genuine judgement on the individual components. It's a tough thing to avoid doing though at times.

All day I have followed the rescue of the Chilean miners. Along with so many of us, I know that I am full of respect for the dignity and composure with which these men are arriving on the surface after such an ordeal. I am struck by the massive achievement of the rescuers, but more so by the extraordinary sense of faith and hope that the miners and their families have displayed since August 5th. It's watching events such as this unfold that I do understand how other people hold such Faith in God. Today is a day for optimism, to be inspired by the strength and courage of others, a day where our lives are touched by events thousands of miles away and where I think hope, faith, love and joy are very much signified by the 33 men who will, I hope, all be safe on the surface by the time I get up tomorrow morning.

James has spent the day in school working and watching the rescue unfold, as the school decided it was such a significant world event that the children should be encouraged to watch it develop. I'm grateful that he was able to, and that since he has come home, he has been continuing to watch. I can almost sense him willing it to be OK. That he has had an opportunity to learn, about the details of the mine, the accident, the engineering etc and has been able to produce art work that represents the situation I think is wonderful. I'm jealous that there is such flexibility in his environment.