Welcome to another week, another prompt. I think we’ll get a variety of responses this week as it’s a more open question. I’m looking forward to reading how you respond.
Just a reminder – each week, I’m sharing a prompt from my Kikki.K 3-year A Sentence A Day Journal and my response. The journal has space for three year’s worth of responses, so that you can compare your thoughts from one year to the next.
This week’s prompt: What’s your favourite topic of conversation.
It would probably not come as any surprise to many of you that I love to talk about photography. It’s something that I spend a lot of my spare time doing, so it naturally becomes something that I gravitate towards talking about. It has been through talking about photography that has led me to learn more about technique, to try different subjects, to brainstorm new ideas.
One of the best things to have come out of my my move to Melbourne has been me joining Instagrammers Melbourne and also two photography-based Facebook groups (thanks to Julz for introducing me to the FB groups). These three groups organize regular meet ups where a group of us get together at a specific place and go on a photo walk.
It’s a fantastic way to see the city, meet new people, and to feel completely comfortable talking about all things photography. I can’t do that with everyone. Actually, I can’t do that with most of my friends so it’s wonderful to have that opportunity. We usually end up at a cafe afterwards and spend an hour or more chatting about the day and about photography and life in general.
On the most recent one of these, we all collaborated on some ideas using props in our shots and we got some very cool photos as a result. You can see them on my Instagram @desleyjane. I will also share some of these photos in some upcoming posts.
It’s a subject that can lead you into many other topics of conversation. One of the girls and I became separated from the group on Saturday and we spent almost two hours chatting away as we wandered towards the final meeting place. We talked about photography at first – how we got into it and the things we like to shoot which led us into where we shoot and therefore where we grew up, family, background, life…
She told me, over coffee and a doughnut, that she loves to travel, travels often, and was in Paris during last year’s attacks. She described the anxiety and worry that she goes through every single day as a result of what she has been through. She is suffering from PTSD and is working her way towards being able to travel again. I get the feeling that her anxiety is lessened when she is behind the lens.
There is a calmness that envelopes me when I’m shooting. I don’t really worry about the shot, I don’t check the images, I just see the subject and shoot it. My fingers shift the dials on their own these days (or so it seems). I don’t really have to think about what I’m doing and so I can truly be”in it”.
See what I mean? It’s my favourite subject. What’s yours?
Here are my fellow contemplater’s favourite topics:
Julie Powell – Photographer and Graphic Artist
x desleyjane
Musings of a Frequent Flying Scientist 
I’d love to hear from you!