There are several different meanings of the word “Zen”, but my personal intepretation is “quietude” or “simplicity”. After a week of frantically rushing around with my Nikon, chasing the light and dodging the rain, I decided not to use the camera today. Instead, I decided to print out a few of the shots that I’ve made this week, so I drained two ink cartridges in my HP printer when I printed three 8-1/2-by-11 inch color photos (the cartridges were almost empty before I started). The prints came out pretty well, so of course I decided to put them in frames (which I didn’t have on hand).
So of course I went shopping for new ink cartridges and picture frames–getting less Zen-like by the minute. On the way to Sam’s Club, I was delighted to see snow on the peaks of several of the mountains north of Phoenix. At least, I was delighted until I realized that I didn’t have my Nikon with me. But in a conscious decision to live in the moment and roll with the flow, I decided not to turn around and drive home to get my camera, but to make do with my Blackberry’s 3.2MP camera. Instead of going straight to Sam’s, I drove further north into an area where I’ve never been, and discovered a beautiful part of the north valley that I would never have discovered if I had stayed in the parking lot of Sam’s Club and used my telephoto lens on the Nikon. Somewhere along 83rd Avenue, north of Happy Valley Road, I found a place to pull off on the side of the road, and took this shot with my Blackberry:
You have to look close, but you can definitely see the snow on top of the mountain in the distance. If you live here in the Phoenix area, you understand how rare this sight is, so I’m glad I was able to capture it, even if it was with my Blackberry!
To everyone who visited my blog this week, I hope you’ll come back soon and visit again. I was truly surprised and humbled to have been chosen as one of WordPress.com’s featured blogs this week, and my hit count has been fantastic. I hope you’ll subscribe and follow along with me as I try to not only improve my photography skills, but use my camera to help me live in the moment and appreciate the beauty and wonder of the world right in front of me.
Namaste!
the Zen of Zann 
Hey, Zann (I have a friend who goes by that same name only with one fewer “n”). I found your blog as a featured blog. I, too, just bought a D5000 and am trying to teach myself about photography. Luckily you have a knowledge of film photography so you don’t have quite as far to go as I do. At times I feel very overwhelmed with the whole thing. I’ll definitely be a regular follower of yours.