Why I love this picture: to see what I see

I've talked with several close friends and come to realize that everyone sees things differently.  (gasp!)  The way I see what I call 'beautiful' is in a stage of transformation.  I am finding that I don't enjoy perfection in a photograph as much as catching A Story within a frame.  When I see it, I want it to speak to my heart about something I felt in the moment.

Here is an example of my latest favorite picture. 

This one is unaltered and straight from the camera.  When Brandon was waiting while I was adjusting my camera settings, I happened to glance up and saw the aura of light surrounding him.  I literally stopped breathing, and whispered 'don't move!' 

I'd been studying how to catch light rays filled with color.  I knew how to set the camera to catch the blue sky as well as the green grasses closest to me.  What I couldn't predict was the pure, relaxed stance of my subject.  We'd been talking about his future plans and the life decisions that had to be made in a few short weeks.  He was taking a break from all the smiling and just pausing to think; his shoulders bowed slightly with the weight of responsibility he carried.

Do you remember the scene in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, where Beast is being lifted in the air, spinning with glorious bursts of light?  Up, up he rises, and with a final blinding flash, he is gently set to the ground and we discover that he's become the Prince.

Brandon is in metamorphosis; the process of leaving childhood and becoming a man.  In this image I see him surrounded by beams of light which set the clouds, the grass and his hair on fire.  The earth is at his feet, weighting him down; the sky is at his head lifting him up.  Bubbles of color are gently cascading over him bringing hope and promise of things to come.  

I am thrilled to have caught the moment in all its glory.  Do you see it too? 

Someone recently told me that I need to concentrate strictly on formal portraiture if I wanted to succeed.  That may be true, but more than money, I find the discovery of art in a common moment to be exceedingly rewarding.