Unspoiled by Bodhi Smith

Aug 23, 2019

"unspoiled" a new impression from bodhi smith...
 
"when you see her unspoiled beauty for the first time, you realize that's why you came this way afterall in the first place" ― bodhinku, unspoiled
 
“mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways”  ― oscar wilde, the picture of dorian gray
 
“look past your thoughts, so you may drink the unspoiled nectar of this moment" ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi  
-------------------
 
MEANING
this magical place, this waterfall in the somewhere in the middle of nowhere ohio...it so deeply captivated me and filled me with a peaceful joy, i just had to sit there, cross-legged and barefoot, sitting atop years and years of fallen pine needles, in the summer heat, cooled in the belly of of this forest, with my doggie sitting right beside me, enjoying the moments, making each moment count...unspoiled, purely and truly.
 
this impression is from the big month long and over 11,000 mile trip i made this past july 2019 with my new pup, on a journey of self discovery and personal reflection...my goal was to find places that have not been photographed much, if at all, by other photographers and professionals...i was seeking to experience in beauty that was unspoiled, in its natural state, such as with this pristine waterfall you are viewing in my image today...there is such a joy in seeing things for the first time, experiencing them as they always have been in nature in their unspoiled splendor, just being, belonging in the moment...ahhhh
 
so much beauty to take in...and always so much more beautiful and mystical, with the unspoiled these days all disappearing so fast, like a final frontier...seeing unspoiled nature before all the hordes of photographers and developers swoop in and ruin everything with there own egos and lust for money or notoriety...
 
"the evils of ego devour the soul with darkness, destroy all hope, and eat away at any chance of experiencing the pure beauty of a glowing, unspoiled love" ― bodhinku, hopelessly unspoiled  

 “body of earth, don't talk of earth
tell the story of unspoiled mirrors
the creator has given you this splendor--
why talk of anything else?” ― jalaluddin rumi, the soul of rumi
 
“purify your eyes, and see the unspoiled world.  your life will fill 
with radiant forms.” ― jalaluddin rumi, poems of ecstasy and longing 
-------------------  
 
MORE MEANINGFUL QUOTES
“the love that guides me is like water.  it flows, it is unspoiled, and it takes away the thirst for home, because love is home” ― jamila hammad, shake like a mad drum 

“we’re sure of just one thing: everybody in the world was once a child. So we don’t think of grown-ups, and we don’t think of children. but instead focus just on that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us, that maybe the world has made us forget” ― walt disney
 
“heaven was a lovely, unspoiled earth-like world; what earth might have been like if men had treated her with compassion instead of lust” ― joe haldeman, the forever war 
 
“i watched the surrounding landscape with great curiosity, and i wanted to discover the words that could describe all its unspoiled beauty" ― daniel j. rice, the unpeopled season
 
“to the unspoiled, even a snake-bite is a loving kiss...but to the spoiled, even a loving kiss is a snake bite" ― mikhail naimy, the book of mirdad
 
“the chief beauty about time
is that you cannot waste it in advance.
the next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you,
as perfect, as unspoiled,
as if you had never wasted or misapplied
a single moment in all your life.
you can turn over a new leaf every hour
if you choose” ― arnold bennett, how to live on 24 hours a day  
 
“this is now. now is this. don’t postpone till then. spend the spark of iron on stone. sit at the head of the table. dip your spoon in the bowl. seat yourself next to your joy and have your awakened soul pour wine. be branches in the spring wind, be the easy dance of jasmine and cypress. don't you see? cloth for green robes has been cut from pure absence. you’re the tailor, settled among his shop goods, quietly sewing”― jalaluddin rumi, poems of ecstasy and longing 
 
“she flutters among the flowers, chasing the last rays of sunlight until her haven is swallowed up by the night. her sisters are asleep now, hidden under the fronds, but she doesn't care. she dances alone in the twilight, embracing the warmth of the golden hour, her wings sweeping past silky petals of the late summer blooms. in the safe cocoon of her garden, she dares believe that no harm will ever enter the gates. this is her world of beauty and peace, of sweet nectar and life, completely unspoiled by the footsteps of ruin, or the silent mockery of time.” ― melanie dobson, shadows of ladenbrooke manor  
 
“once upon a time, we all walked on the golden road. it was a fair highway, through the land of lost delight; shadow and sunshine were blessedly mingled, and every turn and dip revealed a fresh charm and a new loveliness to eager hearts and unspoiled eyes. on that road, we heard the song of morning stars; we drank in fragrances aerial and sweet as a may mist; we were rich in gossamer fancies and iris hopes; our hearts sought and found the boon of dreams; the years waited beyond and they were very fair; life was a rose-lipped comrade with purple flowers dripping from our fingers....we may long have left the golden road behind, but its memories are the dearest of our eternal possessions" ― l.m. montgomery, the golden road  
 
“it’s best to keep america always in the background, a sort of picture post card which you look at in a weak moment. like that, you imagine it’s always there waiting for you, unchanged, unspoiled, but instead it is a big patriotic open space with cows and sheep and tenderhearted men ready to bugger everything in sight, man, woman or beast. It doesn’t exist, america. it’s a name you give to an abstract idea…” ― henry miller, tropic of cancer  
 
"there is such an unfortunate irony in photography these days. for as people pursue desires to visit and capture images of unspoiled landscapes. they inadvertently in the process turn these beautiful locations into anything but unspoiled, regardless of ideals of conservation. and more-so, so many ruin natural beauty by exploiting these magical places with their greed and dreams of success, and regrettable egos with overdeveloped look-at-me-syndromes...sadly sometimes, for so many of us, now the only way today to truly protect an unspoiled place is to not share its beautiful photo or location with anyone, anymore" ― bodhinku, the irony of photos  
-------------------  
 
ABOUT THE IMPRESSION
with this being an image composition of a semi-long exposure time, a stable and sturdy tripod was an absolute necessity in order to keep the image sharp in the places i wanted sharpness (i use selective focus on most of my images, similar to the way our eyes see things).... for this i used a dolica 70" carbon fiber tripod....for me, this shot would never have been possible without my friends daniel and april at dolica tripods.

in my photography i always use filters to create longer exposure effects and to balance the light in my composition in camera...i often use as many as four filters at time, and i always use at least one filter...in the case with this image, to get the effects and balance i was looking for, i needed to use two filters...and for this, i chose to use the amazing 3.0nd progrey antarctica magnetic filter (and holder) to slow down the exposure 10 stops and soften the waterfall and saturate the blues and greens more, plus in combination with the 1.2gnd progrey genesis filter to help balance in-camera overall the image the way i envisioned it, as the very top right corner of the image was much brighter with thinner trees letting more light into the forest, about 4 stops brighter than the rest of the darker parts of the image composition...
 
i wish to openly thank my sponsors who have always supported me through both the good and bad times...for truly this semi-long exposure impression would not be possible without the use of my trusty dolica tripod in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use with every photo i take...
 
"she flows down from the sky
and comes out of the ground
in a wild and innocent spring,
unspoiled,
which bubbles and babbles
and gathers into a creek,
to flow through the forest,
unspoiled,
dancing in twist after turn,
falling down rock walls
and catching her breath
in aquamarine pools below,
playing with reflections of all the trees,
flowing on and on and on,
unspoiled,
across, over, between, and down
rocks, roots, and pine needles,
as she nourishes everything
around her she touches
with her love,
 
"contemplate without thinking. stop the world. slow down everything. shut off the noise. relax. seize this moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colors of light that envelope you. see the melody and harmony that floats about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence within your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith. this is my world. awaken." ― bodhinku, my world
 
above all else as always, i hope this message and image find you well.

namaste,
bodhi
-------------------------------------------------

please visit me at:
http://www.bodhismith.com
http://www.instagram.com/bodhismith
http://www.facebook.com/Bodhi.Impressions

#dolica #tripod #progreyusa #nikon #d810 #lowepro #longexposure #ohio #waterfall #blue #forest #green #pools #aquamarine #pine #unspoiled #spirals #falling #water #dreaming #inspiration #peace #tranquility #love #joy #wish #hope #believe #dream #faith #namaste #impressionist #expressionist #surreal #bodhi #rumi