I love coffee. Nothing soothes me like good coffee. But even I can’t deny the times when coffee falls just short. It’s sad, yes. But there’s always tea.
That awesome English beverage that has enough caffeine to satiate the soul.
I like my coffee in any way: hot, cold, black, sugar-less, freshly ground, without chicory – it rarely matters, as long as it’s there. But tea – there are plenty of conditions. And that’s why it’s so difficult to find the best cuppa. Oh yes, I’m in love with that English term as well.
Perhaps it’s the rarity that makes me crave it. Perhaps it’s also why I can’t refrain from photographing my tea.
I can hardly stop looking at this photo. I fell in love with my own work and Instagram.
Some things in life are minute. It takes an artful look to see through the beauty of miniature. Much like the froth that brims in this cup of tea.
The photo is a moment captured in time. When you look close enough, you’ll see your reflection on the tiny bubbles. To capture such a moment on a lasting frame is a great feeling. And if an amateur like myself can do a decent job of it, I cringe to think what professionals could do.
I’m biased, but I love everything about this photo. The tumbler isn’t perfectly aligned with the dabara (the cup). But that’s what makes it natural. It looks like a cup I’m going to drink from, and not a model for product photography.
The lighting is average. I know nothing about the technical aspects of aperture and lens light. All I know is to point and click.
The bench, its shade,the blurry finish, the reflection of the tree – everything adds a little to the story. And plants improperly aligned – everything says outdoor.
Above all, it’s the reflection of the tree’s branches around the dabara that impresses me. They might be negligible, but it makes the photo all the more likable.
However much I boast about my photo, I can’t deny that none of its tiny, lovable aspects was intentional. It was a happy accident that Instagram highlighted and transformed.
Which makes me wonder about human nature. We don’t look at anything as it is. We constantly sharpen, hone and improve. It’s natural to pay attention to details, obsess over them, to give importance to even the negligible aspects of an object – to make it look better.
And that ability is worth more than anything else. A photo, a sculpture, a portrait, or a piece of writing – every work of art reveals mankind’s scrutiny. And that’s worth more than a thousand words.
