Beyond the First Attempt

I’ve found that my best ideas don’t usually arrive fully formed. They start with a bit of curiosity—browsing through Instagram, Pinterest, or Google early in the week just to see what catches my eye. It’s a low-pressure way to find a starting point for my Sunday sessions.

A few weeks ago, I came across an image that caught my eye, and after chatting about the idea with my daughter, we turned our Sunday into a bit of a science experiment. We gathered up a bunch of different drinking glasses from the kitchen and set up near the window. We spent the session laughing at how the glass distorted her face, but I had to work quickly—as much as she enjoys helping, her patience has a limit, and she’s usually hurrying me up if I take too long.

One particular drinking glass surprised me; it was just the right thickness to distort the image without losing the focus entirely. It became our “hero” piece for the day. Later, when I had the time to sit down and sift through the shots, I found the ones where the focus was exactly where I wanted it. I’m so grateful that she is always willing to be my subject and join in on these little adventures.

The glass experiment taught me about focus, but the following week, I wanted to see if I could capture something more fluid—movement. I’d shown my daughter a photo by Kanakoara featuring a dancer with a beautiful “double vision” effect, and she had the vision right away. When Sunday came around, she went straight to her wardrobe and picked out her favourite floral dress—the perfect choice for a flowy, painterly look.

She spent the session twirling in front of the window, even bringing her Jelly Cat bunny and piggy into the mix for a few shots. She was so involved in the whole process that she even chose the name for the final photo: Twirl.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the version I initially submitted for the challenge (the one pictured above). It felt a bit too “captured” and not enough like the painterly dream I had in my head.

But once the submission was done, the pressure of the week lifted and I felt much more relaxed. I sat down with Affinity, a free creative design and photo editing software—which I’m still very much a rookie at—and instead of “editing,” I started exploring.

Without the clock ticking, I felt free to experiment with filters, brushes, layers, and erasing. In my day job, I’m always looking for the “right answer,” but here, I was just looking for a “feeling”. It was a slow process of trial and error, but I realised that the “final” submission isn’t actually the end of the learning process—for me, the real growth happened in those quiet hours afterwards.

The real win wasn’t getting the “perfect” shot on the first try. It was the laughter over distorted faces and the quiet satisfaction of playing with a new tool until the image felt a little closer to what I had envisioned. I’m learning that sometimes the best progress happens after the pressure is off.

"The best things usually happen when you stop trying so hard to get it right. When you take the pressure off and just let yourself play, you’d be surprised at how much you actually learn."

When was the last time you let a simple “what if” turn into a fun afternoon experiment? It doesn’t have to be perfect to be a success.

With love & gratitude,

Thanks for being here. Simply Kysemi is a space where I’m practising a slower, more intentional pace. To keep things calm, I check my messages and comments only when I have the time. I truly appreciate your thoughts and will get back to you as soon as my schedule allows.