Zoom In!

 Zoom In! became Elke's mantra in a blog entry she wrote about focusing on a flower field smack in the middle of a Southeast Asian megalopolis rather than the skyscrapers and highways. Zooming in, digging deeper, scratching below the surface, finding that one special speck that gives the moment meaning, allows everything else to move into the background.

Our daily lives are dictated by appointments and meetings, we are rushed, distracted, overwhelmed and stressed, rarely allowing ourselves to slow down and breathe. On her daily walks with her faithful K-9 companion, Elke practices daily appreciation for the beauty that surrounds her Northern Virginia neighborhood. She takes the time to stop and admire, crouches down to get a better view, waits for just the right light, takes photo walks with intention and treasures nature's manifold magic.

As the Chinese poet and philosopher Lao Tzu said:"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."

Zoom In! is not only an outward activity by means of photography, but also an inward journey to self-awareness and mindfulness. Again, taking the time to connect to our authentic self and celebrating what is meaningful to us opens up new perspectives and angles, ways of looking at oneself and the world. Elke believes that where passion and calling meet, beauty is revealed, much like in the image of the monarch butterfly nurturing itself on a hydrangea blossom en route on its migratory path south.