Spotlight on "Sidereal"

Sidereal is the Flickr username of a very talented photographer whose work we can all learn from.

I stumbled across some of his photos on Flickr.com when I was looking for some pictures of the Canton neighborhood in Baltimore. This led me to his photostream, where many of his images of ordinary items and scenes just blew me away.

Apparently, Sidereal lives in Randallstown, the area in Baltimore County where I grew up. Familiarity having in me bred contempt, I have thought of Randallstown as a pictorially nothin' happenin' place. But Sidereal's Randallstown photo set has made me see the error of my ways.

Sometimes we photographers get in a rut and think that if we could only travel to someplace picturesque and exciting, we'd be able to make compelling photos. Sidereal reminds us that amazing images sit in our own back yards, just waiting for us to frame them.