Camera/Eyes

I have a camera with me at ALL times.  It may be the BIG professional machine, the nifty medium-sized beauty with the sweet lens, or my iPhone, which is always close at hand.   

As I navigate my days and nights, everything around me is a potential photographic scene.  Even if my camera is not in my hands, I see whatever is before me in at least two ways at once.

1.  I am there.  I see, hear, smell and take in the entirety of whatever is before me.  In the moment, i experience where I am, what is happening, and how I feel about being there.

2.  I am surveying the scene for angles, colors, points of interest, anything unusual or eye catching.    This can take time, or come in a "flash".  It's a dance of stepping back, stepping close, changing angles of view, and playing with and appreciating the details as well as the larger scale of the environment.

Although this happens whether I am with or without a camera, it seems to me that when I do have a camera in my hands, I see more.  I take more time.  The place, the item, whatever, or wherever it is, is in the beam of my attention, and I am not distracted.  

 Being attentive is one of the keys to good photography, and a good life.