“Wait, why am I here again?”
I think to myself while I’m admiring the big metal historical staircase with the line of power lines rhythmically fading through the fog.
“Oh yeah, the fox,” I think .
But I’m doing the opposite.
Here I am, outside in the fog and rain, my shoes soaked from wading through green and tan tall grass….
And the shiny objects come from the right, from the left, my thoughts scattered.
OOH! Look at how those triangles are inside of triangles inside of triangles!
OOH! Those power lines make a cool line in the fog…
And then I think to myself –
“You’re going to photograph all this industrial stuff and the fox will just walk right in front of you and you’ll miss it.”
I turn left, and no, no fox…
JUST this instead –
When it comes to photography, big metal industrial old things distract me from why I came in the first first place.
I’ll admit, bright shiny objects distract me…a LOT.
The next new lighting gear, kitchen utensil (instant pot? sous vide? YES SIR I’ll take two of each!) you name it.
I’m working on not getting distracted in photography, but mostly not getting distracted in life.
It’s so easy to have family dinner and criticize the boys for having their shirts on backwards and inside out (more often than not), for not eating their vegetables and for this and that. But that isn’t the purpose of a family dinner, I’m distracted by the negative things.
The purpose is fun, connection, and to talk about our day.
Next time you’re distracted by a big bunch of metal (albeit HISTORICAL metal) or the negative things in life, look left, look in the opposite direction, and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Ask yourself, “wait, why am I here again?”
I’ve just now started bringing my camera around with me again. I needed a break.
I needed to just enjoy life, enjoy the moment, enjoy looking at the wildlife, rather than always having to get the perfect shot, and have analytical things going through my head nonstop.
So, I’ll leave you with a photo of the fox from last week. I wasn’t carrying my professional camera, just my cell phone, and that’s ok.
There’s something different about locking eyes with a fox or any other wildlife (or human) without a camera in front of your face, it’s just different.
They can see you, as much as you can see them, and you can feel its eyes watching you.
There’s no hiding behind an enormous lens any longer.
And I was able to do just that before grabbing my phone.
