Be Still
Milford Sound New Zealand
As long as I've been healthily obsessed with photography I always have to find time to just be in a location. To stay still, put down the camera, take a deep breath or two and enjoy my surroundings.
It's so easy to get lost in the rush of worrying about the perfect light, the perfect composition, the perfect feel of an image. All while standing in an incredible place in nature that can be so very healing and calming. Sometimes you're so deep in creating that perfect image, you forget where you are. At least I do sometimes.
Honestly it happens a lot to me. I don't know how many times when looking through the days images to edit I think,
"that's twenty images that look exactly the same"
Why? Because there was one thing I wanted to get and if it took me twenty exposures of the exact same frame...dammit I'll get it!
Milford Sound New Zealand
I definitely shoot a ton of exposures at times. For instance a few weeks back on a cruise around Milford Sound here in New Zealand I think I tallied around 700 exposures in a few hours. Seems like a lot but I was fighting rain and mist and waterfalls...
Shoot, clean lens, shoot, clean lens....duck and protect your gear as you pass under a waterfall. Oh and don't forget to get your sea legs under you to balance on those pesky waves. (I really liked the waves, they weren't pesky at all)
And when I looked at my images maybe half of that 700 were workable. That's just how it goes sometimes. Keep Going!
I know in certain circumstances it's necessary to be quick and as efficient as you can. Working with a client or you spent a large amount on an adventure and it's a once in lifetime experience, I get it. Sometimes it can't be helped.
Milford Sound New Zealand
But as I wander farther and farther around this planet I can't help but take more and more time in each place to exist. To find some balance in a new landscape or town or city. It helps me live more in the present and manage stress and the obsessive side of photography. The side where you have the nagging voice in the back or front of your mind telling you,
"This is the one! This shot will be the one, don't fuck it up!"
So for me and maybe for you too, just take some breaths. Put down the camera and feel your surroundings. Watch the light change through the trees and move up and down the mountain. Let the warmth of a sunset or sunrise heal you. Watch the grass sway back and forth. Listen to the birds sing to each other. Feel the ground beneath you...and just be.
As always,
Breathe, Wander, Create, repeat.
-Matty
