Moments Un-Captured

Most of what happens in the world goes undocumented. I realize that most who read this will disagree based on the enormity of imagery in the world today but I am not talking about the onslaught of news/social media with regards to the unfortunate issues of the world or what your FB friend had for lunch. Nor am I here to give props to the ubiquity of the sunset shot. I do not want to marginalize taking pictures of sunsets, I have taken a few decent shots myself, and there are some amazing nature and landscape photographers out there.

I want to share what it means to be in any situation and have the mindfulness to see the beauty in everyday ordinary life.

My wife and I were driving back from a weekend stay in Khao Yai National Park recently and I started to realize that wonderful things would happen as soon as I relinquished control of my camera and got behind the wheel of our car. It reminded me of what my Dad told me once,” If I want to generate business, all I have to do is go on vacation.”

Pulling over to the side of the road, for the most part, is a simple solution when you get the itch to photograph a particular scene that normally you would just drive past. But sometimes there is no time or it’s just to dangerous a spot to do so that you just have to move on. And if you do miss the opportunity to capture something just know that it’s ok and be happy that you were able to see and appreciate it and don’t ignore  the satisfaction of having been mindful enough to acknowledge it in the first place. The most important thing to remember is not letting the frustration of missing a potentially great shot outweigh the experience of simply enjoying the world around you however ordinary or extraordinary it may be. It’s like the sunset shot. Go ahead and grab it and then put your camera away and enjoy it – especially if you are sharing the moment with someone special!