Travel taught me this about photography (and people)
Travel, though I don't get to as often as I'd like, has a way of slowing me down. It’s one of the only times my brain doesn’t feel like it’s running a mile a minute. Is that just me or is that a thing for everyone? This year I had the opportunity to go on 4 trips. New Orleans, Maryland, Lake Tahoe, and all over Ireland! It was amazing and I wish I had the luxury of doing that regularly - but I will be thankful for the year of travel that I had!
Okay, back to the slowing down. Why does it take leaving our normal lives to feel this way? When I’m on vacation, I notice more. Which makes sense because I'm in a completely new environment. I watch how the shadows of clouds move across mountains. I hold the most delicious calamari in my mouth while my eyes are squeezed shut in the middle of a restaurant because it is too good to not focus all my senses on. (Shout out to The Oar House in Howth, Ireland for having the best, melt-in-your-mouth calamari I've ever eaten in my life.) I pay attention to small interactions between locals. I linger longer than I normally would. I stop trying to control the experience and start responding to it instead.
But at home, we rush through the day like we’re constantly on deadline. I miss the days when I was younger and a birthday party meant looking forward to the party all day with excitement and fully enjoying it and having a blast while I'm at the party - versus counting down the hours until I have to drive to go to a party and then put out all my energy to socialize...Haha. I promise I'm not a party pooper! But I just mean we get SO STUCK in these loops of having to get tasks done that we completely forget to enjoy the moment and LIVE.
Photography works the same way for me. The best images I've ever taken come from observing moments and taking my time to set up the photo rather than rushing through it and trying to force something in a specific time frame. That is just too stressful for my brain. I like to let things set themselves up instead of rushing to photograph something impressive - because if I rush, your pictures are not going to turn out as good as they could!
I trust that if I slow down enough and pay attention long enough, something spectacular will happen. And I hope that you can trust me with that too!
So here is my point: Stay present. Remember you are not meant to perform. Do not let your life fly past ya without enjoying the day to day.
Xoxo,
Christi
