I’m a pretty selective photographer. I choose my subjects carefully and then shoot only a few images of the subject. Rarely do I go crazy and shoot hundreds of pictures at a time. Under certain conditions I have done that, but it doesn’t happen often. I think a lot of this came from not having a lot of money for film and processing back when that was important. It was my goal back then to shoot as many keepers as I could from a roll of 36. I never did get 36 keepers out of 36, but I came close a few times. And now, even with digital, I still find myself shooting only a few shots of a subject and then moving on to another subject. I guess that’s just me.

But that’s not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about are the pictures that I don’t take and how they have a huge impact on the pictures I do take. Many times I find myself out in the wilderness with my camera and it never leaves the bag. It’s not because I don’t see anything to shoot. I’m seeing plenty. It has more to do with just not wanting to shoot at that time. The scene is so peaceful and soothing around me that I don’t want to disturb it. I just want to soak it all in and enjoy the pure nature of the moment.

There have been plenty of awesome sunsets that I’ve never shot for the same reason. I just don’t want to disturb the scene. Instead, I prefer to watch the sunset and let the pure beauty of it soak into my soul. Do I regret not shooting these beautiful images? No I don’t.

I take much more away from the scene by enjoying it for the pure enjoyment of it. Maybe I loose a beautiful photograph, but what I gain in my soul has a greater impact on who I am. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the creative process of making beautiful pictures. And I love working with nature in that creative process. Creating beautiful images of nature has a huge impact on my soul and my peace of mind. But I also believe that it’s important to enjoy nature for itself and to not take anything for myself. Even if it’s just a picture.

I also believe that this has a major impact on my future images. By getting in touch with nature without your camera, you naturally become more in tune with her when you have your camera. By enjoying a rushing stream just for itself, it makes it much easier to shoot that same stream at a later time. It’s the same with a beautiful sunset. For every one that I haven’t shot, I feel I was better able to capture those I have shot.

So I guess what I’m getting at is this. Every now and then put your camera away and just let nature into your soul. You may find that when you take your camera out at a later time, you might see things a little different. Maybe the stream shot you were having a hard time composing will fall right into place. And maybe the next sunrise image will not only show the beautiful colors in the sky, but also the beautiful feelings of your soul.

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