When I photograph the beautiful outdoors, I’m enjoying the views that God has created, the flight of a bird, or an animal moving through their natural habitat. In each situation, I need to know my subject, both through research and observation. I anticipate what my subject will do and when. With this information, I can tell a more compelling story.
Knowing that I cannot control any aspect of nature, I must accept the limitations to reveal my story. Even if I am not able to capture my vision, the beauty that God reveals often exceeds my expectations. Limitations can spark art. This promise drives my creative spirit and the knowledge that there is always a new story or perspective to discover.
Some 2,700 years ago, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.” A photograph of him stepping in the water allows that moment to be memorialized forever. Photographs allow us to return to a time and place and keep that memory close. Most of our memories will fade but photographs will last beyond our lifetime.
As photographers, we have only today to preserve the present so generations to come can witness those moments.
