A Photo is a Story

23 Nov

I’m thankful that I found landscape and travel photography. For me, it’s an excuse to explore, it’s a creative outlet and it’s a way to remember.

Every now and again, I get the itch to photo. It starts as a half formed thought at the back of my mind…a longing to see something…and I’ll do a little research. Where is that thing located? What is the history surrounding it? How difficult would it be for me to get there and see it for myself? Before I know it, the original wisp of a thought has become a full blow distraction and my research turns into plans. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been driven to create beauty and I have a strong desire to “experience life” (a strange, but accurate phrase). Travel photography is an excuse to do both of those things.

In today’s saturated photo market and one-world mentality, creativity is an incredibly valuable commodity. More often than not, the famous landmarks of your community, region, the world have already been well documented by photographers who came before you. Therefore, the challenge for the rest of us becomes finding a way to stand out. This could be a signature style, a shooting method…or in my case, finding a new way to present familiar places. This can be a challenge, but it pushes me to be creative and to test my boundaries. It also encourages me to continue educating myself. I’ve found that as I learn more about my camera, editing and the process of photography, I have so many more tools to help bring an idea to fruition.

Finally, I’m grateful that photography is both the catalyst for adventure, and a record of my experience. I have a very visual memory (which is why I have only a loose grasp on timelines…my friends know, if I open a story with “the other day”, I could be referring to any time between now and birth!). If I’ve seen it, I can generally recall it. Without a visual record of my travels though, I’d be likely to forget so many important details, life lessons and moments that helped shape me. A good photograph truly is worth a thousand words. If they don’t tell a story, they should BE a story…and when it comes down to it, our experiences are one of the few things that can never be taken away from us. We only get one shot at life, but if we do it right, once is enough. For me, photography is an important part of my daily journey.