Photographs Are Everywhere; Do You See Them Or Just Pass By?

I was in a farmer's market carrying an old Canon G9 point-and-shoot pocketable camera when
I noticed these bottles of soda (pop).  I quickly snapped a couple of images of it as I found
the colors and patterns interesting.  I don't think anyone else even noticed the potential of this as a 
photograph. (click to enlarge)

Those of you who have been reading this blog for quite some time may have read that after getting a university degree in geology, I accidentally became a police officer.  Yes, sometimes life makes unexpected right turns, so to speak.  However, becoming a police officer had the effect of unexpectedly improving my photography.

From becoming a police officer, to becoming a forensic detective who was in charge of the photography lab as well as photographing hundreds and hundreds of scenes of crimes, to being a police chief in two large Virginia cities, the most unexpected way being a police officer helped me as photographer is that law enforcement taught me to see.  Not just look, but see.  If you are interested in reading a bit more about my journey in photography through law-enforcement you can read this post here.

A critical aspect of being a police officer, no matter what assignment, is the ability to keenly observe your surroundings.  A police officer doesn’t just drive his or her unit from one place to another and look straight ahead as other drivers (are supposed to) do, but a police officer's head is always on a swivel.  One must always be situationally aware, looking left and right continuously, rather than wearing blinders and only looking forward.  This learned behavior, which continues today, has been so beneficial to me as a photographer.  As I travel throughout my day, I am always looking for interesting subjects to photograph as well as seeing things in my surroundings that others don’t notice.

I took an early morning walk along a sidewalk adjacent to this beach and spotted this woman
meditating.  Not one else seemed to have noticed her but I did.  I stopped momentarily and
made a couple of exposures, then resumed my walk. (click to enlarge)

Being keenly observant of your surroundings, wherever you may be, will allow you to find and photograph subjects that others simply pass by.  If you aren’t already doing this, I highly recommend it.  Now don’t keep your head on a swivel if it will put you are in a dangerous situation.  But be aware of your surroundings, at least.

I guess this bit of advice mostly applies to photographers who are like me and photograph many different types of subjects in general.  However, if you are a bird photographer, birds are not just in wildlife refugees or woodlands, they are everywhere.  If you are a people or portrait photographer, as you are well aware, interesting people with interesting faces wearing interesting clothes can also be found everywhere.  If you are an architectural or real estate photographer, look around. There are interesting architectural details in buildings wherever you go.  I could go on and on.  However, my point is keep your eyes open and teach yourself not just to look, but to see.  See everything in your surroundings and look for color, contrast, interesting juxtapositions, humor, the unusual and anything else that may make visually interesting photographs.

Driving through Adirondack State Park in upstate New York I glanced to my right to see this
scene.  I bet no one else noticed nor photographed it. (click to enlarge)

As I said in the title, photographs are everywhere. It’s up to you to find them and capture them. 

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com. 
 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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