Let the Experience Wash Over You

Photos are not the experience... Photos are a proxy to the experience.

Before I shoot, I sit and observe and feel. I find it very helpful to put my camera down when first in a space or place. I try not to rush to the view finder. This personal time allows me to appreciate my experience. I enjoy my experience and then move to sharing the experience with others. I will pass on the advice I got from a friend, before I visited Barcelona's "Sagrada Familia," Antonio Gaudi's uniquely, spectacular vision of a place of Christian worship. "You will want to take photos immediately, don't. Don't take photos for 30 minutes. Find a place or two and just look and feel. Do this, because your photos will not capture all that you experience."

Let the real experience wash over you, then find the essence of your experience in your photos.