Your First Camera Date Doesn't Need to be Extraordinary

Yesterday I asked you to consider something different.

Instead of chasing the next great location, I challenge you to spend intentional time behind your camera. I call it a Camera Date.

Today I want to make that idea even simpler.

Your first Camera Date doesn't have to be memorable. In fact, I almost hope it isn't.

One of the biggest obstacles photographers face isn't a lack of talent or even great gear. It's the belief that every outing has to produce an incredible photograph. That pressure has probably convinced more people to leave their cameras at home than any technical setting ever has. Let's remove that pressure.

Imagine you only have thirty minutes. Don't drive two hours. Don't wait for the perfect sunset. Don't search for a famous overlook.

Instead: Walk out your front door. Visit your backyard. Take a stroll around your neighborhood. Sit on a park bench. Now make yourself one promise.

You're not allowed to leave after five minutes have passed.

Something interesting happens when you stay. The first few photographs are usually the obvious ones. The flower. The tree. The birdhouse. The old fence.

Then you begin to look a little closer.

The morning light catches the edge of a leaf. A spiderweb appears where you hadn't noticed one before. A reflection forms in a puddle. Shadows stretch across the sidewalk.

The ordinary slowly becomes "extraordinary."

Not because the world changed. Because you did. That's one of the greatest gifts photography has to offer. It teaches us to notice.

The camera isn't creating beauty. It's helping us discover beauty that was already there. When your Camera Date is over, don't judge it by how many "keepers" you brought home. Instead, ask yourself a different question.

Did I notice something today that I would have walked past yesterday? If the answer is yes...

Your Camera Date was a success.

Tomorrow we'll talk about something photographers almost never discuss:

Why taking fewer photographs often leads to better ones.

📷 Shoot What Matters.