No Thanks, I’m Just Looking

Today’s Post by Mark Toal

The other day as I was looking at Instagram and Facebook, I had a thought that not only are we always staring at our LCD screens but that we are taking billions of photos and not seeing anything.

Since I started shooting with small mirrorless cameras I’ve a camera with me almost all the time. I strongly believe that it’s improved my photography by forcing me to pay attention to the details around me, the things that usually take place out of our normal vision. Over the past seven years I’ve seen my composition skills improve dramatically.

Now I feel that it’s time to take a break and look at the bigger view of what’s around me. I’m suspect that I may be missing something by narrowing my focus. I’m starting by not carrying a camera all the time. When I go for a walk or out for coffee I’m going to leave it in the car. I feel that I need to see if I’m missing something not just photographically, but in life. I’ll still be shooting the photo projects I work on like the re-building of the SP&S700 Steam engine here in Portland, Oregon.

I’m going to try this for the next month and see what affect it has on my photography. Don’t expect to stop seeing photos from me. Photography is just too big a part of my life to stop now.