I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the phrase “I love capturing moments” come out of someone’s mouth. I also can’t tell you how many times I have been guilty of saying it. We throw those words around so freely, but do we ever stop to think about what they really mean and what implications they might hold?
I’m not going to lie — I love taking pictures. And with that comes the love of capturing moments. I love encapsulating emotions and feelings within a frame so that viewers can experience whatever the subject is at that specific point in time. With this love of sharing beauty, however, comes a tragic downfall.
I often find myself missing out on whatever it is I am photographing. Whether that is an awe inspiring sunset hand painted by God himself, or a nail-biter basketball game in the Rhodes, I often find myself distanced from the action. I fail to truly see what beauty is right in front of me. I’m too focused on the job at hand, and while I might be “capturing the moment,” I am not experiencing it. I’m nothing but a bystander, watching but never participating.
At the end of the day, if you have more pictures of other people’s experiences, but nothing for yourself, then what is the point? Pictures may last a long time, but memories last a lifetime. I find myself far too often wishing I had put the camera down, even for just a minute, and soaked in the feelings and emotions of whatever the scene before me had to offer.
I love the quote by Jim Elliot, “Wherever you are, be all there.” Don’t just be physically present; interact and participate in whatever is going on around you. That is the only way to live life to its fullest potential and extent — by making the conscious decision to live everything.
When I traveled abroad in 2012, I set a goal for myself to experience everything in front of me. Yes, I wanted to come home with photographs that I would be proud of (and not to mention a great looking Italian leather bag), but I also wanted to fully invest myself wherever I might be over the course of my semester in Europe. Looking back on that grand adventure now, it is nothing but a blur. But it is the best looking blur I have ever seen.
Don’t be too focused on capturing moments that you forget to live them too. The point is to live everything, but how can you do that when you’re stuck behind a lens always looking in? Composition and exposure are important, but so are memories, and sometimes you just have to put the camera down and make them, not take them. More often than not, the best memories you have will be the ones where no pictures were ever taken.
