Something I find intriguing is photographers. We are there to capture others moments and we frequently see the world differently. However we don’t always whip out a camera for things, social media made sharing so much easier but it opened a new world of understanding.

Everyone wants to be insta famous or have a huge social media base. We want likes and the Hearts and the comments to show that someone is watching. So we record everything, our coffee, or lunch, our horse back rides, and even not so never again moments like full moons.

The full moon, a harvest moon occurred awhile back— yes I have been sitting on this post— and one of the things that amused me was everyone’s attempt to photograph it. Their pinprick white dots, with light trails because they used a cell phone and it was handheld. I scrolled my Facebook and amateur photographers and regular people who had to join that fad were sharing their full moon photos.

As a professional photographer I didn’t even have the desire to lift my cell phone camera toward to moon— during that Harvest Moon craze. A full moon happens frequently, it isn’t a surprise, yes sometimes it is more gorgeous and visible than other times but just taking that in is enough. I love to live the moment and appreciate the beauty of it without the need to over record. 

This was something I learned abroad among the most gorgeous land and sea scapes around. You don’t always need to photograph every thing, sometimes being present is the true beauty. One of the most tangible moments abroad was laying on the bow of the ship lights out and thousands of stars in the sky, my shipmates around me, waiting for meteors to streak across the sky. I didn’t even take my camera, would it have been the perfect moment to capture, the awe and learning happening on that deck- yes it would have been. But being present and fully engaged, it’s so much more rewarding, this is one of my favorite memories, it’s etched into my brain. I have never been part of something so majestic and no photograph would have done that moment justice.

So put down the cameras and the cell phones and engage in moments. Not everything needs a photo to prove it happen sometimes just knowing and having the experience is worth more than a photo every will be.