Observers

Photographers are observers. Everywhere we go, camera in hand, we’re looking for something interesting, unique, bold, beautiful, odd, colorful, perhaps even historic. We capture moments of time that will never be exactly the same ever again. The scene may look similar, but there will always be something different next time around.

We love to share what we have seen. Often, we try to tell a story with our photos. We present a picture and hope that it taps into other people’s imagination. We want you to wonder, to think, to see the mystery, or the action, the pathos, pain, love, joy, serenity, or something that we believe the photo conveys. At times it’s obvious, but sometimes a photo tells one story to you, and another story to the next person.

Good photos are not just pleasant scenes. Sometimes they irritate, jolting us out of complacency. They can make us cry, make us angry, make us happy, even cause us to change our minds. Someone once said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Possibly! But very likely the words come from inside the one looking at the picture. A photo, a good one that is, will “say” something to you. Some will require you to puzzle it out while others will almost shout the message visually.

Give photos more than a glance. Faces are marvels of creation. Places can be familiar or totally unfamiliar but they almost always feature things never noticed before. Things, even common things, can show beauty in form, texture, light and shadow. Look carefully. What draws your eye? Where does your eye go next? Is there a surprise hidden from your first glance? The marvel of photography is that it’s always more than it seems. You just have to look.

The photographer observed. He or she captured something as a photograph. They now show it to you. Do you see what they saw? Can you explain why the photographer thought it worth taking the shot? Perhaps not every photo will not appeal to you, but any photo will become more interesting if you will also observe.