People do not take the time to saturate themselves in the beauty of nature because they are so preoccupied with other concerns.
Whether it be work, worries, or even just the phone in their hand, they pass by so many opportunities to see the beautiful world around them.
I see it all the time:
Girls at the beach are more concerned with getting selfies than enjoying themselves.
People on hikes spending their whole time trying to capture everything on their phones to save for later rather than capture it through their eyes.
People at concerts that watch the whole performance through the recordings on their phone instead of the live music in front of them.
People tend to live their lives through their personal device rather than actually experiencing life.
But it is not only the phones that have this tendency to take away from the experience.
People continually try to take from nature.
They are constantly in search of a trinket to remember the place instead of taking memories.
Too many people have this tourist-like mentality with nature, where they find it more important to get a picture or some kind of trinket to prove they were there.
People searching for shells on the beach, volcanic rocks in Hawaii, or trying to buy the perfect souvenir in a shop at a National Park or landmark when they haven’t actually taken the time to experience the nature around them.
Even families that take trips across the country to the Grand Canyon just get out of the car, look at it for five minutes, take a photo and leave without ever fully experiencing it.
Later on, when they are asked about their trip, all they have to say are a few it-was-great/pretty's, and then they move on, never digging deeper to about how it changed them or their outlook on life, or even how it left them in a state of awe.
I encourage you to be different.
To change this way of so-called "living."
There are many times where I choose to forego taking a photo where I am because sometimes the moment is just more important than that photograph ever will be.
I just want to stay in that moment.
This is my philosophy and the drive in my photography:
Camp.
Hike.
Surf.
Lay out on the beach.
Learn something from nature.
Don’t be afraid to let it make you feel small.
Instead, dwell in that feeling, and let it make you stronger.
Have a healthy passion for landscapes and adventure.
Feel the elements pulling you to get back to nature, which is not just about being a tourist, but immersing yourself in the landscapes around you.
Be called to travel, not to the must-see scenery, yet to search for remote beauty untouched by man.
Fully immerse yourself in the beauty of nature around you.
If you truly love where you are, leave it wild, leave its contents unmoved and unaltered.
Don’t feel the need to mark your territory.
Prove that human interaction with nature is pure and doesn’t need a keepsake to be remembered or cherished.
Find something so monumental that you just cannot help but to photograph it, but put the experience before the photograph.
Use experience as your sixth sense, and once you find that something, photograph it after you have fully experienced it instead of right when you get there.
So, go somewhere where you run out of service.
Turn off your phone.
Let it change you.
After it has, fight every urge to take.
Leave with your memories.
If you’re lucky, you experienced something monumental.
Your story will change others around you.
I swear, it’s worth it.
