Are you living the moment?
(Republished in 11/2022, originally written in 2021)
My wife and I have returned from our last holiday/family visit in South Africa two weeks ago. Two weeks before our return we went on a short gateway to the bush. Although we only stayed two nights, we had more sightings than on some of our longer trips in the past. It was on the first evening and the first morning drive where we saw both female and male lion. While the female was busy with her fresh kill, the male was in a sleepy mood and didn’t move too much. Both sightings were absolutely amazing and we are well aware that luck was on our side big time this trip.
Now, four weeks later I have already published some of the images taken during the trip. Each time I go through an editing process, I automatically start thinking about the day an image was taken. Sometimes I even remember smells, sounds, emotions and things like that. Sometimes those memories are strong, sometimes they are vague. I guess it’s safe to say, the stronger the memory the more I was “in” the moment.
The point of this blog post is to point out that very fine line between living a moment to the fullest and not living a moment to the fullest. As wildlife photographers we are naturally prone to distraction. Whether it’s the thought process related to an image, handling the camera or our smartphone for a quick upload to social media. All of this needs our attention and automatically detaches and distracts us a little from the moment. You can argue that the instant upload of an image or creating a story doesn’t necessarily has to happened right then and there - and that’s right. But even if we narrow it down to the absolute minimum, which in the case of us wildlife photographers is usually taking an image or video, we are still introducing a little space between our mind and what’s happening in front of us. We are detaching ourselves from the moment by operating a camera. If you do it “right” (whatever right means), you walk away with great photographs and a strong and vivid memory of the moment. If you fail to do it right, you might end up with a great photograph but a very faint memory or even worse with none of that.
During the editing process of the image below, I realised that I actually screwed up this time. I did walk away with a couple of nice photographs (if you would like to see them, check out my Instagram), but I definitely didn’t live that moment to the fullest. I do remember seeing the lioness, what the weather was like and where we were, but I don’t have that strong emotional connection to the situation. In hindsight I know that I was way too busy looking for the right frame and timing. While my eyes were glued to the camera I was already aware of the fact that I spend too much time looking through the viewfinder. But, for some reason I felt that I needed more material to increase my chances of finding that one frame later on in post. However, now, four weeks later it’s easy to say “I should have” and “I messed up”. There is no going back in time and it might have even been the first and the last time I got to see a lioness with a fresh kill. Who knows. I guess what’s important is that I (and you, if you can relate) learn from it. We shouldn’t let photography get in the way of moments which have the potential to become lifelong memories. Memories so strong and vivid that every time you think back, it takes you right back into the moment - including all the smells, sounds and emotions. That, in my opinion, is worth more than any image, by far. You might feel differently.
So what can we do to ensure that photography doesn’t get in the way? Here is what I came up with for now.
Be aware of what you are doing. You are actively searching for animals, because this is what we as wildlife photographers love a lot. Being close to wildlife, experiencing their behaviour, their environment and just observing them as what they are - wild animals. To do that, sometimes we only need to walk into our backyard and sometimes we have to travel around the globe to witness wildlife. Especially in case of the latter we are not only investing time but also money, to get to a destination. Unless you are one of those lucky ******** living in or close to a National Park you should be aware that sometimes you will have to wait for a very long time (in some cases it might even be a once in a lifetime situation) to go on a wildlife trip again. Remind yourself of that.
Prepare for the moment. Wherever you are going, you will be able to do research and preparation. Are you going on a trip to look for a specific animal? Do research about the species and the area you are going to and find out what kind of image you would like to come home with. Are you going on a safari in Africa? Do research about the area you are going to. Find out which animals you could possibly encounter. Do research about each of them (or your favourite ones) and find out what kind of image you would like to come home with.
Stop when you got what you came for. This one adds to tip number two. If you have determined the desired image(s) you would like to add to your portfolio and you manage to pull it off and get exactly what you want, it might be time to stop. Surely you can keep shooting for the unexpected, but keep in mind that five very similar looking images, might cost you valuable time enjoying the moment without a camera in your hand. Choose wisely.
Study the animal. I guess that’s a given since we need to know specific things to find animals in the first place. But the more you know about your subjects behaviour, the easier it is to understand when the action is “over”. That makes it easier to judge when you can put your camera down without experiencing major FOMO.
As always. I’d love to hear from you. Have you experienced this post trip unsatisfaction before? What are your tips to make sure photography doesn’t get in the way?
Until next time.
Pat