For about the past week, I’ve been taking my camera along when I go out for my walks. I’m not particularly a good photographer, but I do love to take pictures of just about anything, and walking around the neighborhood seemed like as good an excuse as any to snap a few more frames.
Of course, taking photos has slowed down the walking pace a bit, but it’s also caused me to actually spend more time outside, so I think it’s a fair trade off. The best part is the way I see things I would probably not have noticed if I weren’t on the lookout for a photo op; it’s literally eye-opening to realize what interesting things are hidden right in front of me.
Photo-journalist W. Eugene Smith once said, “Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.” For me, the taking of the pictures creates that sense of awareness, too, and reminds me not to overlook the beauty and the wonders—big and small—that we witness every day.
