Part of the thrill of working on long term photographic projects is the fun they create. I’m not talking about getting that amazing once-in-a-lifetime-oh-my-gawd-you-have-got-to-see-this! shot. Rather I’m talking about the situations these projects draw us into, quite by accident.
I liken this to the adventure along the way that a backpacking trip might create. Or much the same with a road trip; that feeling of not quite meandering aimlessly along backcountry roads, but the adventure that happens if you give yourself enough time to pay attention to your surroundings as you head toward your destination.
This very thing has happened to me on numerous occasions as I work on my varying projects. I’ve discovered a fun local band called “Los Garapatas” (“The Ticks”) while shooting a Matanza (a traditional Hispanic pig roast), I’ve stumbled across polo players in the mountains of SouthWestern New Mexico, I’m been on a mountain top at dawn, I’ve eaten pie in Pie Town, and I’ve spent an enjoyable day watching a high school baseball double header this past weekend between two teams vying for the district championships. Good stuff! A perfectly enjoyable day. And my camera took me there.
What have you discovered as you chased that once-in-a-lifetime shot? What have you enjoyed that you would have enjoyed without the camera, but it was the camera that took you there? After all, life is what happens to us while we’re busy making other plans (or making pictures.)