One of the things I struggle the most is the need of having things under control. It is important that you know this from the very beginning of this post because that is what I worked on during the day I took this image.
It was very funny how I felt so clear that I was going to use my camera in Auto Mode as I shot that day. A little background for those who are not familiar with camera settings; I shoot all the time in Manual Mode, which means that I decide how I want my photograph to look. I decide how much light I’m going to allow my camera to receive in order for the image to look bright or dark, if everything you see will be in focus or if there will be things out of focus intentionally. That day I was to use Auto Mode, which means the camera is going to do all the thinking and decide what setting to use automatically, I was just going to see and click the shutter.
To tell you that I fought that idea the whole ride to my location would not even give you an idea of how much I didn’t want to let go of control of “my” photographs. For as long as I’ve taken pictures I’ve labeled them as MINE, my creation, my idea; me, me, me. Quite annoying and selfish to be honest. My struggle grew as I was driving and I was seeing the most beautiful sunset in between the fluffiest clouds! We don’t get clouds often down here and I wanted to capture them in their best light. But I had an assignment set, do not control the camera, just observe and click.
While I knew what I wanted my image to look like, I set the camera on Auto and just admired the landscape and shoot some pictures. Letting my mind of getting the perfect settings for each image allowed me to understand something else, what I capture with my camera is not my creation, I didn’t make the sky turn a certain kind of orange or blue, it was God. So it was not about just letting go of control, it was also a way of recognizing that this thing I do, taking pictures, it’s a gift and I get to photograph landscapes and nature created by God and not me. That my friends, was humbling. I will always be grateful for my view on life, my eye’s perspective and my God given talent of capturing life as we know it.