The Essence of a Photograph

I've been thinking a lot about life lately.  A person or an event will start the niggling thoughts in my mind that need exploration and expanding on. In this case it was an incident that happened in my gallery on a lovely morning full of sunshine and seemingly happy people.  But there lies the drama, things are not always what they appear to be.

When aggressive people ask me pointed questions, especially about exact locations of where I take my photos, it raises some interesting questions. Nature has no secret locations, she is there for all to discover and enjoy.  The big part of a nature photographers day is the discovery of a new "something" to us, a tree or a scene right out of Jurassic Park. To us, these are precious and unique experiences, these are the gems that keep us going emotionally and spiritually. Even though that particular scene or tree might have been viewed by 10 bazillion other people, to us it's totally the first time ever. It's pure gold to us.

The entire experience, from discovery, vision, camera set up and maybe ... just maybe, something that ends up on our wall is truly unique to each and every one of us.  I cannot duplicate what any other photographer has done because I haven't put the discovery, adventure, and dare I say, effort, into it.  It just doesn't happen.  Replicating a photograph that someone else has taken is just that, a sad replica. There's no soul in it, no "us" in it.

I rarely share exact locations with aggressive people, the unique experience would be lost for them.  And somehow the magic would be spoiled if a person approached it with the intent of copying something I found sacred and spiritual. There would be no reverence.

The discovery has to come from within, it's not something I can give you.