Why the best pictures won't ever be taken with a camera?

One day I felt like walking and I committed myself on trying to get the best picture I could capture of the sunset a the beach with my profesional camera, but I couldn't ever imagine what I was going to find as the best pictures ever taken.

With great enthusiasm, I started walking along the beach looking for the best place, a nice angle, the best light and the right context for my picture. My mind and eyes were absorbed with the mission and nothing else around me mattered at that point.

After a while shooting and keeping trying to finding the best spot, the sunset light was gone and I was disappointed because I couldn't take the picture I had in my mind to be "the perfect one", "a great shot", "the best photo" for my blog. I started walking back with the frustrating feeling of a mission unaccomplished and suddenly, a mix of images knocked strongly in my head.

I ran to found a bench with the desperate need of writing what I have just realized so I couldn't forget it later. In that bench with the sea in front of me, my mind started recalling all the images that had fascinated myself while walking in search of the the best spot for the perfect sunset picture but I didn't realize until then that I had already taken the best images and no one was taken with my camera.

The image of a couple of new parents who were walking, talking, and enjoying the beach cuddling and playing with the baby was the first image that came to my memory. What a wonderful moment! The couple might have been telling each other what their day was, they may have been planning what to do after the walk or simply negotiating who's turn was to change the dippers. For me, the couple looked so caring and loving with each other, and I pictured in my mind the smile of the baby they must have enjoyed exactly when I saw them smiling back at him or her.

The second image I recalled, was a man I saw riding his bike, taking deep breaths and pushing strongly to keep going on the road. He most have been in his 70s and was admiring his strength and discipline to keep himself active and certainly healthy.

Many images of dads spending time with their children came to my memory as well. I saw a dad with a little girl on his left and a little boy on his right running all together on the same speed. I so other dads and children on a bike, on a skateboard, or just playing with the waves, running towards and backwards with their kids laughing and feeling the water under their feet. Those dads and those children were having great time together as family and those images really touched me.

I thought, what a better example to teach your children to be fit, healthy and enjoying nature but doing these kind of activities with them? How else you bound with them? What a wonderful memories they are collecting and that will last forever!

With this renewed perspective, and remembering all the men and woman I saw alone or with family or with friends, I started walking again with a big smile on my face and with more attention on the people I encountered in my way. What a wonderful sensation it is to meet someone's eyes, give them a smile and get a smile back!

Try not to lose yourself in the hurry of the day or night, try not to missed the important things while you are focussed on a mission, a job or a goal. Take time to look at the meaningful things, give yourself the gift to stop looking with the eyes of your brain, and start looking with the eyes of your heart. Give yourself a break and like me that day, be aware that the best pictures cannot be taken with a camera, they can only be taken with the #awareness of your heart.

The best pictures cannot be taken with a camera, they can only be taken with the #awareness of your heart.

Love,

Ana Hope