Stepping Outside

If you sit in one place and try to think of places to photograph, you’ll find yourself sitting for a long time. Things move quickly out there, and you’re better off stepping away with a notepad to jot things down as you see them—capturing the moments you want to return to.

There’s a whole world of noise and entertainment all around us. There are the stories we repeat, the shows we watch, and the movies we see. Yet there is a world outside of that, and I’ve always been a little more interested in what’s outdoors.

Photography shows you that we spend most of our lives living in a world completely shaped by people. We spend our time in rooms, behind the wheel, going to work or the store. Often, the only nature we encounter is a single tree in a front yard. We’re starved for natural spaces, and it’s becoming a luxury to step outside and experience something as simple as an untouched world.

I think what would be really nice—though perhaps impossible—is a large county park somewhere, an open space with a trail. That’s why our state parks are excellent; we focus on preserving spectacular places, and that’s great. But I always think we need some sort of open-space-to-population ratio, maybe.