I hear talk and read articles repeatedly lately about the importance of looking ahead, keeping your eye on the future, moving forward, etc. That can be good advice in some cases. However, I like to eat tasty food and take remarkable photos. For both photography and the harvesting of most of our foods, it’s important to look all around.
In photography, you may be concentrating on the gorgeous scene before your eyes and taking photos, but you might be startled by the beauty that lies behind you as well. If you are only looking forward, you miss the opportunity behind you.
In harvesting apples, one usually returns to each tree three times. Fruit on a tree ripens top down and outside in. If you only pick once, you’ll have ripe fruit, semi-ripe fruit, and not even remotely edible fruit. If you pick from the top and down the first time, you’ll get the most delicious fruit. If you go back to that tree and pick what remains on the outside, you’ll again enjoy delicious treats. Lastly, if you go back a third time, you will be able to pick what remains inside and know the fabulous taste of worthwhile labor.
Looking ahead is good, but looking all around is unequivocably delicious, and most photographers have documented proof.
