Don't think, just shoot

It is the month of spring, and you found yourself in a vast, beautiful field. Where the roses are dancing in rhythm with the winds, and the birds are singing the song of serenity. A blast of warm spring breeze gusting through the field, forming beautifully synchronized waves on the tall, green grasses; as if seeing a group of ripples hitting the sandy shores.

You can hear the sound of moving water. As you walk closer to the sound, a small river flows in front of you. A group of fish swims slowly under the crystal clear water, moving in motion with the current of the stream. As sunrays reflect upon the surface of the water, you can see beautiful shiny sparks dancing in front of your eyes.

The white dandelion seeds filled the air as the wind blew upon, and the clouds clump together; standing out under the blue sky. Your eyes were closed as you listen to the arrangement of sounds, as if listening to an orchestra on the song of nature.

As the sun slowly retreating to the far reach of the horizon, you then realized that it is the most glorious sunset or the most beautiful scene that you have ever witnessed. The setting is just like a painting you saw in the gallery, where peace and serenity dominated the canvas.

A moment like this will unlikely to come again in your life. It must be stored somewhere. Not just as a fragment of memory, where only you can selfishly admire it. It must be permanently recorded as a proof that some point in your life, you have witnessed the beauty of nature right in front of your eyes.

As your hand move slowly to reach your pocket, you realized something is not right. And suddenly, the sound of your voice cursing and throwing vulgar words breaks the silence of nature.

“God, darn it! I swear I had brought a camera in my pocket!”

And thus, you left the field hopelessly, without even had the chance to brag about your experience to your friends.

Bummer, isn’t it?

Moral of the story, always bring a camera with you, as you won’t know when will another amazing moment going to pop up in front of your eyes. A thing like this happens to almost every person, including me.

There were once when I was on my way back from Johor, where suddenly a Proton Saga rammed through the highway divider, rolled over a few times and suddenly caught into fire. Now just imagine if I brought a camera along with me at that time, and managed to capture the moment of the car’s collision to the end where it burst into flame. Imagine how much I can get if I sell the pictures to the news agency. Imagine the fame I get when my name appeared under the images in the newspaper. And imagine if the editor like my pictures and put it in the front page of the paper, and I can’t get a good night sleep as my phone kept ringing since many of the news agencies demanded me to work with them as a photographer.

That seems a little far-fetched, but you get the point.

Things like this will not happen to you every day, but when it did, you will then realized how important it is to have a camera as your companion. Pictures can be taken and snapped anywhere, but the ‘moment’ that raises the value of the pictures won’t come falling from the sky. It is either you search for it, or it came to you, unexpectedly. As cameras today come in various size and shape, there are no excuses for not to bring one with you since it can simply fit in your pocket; unless if you fill it  with packs of cigarettes in it. And it is even easier for women as their handbags can fill almost anything from their wardrobe, literally.

Told you cameras really are small

As you are wandering outside, every time you saw something that attracts your attention, don’t hesitate to point the camera and just press the shutter. Make it a habit. Who knows maybe one day your pictures might even be hanged on the wall of a gallery somewhere in London. Well, who knows? With the rapid growth of internet, pictures and images can be delivered to every corner of the world in a matter of seconds. If Justin Bieber can gained his popularity from Youtube, and Sean Kingston managed to gather millions of fans worldwide through MySpace, why can’t you have your own fans admiring your pictures from your own photoblog.

The key of taking great images is to shoot as many pictures as you see through your eyes. For now, don’t worry of the arrangement and setting of your picture; just shoot it as how you imagined it. Put all your feeling and mood at the time your finger reach the shutter, and you will be amazed how well your pictures are.

Pictures are amazing, as it seems as the only thing that tells the truth in the world that filled with lies. A picture tells a thousand words. It serves as a memory that will survive for you to cherish, and tells a story of your life.

And for those who care; yes, the Proton Saga driver survived the crash.