Another useful lesson I learned along the way regarding photography was looking around without my camera.

When you go out with a camera or specifically to take pictures, you’re usually looking at things a certain way. Go for a walk every now and then without your camera, don’t worry about missing the perfect shot, there are millions of them. Doing this, walking and looking, will help you create that blueprint, not find it.

If you’re shooting panoramas, spend an hour or two walking through the park, town, or canyon you like to photograph. Do this without your camera, just watch! Do this enough and you’ll find that when you take your camera with you, things will look different and you’ll see more options. Walk both ways down a street or country road. Walk around the pond or lake. See things from different perspectives.

If you like taking photos of people, take a walk through a mall or downtown. If you are visiting another country or part of your own, take the time to people watch without your camera. Go and sit in a cafe and watch, just watch. What different shapes and sizes do you see? How do they walk? How do they stand?

Even in the studio you can apply this. You are going to photograph the beautiful model: put the camera aside and make her move and pose, without the camera. If you’re not comfortable with this, go to some fashion shows and just watch, don’t grab your camera.

If you’re doing product shots, something as simple as toasters, when you’re at someone’s house, take a look at their toaster. Go to the department store and look at some toasters. If you’re going to photograph cars, walk around and look at them. You could even go to a dealer and sit in some, get a real look inside. Do this before you bring your camera to the shoot; familiarize yourself with the subject first.

Sometimes this is not easy: for a photographer NOT to take pictures. When I was in India many years ago, I took some very nice photos. I was in India for a couple of weeks and I really didn’t have enough film so I was forced not to take pictures all the time. I solved this by going for a couple of long walks every day. Once, usually in the morning, I would go out without the camera, then I would take it with me. When I walked in the morning, I just watched and enjoyed my walks, talked to people, and generally explored. I didn’t go with the idea of ​​”oh that would be a good photo” or anything like that, I just walked, looked and enjoyed. Now, I don’t always apply this, but when I do I find that I am much more satisfied with the quality of my photography result.