"Don't look at your feet, look at my eyes"

Tumacacori Mission - Near Tuback

Interesting how learning to country western dance can lead to an "aha" moment for photography and pretty much in life.

The backdrop
There are plenty of opportunities to listen and dance to live country western bands in Tubac. Our friends who are very comfortable on the dance floor are always encouraging us to get up and dance. For Debbie and I let's just say that dancing the two-step is not the native language of our feet.  Up until yesterday we were successful by promising our friends we will take lessons so as not to be too embarrassed on the dance floor.

Dateline, Tubac, New Years Eve 2010
Linda, a slightly older and good foot shorter than I am asked me to dance...gasp! I knew I was destined to have to dance and my excuses of not knowing how to move my feet would be quickly discarded.

We get on the dance floor and I move awkwardly. In spite of my awkwardness, Linda is dancing confidently, I relax for a moment but start to get pre-occupied with what my feet are doing. Linda looks at me and tells me...

"Don't look at your feet, look at my eyes"

I did what she asked and it worked!

The "aha"!
In photography there is no shortage of technical details to keep in mind, so much so it is far too easy to start concentrating on our feet (gear configurations, right time of day, post processing) instead of the eyes (heart, emotion, feel...the memory we want to create) that moves us and those that view our work.

I know there is a balance between the technical and the art (we still plan on taking dance lessons), however I would venture to say it is our over-emphasis on the technical that results in missed photographic opportunities.

So, stop looking at your feet and start looking at the eyes and heart of your photography! Go shoot!

Happy in his craft...

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Bob Ochoa Photography