Really. You just have to be open to them.

A Chance Dining Room View, 2012

Things worth photographing are everywhere. Even if I have momentary bouts of photographer’s block and say I don’t see anything to photograph, it’s because of my attitude, not the absence of opportunity. Some people feel they’ve got to get in the car or hop on a plane and go somewhere else to find something worth photographing. That’s nice, and who doesn’t like to explore new places? But I tell you; opportunities are all around is if you just make yourself open to them. (Gosh, now there’s a life lesson, isn’t it?)

Sometimes even I get surprised at where these little moments of opportunity occur. A chance notice of the way the light was casting shadows on the wall of the shower prompted me to look at all the ways the light comes into our house in the morning. Who’d have thought there were so many ways to notice the light in just one ten-minute period? Here are just a few.

I was on the phone the other afternoon, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. I happened to glance into the dining room just quickly enough to catch the reflection of the twinkle of the river across the street from our house on these glass ornaments hanging from the chandelier.

There’s nothing magical about this moment. It’s just one of millions that occur around us every day. They reveal themselves as the sun rises and sets and the earth turns and things get in the way, casting shadows. No two of these moments are quite the same. You might see something in one moment that you never see again in your whole life. And if you don’t believe that, know that I didn’t have a camera handy when I first noticed this scene. By the time the phone call ended and I could grab the closest camera, the glittering sparkles that had initially caught my eye were gone.

I might never see that exact view again. But you can be sure I’ll be looking for it.