Trust Your Instinct.

All photography is a training exercise in recognition. Recognizing a gesture, mid-morning light on a certain street corner, a person’s facial expression as it changes from one emotion to another. The moment, or the in-between. Your eye trains to become faster at truly seeing.

And when your eye reaches a higher level, it’s waiting on you to do something. It’s waiting for your feet to move into position, for your arm to lift the camera upward, for your finger to press the shutter. This is where the showdown between your ego and your instinct begins.

Right before you shoot, you think about what that YouTuber said about setting intent. You think about what’s wrong with the current lighting. You think about all sorts of things. But you don’t do the thing you were supposed to: shoot the photo.

Then the regret. Or the justification. Either way, you’re left with your mind, a pile of words, and no photo. Ask me how I know about this.

If you’ve made it this far, first off, thank you. And here’s your reminder that you already possess the instinct and reflex to make great photography happen. All you need to do is let them perform despite your protesting ego. Let your instinct be what moves your feet into position, lifts your camera with your arm, and presses your finger against the shutter button. It’s already within you, and no ego stories inside your head can take it away.