In My Life Before Photography, if I stumbled across a nice sunset, it was a bonus. Now I chase color and drama in the skies. I can quickly look at the shape and quality of clouds in the sky and make a reasonably good prediction about how interesting the sunset or sunrise will be.

Did I say ‘sunrise’? Because getting up early has been a lifelong challenge, much less mobilizing to explore and take photos. And it still is, but occasionally I make it happen. And whenever I do, I’m reminded of how there really is no better way to start the day.

I never realized before that the most convenient view is not necessarily the optimal one and that simple things like getting really low or gaining elevation or finding objects that frame the scene, can really make things come alive.

I started noticing reflections ..

.. and textures ..

… and foregrounds.

I started seeing paintings embedded in reality.

I can’t even ride a car in peace anymore. If I am a passenger and l have a camera on me, I can’t resist firing off a few shots, whenever I have a clear view.

Finally, this is not just my experience — I’ve had many photographers describe a virtually identical transformation.

And that is the power of landscape photography.