One of the great things about running DA is that it gives me an excuse to buy fancy camera equipment and play with it. The latest subject I’m infatuated with is stars. No, I haven’t joined the paparazzi. I’m talking about the stars you can see when you’re 10,000 feet up on a rock in the middle of the Pacific ( the Haleakala volcano in Maui).

Photography is absolutely amazing. It really forces you to be present in the place you’re at and the moment you’re there.

I think that’s one of the attractions for a lot of people. It gets you into a sort of meditative state that tends to be really hard to achieve for many people.  Most folks have so many distractions that it tends to be hard to focus. The camera offers something to focus on. The mental focus it takes to shoot a good image becomes a nice break from daily life.

It also gives you great motivation to go places you might not otherwise go. Like the top of a volcano. Ok, well, it’s a very, very dormant volcano, but still… most people don’t spend a part of their Maui vacation in the 40 degree cold that you get when you’re 10,000 feet up at 10pm.

Of course, there’s always some folks that take it to the extreme, like Art Wolfe. I saw him speak awhile back at PhotoPlus. If you get the chance to hear him speak I recommend it. Some incredible stories about where he’s gone and the lengths he’s gone to get an image.

While I can’t say I’m willing to travel for two weeks across a glacier to get an image, I will say that I’m grateful that I have a job that gives me the opportunities to explore photography. It’s a wonderful thing.