This March, I went with some IG friends to the beach in San Juan, La Union.  And the visual storyteller in me did not let moments pass without capturing them. Armed with my monopod and battery pack, I was so ready to snap, filter and share this beach adventure.

I was holding my smart phone and taking a picture of myself with random surfers and candid beach goers at the background, just in time for that perfect sunset selfie. (Needless to say how I enjoy doing the proposed act with or without the sunset.) #ExcusesToSelfie #InsertCaptionHere.As I look into the photo, the frame is congested with free-spirited souls whose passion in surfing is well showcased, I can also see some group of friends waiting for the sun to set as they take advantage of the scenery, yet some locals are also busy negotiating with their eager customers as they take their first time splurge in the waves.Amongst the crowd,  I see a young and equally eager soul who seem to be ready as he start realizing what’s in store for him after the strong and inviting waves, all wrap with that perfect sunset selfie.

Life and  Photography

It suddenly hit me that this visual story  is much like how life is.

Life presents to us things— big and small— for us to attend to. Sometimes we try to process all of the things that are happening around us all at the same time that we tend to forget the significant things that we should be focusing on. It is as if our thoughts are multi-tasking and we’re trying to be as receptive as we can in accommodating all the ideas we have at state. Yet at times we get so fixated about the petty things in life that we fail to see the bigger picture of it. Some unnecessary conditions seem to be highlighted without carefully looking how things must be understood, must be taken.

A friend of mine once said that in order for me to fully understand what’s happening around me or appreciate the present, I need to literally get out of the picture and look at things on a far different dimension, a view which can help me balance the bigger scheme of things.

Just like in photography, for you to establish a good picture, you have to achieve balance between focusing on what really matters (i.e. your subject), and at the same time, determine when to step back (or zoom out for that matter) to see how each minute detail of your photograph fits into the whole picture.

My next adventure

I’ll be venturing out a new and promising chapter of my life – a life away from my loved-ones.

Zooming in/zooming out and focusing are two of the most significant techniques I have learned in photography where it taught me how to fully arrange life’s unfolding composition. These self-embraced techniques in photography will help me appreciate more on how to focus on things that matter, things that help me, and things that stay with me.

In my new adventure, and I am sharing these with you, I will do the following:

• Zoom in and identify the details of what is beneficial as you embrace your core values;
• Zoom out and understand things on a wider and mature perspective;
• Center Focus on things which are necessary and healthy and let that outstanding subject overpower all that has to be kept on draft.

Have your smart phones ready and let me take you over to the next chapter.