In whitewater rafting, there is an important rule, perhaps second only to “don’t ever let go of your paddle”. It’s “look where you want to go, not where you don’t want to go.” If you’re looking at that big rock that you are scared of, you will be magnetically drawn to it.
In photography, as in whitewater rafting, where you place your attention shapes the outcome. If you’re consumed with avoiding failure—trying not to clip the highlights, not to miss focus, not to include distractions at the edge of the frame—you can become paralyzed or distracted. Your energy goes into preventing mistakes rather than creating something compelling.
When you look at that big rock in the river, your boat drifts toward it. In the same way, when you fixate on what could go wrong in a photograph, you subtly invite those problems into your process. The frame becomes about avoidance rather than intention. The result is often cautious, sometimes technically sound, but rarely memorable.
Instead, it helps to hold in mind what you do want. Focus on the light that drew you in. The emotion in a face. The shape or rhythm that made you raise the camera. Direct your choices around that. Exposure, composition, timing, post-processing. These should support your central idea, not just minimize risk.
This approach fosters a kind of creative flow. You stop worrying so much about technical perfection and start responding to the scene. You trust yourself to correct course if something goes wrong. You may still glance at the rock, just enough to know where it is, but your gaze and your aim are on the channel of water that will carry you through.
Photography, like rafting, is a balance of control and surrender. But the best control often comes from clarity of intention, not from trying to plug every hole in the boat.
Eugene says
“look where you want to go,…..”.
Yes, same mistake made by cyclists and motocycle riders. Ha.