Some people have asked me “Erin, do you shoot every day?”

The answer is “I try to”

Yes, there are some days that I don’t pick up the camera, but those are usually few and far between.

But there are definitely days when I just need to do something else. And that is ok.

One of the areas of growth I have seen in myself over the years is making the conscious decision to zoom out. Early on, I found myself zooming in on my subject a lot. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I found myself wanting to know more about the setting in which my subject was in.

So every time I picked up my camera, I still did some close up shots, but I had to mentally tell myself to “zoom out”. It was hard to have to think about something when I was shooting.

But as I did this, I really started to notice a difference in my images. The images weren’t just about the dog anymore but about the dog and the environment. The difference spoke to me.

The below shot is a great example of an environmental shot that I love. There is so much going on that keeps me interested.

- The wind in the dress
- The contrast between the warm clothing of the girl and the summer dress
- The dog in the middle, almost being pulled in both directions
- The movement of her tail. Is it wagging?
- The textures and colors of the environment
- The colors in general

It all leaves me wanting to know more.