When we are in a place where the main attraction offers many photographic possibilities it is so easy to just look at the main attraction that we do not even see other possibilities. We can be focused on the main attraction so much that we don't even bother to look at anything else. Hey, you will leave with the images you came for, so it is not that big of a deal. However, you will also leave without some other interesting images that perhaps many others don't have. You will probably not miss these "lost" images because you may be happy with what you got. Professionals always want to grab any shot on offer, they don't just look at the main attraction.

          Main attractions are often shot to death. Yes, even so, it is still nice to have those images yourself. Today, I want to encourage you to look around, in directions others are not looking. Just be aware of what else is available. Go for the simple images. Perhaps there are some flowers that you can focus on, even thought you may not have come for floral images today. Perhaps you can isolate some flowing water over just a few rocks instead of shooting the river. Always ask yourself if there are any images within the image. You are there and the conditions may never be the same again, so you may as well get as many images as you can. Now, I am not referring to getting fifty images of the same thing composed in the same way. Go for what is different. Go for what is simple.

          On my last trip to Zion National Park I was shooting the fall colors, the river, and those magnificent red rock cliffs. They are so impressive that it is difficult to see anything else. One is just enamored with the scenes around every bend. My time there had come to an end; I had a plane to catch, even though I would have liked to stay another day - and then probably another after that. I was walking back to the bus stop, still looking, searching for anything I can photograph quickly; for a photographer never stops looking.

This scene is right next to the pathway. Millions of people walk right by it every year. I have seen many, many images of Zion, but I have never seen this image. It is so simple. Many people walked by while I was shooting this image, they looked at what my camera was pointed out, and where not impressed. Yet, I like the image.

          How many images do we loose because we only see what the main attraction has to offer? Perhaps the lessor offerings may be worth a look as well.