The Best Photos Start with a Question, Not a Plan
But only if you stop long enough to see what’s really there.
It happens more than I’d like to admit. I head out with my camera after researching the location, checking the weather, and figuring out the best time of day. I’ve done my homework. I’m looking for the image—the one I’ve pictured in my mind. And after all that preparation (or waking up an hour before sunrise), I expect to come back with something good. Maybe more than one good image if I’m lucky.
But when I get to the location, reality doesn’t always match the plan. I pull out my camera and look for the shot I had imagined. And sometimes—it’s just not there.
That’s the thing about plans: the light doesn’t care about them. Neither does the fog, or the wind, or the landscape itself.
Planning gets you there. It puts you in the right place at the right time. But it doesn’t guarantee that what you hoped to find will actually show up. And if you don’t give yourself a little space to be curious about what’s really there, you’ll miss it entirely.
A Case in Point: Snow Where I Didn’t Expect It
One great example happened last December. The sky was filled with dark, moody clouds—great texture, great atmosphere. I headed to a local state park, planning to frame a particular scene with those clouds as a backdrop. Bare ground, leafless trees, a raw late-fall look. I thought it would be perfect.
But when I got there, things changed fast.
First, some of the campground roads were already blocked off for winter, which meant a longer hike than I had planned. And then, just as I parked, the weather shifted. What started as a few flurries turned into an industrious snow squall. The clouds were gone, replaced by falling snow. It came down hard.
The shot I planned for was gone, just like that.
What Curiosity Found Instead
So, new plan.
Rather than heading for the spot I’d researched, I grabbed my camera and set out on one of the shorter trails near the lake. I wasn’t dressed for a long hike in heavy snow, but I didn’t need to be.
Right in front of me were woods, a quiet trail, and the most perfect atmosphere that I would never have planned for.
This particular patch of forest is usually chaotic—branches everywhere, hard to compose cleanly. But now, with the snow falling fast, the background softened. I just needed to take my time, look around, and find a good foreground to build the image around. The snow would take care of the rest.
The Role of Patience in Letting Curiosity Work
This is where patience comes in. Patience gives curiosity room to breathe.
If I had rushed, frustrated that my planned shot was gone, I would’ve missed the mood that was right in front of me.
Photographer Nigel Danson has a great suggestion: Sit down and eat an apple before you even take your camera out of the bag.
Whether it’s an apple or just a moment to pause, the idea is the same—give yourself permission to wait. Look around.
Let go of the shot you thought you were going to make.
Even after you find a composition, don’t pack it up right away.
Stay a little longer. The light might change again. The snow might pause. Something unexpected might happen.
Patience allows you to be curious. And curiosity leads you to what you would’ve missed.
Sometimes, those moments—completely unplanned—lead to your best work.
Then there are the times when you don’t expect anything good at all. You head out just to get some fresh air or to scout a location for another day. That was the case last week. But by taking the time to look around to explore without expectations, I found this scene on a local lake.
The best scenes are often the ones we didn’t plan for, but were curious enough and patient enough to notice.
✅ Where to Find Me
You can find more of my work on the web at: Simmons Photography
If you want to work with me, or inquire about licensing images: Contact Page
More of my work can be seen on Vero and Flickr.
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I highly recommend adding the book The Power of Photography by Peter Fetterman to your collection. Fetterman is not a photographer, he is an art collector. This book is a collection of impactful images, and commentary on them and the photographers that took them.
So true! Nature and Art are so mesmerizing and unpredictable, always leave you in awe. And some frustration at times 😅
Your photographs are beautiful 😍
I love this. Screenwriting often starts the same way.
I love the apple analogy!