Week 10: Natural Environment

H<3ME; Week 10 of the 52 Week Photo Challenge.

There’s nothing quite like your pup’s eagerness when you get home. She’s forgiven you for leaving her all day and instead of harboring any hate, she’s so happy to see you and take her nightly walk. Her happiness reaches peak levels when Josh and I are both home — everything is complete then.

This week’s photo challenge was to capture a subject in their natural environment and over the past 10 weeks, two things have become very clear to me:

1. I am one of those obnoxious people who post too many photos of their dog.
2. I need to break out of my comfort zone already and just ask people if I can take their photo, so I will stop taking photos of my dog.

Let’s jump past item number one as their is no rational argument against it. Plus, if you’re not a fan of furry, four-legged adorableness, you soul is likely ice-cold and we probably won’t get along anyways.

But the second point is worth discussing. As I go throughout the week, I see ample opportunities to take great photos but always fail to act on them. From the surfer who was walking down the street, slightly bleeding from his head, to Alyssa, sweaty and happy after our long run — these images would have captured true emotion and a compelling story. But my fear of asking leaves me scrambling to try and capture a photo for the weekly challenge and I kick myself for not being brave enough to just ask. But really, what am I afraid of?

So this is my proclamation moving forward: I will bring my camera with me more often and I won’t be afraid to ask people if I can take their photo. If you’re in my life, be it work, family, friends, or our paths just happen to cross, consider yourself warned.

Plus, this is the perfect excuse to get a cute, new camera bag, right? Any recommendations?