I was out early photographing one morning. At first i had the place to myself. I enjoyed the solitude and made the most of mother nature and the early morning light. As i framed an image i noticed something move, another photographer had come out to play. We worked our own little patch, respecting each others space as photographers do.

The sun kissed the horizon and roused mother earth to wake from her slumber.. This is usually my cue to leave. I looked towards the other photographer to give the obligatory nod of appreciation and thanks. He was busy, focussed on the horizon, watching the interplay of the light with the clouds and the water.

In that moment a remembered a very valuable life lesson, We Do Not Know What We Do Not Know!.

There are four steps to learning and change. Each needs to be worked through to go from not knowing to doing without thinking.

Unconscious incompetence. We do not know that we do not know how to do something. This is beginners luck, being able to do something we have never tried.
Unconscious incompetence. We realise we do not know what we are doing. We have been flying by the seat of our pants.
Conscious competence. We have to practice the new skill, such as learning to drive a car. We have to think about how to do be be attentive when practicing.
Unconscious competence. We do it without thinking, it is automatic, we go onto autopilot.

As i watched the other photographer i realised he was seeing something i was not. I sat down and watched before turning my attention to the scene unfolding before me. With a wry smile had accepted this was a case where I Did Not Know What I Did Not Know. I returned the the rocks and focussed my attention on the scene unfolding. I normally pack up and go home as soon as the sun pops over the horizon, today i choose to learn the lesson and hang around and do something different. The interplay of the clouds, the rising sun and the wave movement created some wonderful opportunities. As i walked back to the car i was thankful being the lesson. As i packed the gear away I took one last look out to see.

Another smile, i changed lens and headed back, the wind was blowing spray off the waves. More great shots all because i was willing to accept and learn a valuable life lesson.

It also brought Who Do You Listen to? into play. While not listening to my friend’s words I listened to his actions and it lead to some great images for me and a perpetual smile all day.

The lessons continued, on the way home i dropped into my favourite little cafe for a cuppa. s i sat writing this i had a group sitting behind me gossiping as groups do. K.D.Lang’s version of Hallelujah came on. As i sat memorised by her exquisite voice the gossip rocketed along obvious to the beauty that was surrounding them. It reminded me of the story of the world class classic violinist who played free in a train station in the US was was ignored by everyone, except the kids and a couple of old people. We are so busy being busy to see the beauty that embraces us each and every day.

Note to self: stop and breath in the beauty that surrounds me and be willing to learn from others and do things differently. Even i don’t know what i don’t know. Enjoy.