Dearest Mr. Bradley,
Do you remember when we sat for an entire lunch break and talked about travel photography? I always thought that was funny, considering neither of us is a particularly skilled photographer. But we both love travel so much that we are curious about all fields related to it, hence our lengthy discussion on photography.
Something that you said during that discussion was very similar to a sentiment I heard in the Netflix Original show Tales by Light. The photographer in the episode was talking about his boyhood desire to dive the wreckage of the a Mitsubishi bi-plane that crashed into Rabaul harbor during World War II. He said, “I just knew that I wanted to dive it for some reason, you get these things in your mind from time to time and you envisage the image you want to create.”
When I first heard this, it triggered a memory in me, but it took me a while to put the pieces together. I remember that as you and I were wrapping up our conversation, you asked me if I had ever made a bucket list. I told you that I had, and you asked me to show you. After giving it a quick scan and acknowledging the fact that most of my dreams included travel, you asked me how I planned to accomplish those goals. I’m sure I gave you a basic answer about hard work and determination, but you said something that has stuck with me to this day. “Don’t worry so much about accomplishing everything. Just start with one thing - but you have to visualize yourself there, in that place or moment. Then you can work backwards and see what steps you need to take to get there.”
This idea of visualizing a goal and then working through small steps to accomplish it was very prevalent in Tales by Light. In the first episode, the photographer travels to multiple locations to shoot marine photos, including some action shots of whales. This seems like such a large, unattainable thing, but really it boils down to nothing more than a series of small steps. The photographer researched a location, contacted the people who owned the area where he would like to shoot, and then made necessary travel arrangements to go there. He gathered a team and equipment, and then used his diving skills to reach the underwater location where he could begin shooting.
This idea of achieving big goals by completing small tasks is one that I think more people could benefit from. Starting a new job, making new friends, or checking items off of your bucket list are all intimidating things, but not when we realize that they can be easily accomplished. Tales by Light showed the finished product of the photographer’s hard work, but it also showed some of the less glamorous parts of photography. I appreciated this, because it reminded me that just because you vision yourself achieving something doesn’t mean you’ve achieved it. You have to put in plenty of work, but for things you really want it life, it is worth it.
Do you remember when we sat for an entire lunch break and talked about travel photography? I always thought that was funny, considering neither of us is a particularly skilled photographer. But we both love travel so much that we are curious about all fields related to it, hence our lengthy discussion on photography.
Something that you said during that discussion was very similar to a sentiment I heard in the Netflix Original show Tales by Light. The photographer in the episode was talking about his boyhood desire to dive the wreckage of the a Mitsubishi bi-plane that crashed into Rabaul harbor during World War II. He said, “I just knew that I wanted to dive it for some reason, you get these things in your mind from time to time and you envisage the image you want to create.”
When I first heard this, it triggered a memory in me, but it took me a while to put the pieces together. I remember that as you and I were wrapping up our conversation, you asked me if I had ever made a bucket list. I told you that I had, and you asked me to show you. After giving it a quick scan and acknowledging the fact that most of my dreams included travel, you asked me how I planned to accomplish those goals. I’m sure I gave you a basic answer about hard work and determination, but you said something that has stuck with me to this day. “Don’t worry so much about accomplishing everything. Just start with one thing - but you have to visualize yourself there, in that place or moment. Then you can work backwards and see what steps you need to take to get there.”
This idea of visualizing a goal and then working through small steps to accomplish it was very prevalent in Tales by Light. In the first episode, the photographer travels to multiple locations to shoot marine photos, including some action shots of whales. This seems like such a large, unattainable thing, but really it boils down to nothing more than a series of small steps. The photographer researched a location, contacted the people who owned the area where he would like to shoot, and then made necessary travel arrangements to go there. He gathered a team and equipment, and then used his diving skills to reach the underwater location where he could begin shooting.
This idea of achieving big goals by completing small tasks is one that I think more people could benefit from. Starting a new job, making new friends, or checking items off of your bucket list are all intimidating things, but not when we realize that they can be easily accomplished. Tales by Light showed the finished product of the photographer’s hard work, but it also showed some of the less glamorous parts of photography. I appreciated this, because it reminded me that just because you vision yourself achieving something doesn’t mean you’ve achieved it. You have to put in plenty of work, but for things you really want it life, it is worth it.
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