Situational Awareness

Situational awareness is the self-defense technique of being aware of what is around you at all times. It is training yourself to recognize potential dangers and threats, find escape routes, and remain safe. Situational awareness is basically seeing and analyzing what is around you. So what does this have to do with photography or this particular photograph?

One of my favorite situational awareness terms is “Keep your head on a swivel,” which means to look around to remain aware of your surroundings. For years I’ve been teaching the fine art of turning around to see what photographic opportunities are behind you. Situational awareness training has taught me that simply turning around may not be enough. It may be better to look all around at your surroundings to see the photographic opportunities.

This photograph came from a situational awareness realization. While driving, I saw these dead sunflowers out of the corner of my eye on a local farm. Just noticing the flowers may not have inspired me to stop. What made me aware of the opportunity was the whole scene. The remains of these flowers were framed against the snow on the field. That field was slightly lower than where I could position myself. Any elevation change in the flat coastal plain of the New Jersey Pine Barrens is something to take note of. In this case, it allowed me to photograph the flowers from slightly above, framing them against a white snowy background.

Situational awareness training allowed me to analyze the whole scene and decide to stop and create this image. I’ll be adapting this idea into what I teach in presentations and workshops. Situational awareness in photography can be just as powerful a tool in creating art as it is in creating safety.

Enjoy!

Learn more about my photography workshops here

Learn more about presentations to your camera club or arts guild here