Recently I visited a river resort along the Courtois Creek in central Missouri while working on a story about tourism, and as I sidled up to a small beachhead I noticed a man diving from a rock into the clear and cool waters. I stopped and made a quick frame; waited for a second jump, then made a few more frames. Each time I worked closer to the rock, each time analyzing the previous frames and thinking about my next move.  Later when I looked through the raw take, this frame jumped off the monitor. It was the first frame, made absent of thought. The mood, the fragile separation between the man’s hands and the water, the subtle tilt in composition to carry the bottom canoe, and the delicate balance of light and dark tones seemed to meet at a confluence of which I can’t seem to recall. It may not be the greatest frame ever — although I tend to produce very quiet pictures — yet it speaks to me, and it’s a great reminder to keep thinking and analyzing down to a minimum while making pictures. Let yourself go and explore with your eye, not your mind.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC