Two weekends ago I was teaching a workshop in Boston, at Babson College. We were staying on campus at their Executive Conference Center, whose restaurant looked out over some small ponds at the edge of a woods. It was such a pretty spot that during breakfast we decided to come back after the school and shoot some pictures.

Bill Durrence was my partner teaching the school, and that evening we spent about an hour looking for photos around the ponds. We both stress to people the importance of getting out and shooting pictures, even when nothing special is happening. I like to think of it as exercising the eye - forcing yourself to look for photos wherever you are. But I prefer how Bill puts it - he relates it to the sketching that artists do.

Bill explains that artists, regardless of medium, spend much of their time making sketches. It's how they work through a concept, or play with a new idea. And more often than not those sketches get thrown away. That's an important lesson to learn as a photographer. You don't have to make a great picture every time you go out with your camera. But you certainly won't make any great pictures unless you go out and shoot. Plus you get the added benefit of spending some time walking around, exploring your environment, whether it's a city street, your backyard, or a national park.

And this is one of the things that drew me to, and has kept me in love with photography all these years. As anyone who's been on a trip with me will attest, I love shooting pictures. Doesn't matter when or where. Just the process of walking around with a camera and trying to find something interesting is one of my favorite things to do. Maybe it's because I look at myself as the monkey at the typewriter when it comes to photography. The more times I push the shutter button, the better my odds of making a picture worth keeping.

So how'd I do at the pond? Well, that evening I found just one photo I really liked, of a lilly pad. The light and water drops were nice, and a 1/8 second shutter speed allowed the water to be blurred by the breeze moving it. I went out again early the next morning and spent another hour there, and... nothing. But it was a great way to start the day!