Isn’t the color palette of this street shot beautiful? The well placed splash of red to offset the grays, whites, and blacks keeps the image interesting to the eye. Something about the way each part fits together is so perfect. But, is it too perfect?

We can’t know for certain where Les took this photo. He was a big fan of catching real life in action, but occasionally a series of his shots look almost as if the environment was staged. Perhaps this was just a well-off woman leaving her hotel on vacation, or perhaps this was part of some bigger staged event.

It was a time of true film; no quick fix digital touch ups could have brought this color palette together. The truth is, nobody will ever know for sure the setting under which this photo was captured and we can’t tell the truth by looking at it.

Isn’t that the world we live in now? With cameras in everyone’s hand allowing social media to make and break an individual’s influence and wealth, the pressure is on to have the photo perfect life. We are regularly fed a diet of staged life scenes in pictures and video. It can become nearly impossible for our brains to separate a beautifully lived life from a beautifully staged life.

There isn’t anything wrong with planning the picture perfect moment. Especially if the planning and end result can bring you and others joy. This photo, even if entirely staged, is a great image. One with just the right details and hues to keep us looking back over it again.

Still, it’s wonderful to think that in our normal everyday lives we can experience these same gorgeous moments. Moments that are worth reflecting on as we close our eyes at the end of a long day. We don’t need a perfectly caught photo to appreciate a walk on a sunny day, stepping out of a hotel on a nice vacation, or the times in life where things all just seem to line up.

In the end it doesn’t matter whether your day is one that has been planned for perfection from start to finish, or is unfolding in natural progression, it can truly be something worth seeing.