Having my iPhone with me all the time is both a blessing and a curse: When I attend a concert or arts presentation I always say to myself: Just watch, listen and enjoy… don’t make pictures this time.

As you can guess this was to no avail: One afternoon my wife and I walked into a festival arena filled with beautiful young woman dressed in colorful Middle-Eastern and Hindu dance costumes, in perfect stage makeup and accessories, dancing and posing artistically as soon as you pointed a camera to them. Of course, I could not resist and started filling my iPhone with as many photos as I could get.

When taking pictures I concentrate very hard on image composition and in getting the decisive instant… but this effectively shuts down my other senses and the rest of my brain. I might get a nice photo but I miss the music and the overall show.  As I don’t know the choreography I really cannot tell when the dance will reach a high point and I have to keep adjusting my framing for not missing it: I forget about everything else.

My wife told me later that the show was really nice and of good technical level. I absently agreed thinking about what I had missed… I thought of playing some Arabic music while editing my photos for compensation…

Well, here are the photos. Maybe next time I will leave my phone at home… or maybe I will take my big camera along… We’ll see… Help me out please!!