Photography

2021-11-15

Photographs that evoke meaning for myself. A journey to practice noticing the present moment.

When I started photopgrahy, it was then that I began to ask myself questions. What is the intention. Why is this meaningful. What feeling is this showing. This process would change how I approach photography, and life.

With a DSLR I could take pictures as fast as the shutter could go. But when reviewing my pictures I noticed that I really wasn't taking pictures of anything. Nothing in particular. The amount of intention and thoughtfulness I put into taking the picture reflected in the outcome of picture.

At first I tried to learn the technical solutions to a great composition. Leading lines, light balance, negative space, rule of thirds, depth of field, foreground/background. Learning these technical things did help, but it only helped in a technical sense.

I know when it happened. I took a picture in the moment, without really thinking about it, but it just felt right. When I reviewed the picture, I realized what the thing was. I looked and could identify why I liked the composition, what I appreciated about the scene, how the snapshot in time made me feel. That was the thing. Searching for intentionality balanced with the evoking feeling in taking a picture. That was it.

From then on and now, I always try to ask myself a few questions of intention before taking a picture.

What about this am I really trying to show
Why is the worth doing
How does this make me feel

Then all the technical aspects kick in, mostly by muscle memory. Just like the technical muscle memory, the questions of intention are now muscle memory for me. This aspect carries over in regular life as well.

I've found through photography that I look around and notice the world differently than I had before. I look for what specific details I appreciate around me, how things make me feel, why something is meaningful. Sometimes a tiny flower will call out to me, or the way the sky blends into itself, it might be how someone is fully present in the moment. Its changed my life. Thank you photography.

Selected photographs below taken with: Nikon 3200 DSLR, Olympus Pen ee-2 half frame film