Updates
Well, a few items to update:
The migration to Zenfolio is taking me a bit longer. Too many images, and I am taking time to re-process quite a few of them. I’m also trying to split the images between two sites (one oriented toward family and casual shots). As a result, the Zenfolio account does not have many images right now. More are coming soon.
I’m also trying to decide if I should add a watermark to all my images, and whether I want to prep images for selling through Zenfolio.
Regarding this blog, I’m working on getting the search function operational, and considering other layouts.
Finally, as you know there are always plenty of things to do, and although I am on sabbatical this semester, I still have a book proposal to complete, two papers to finish, teaching materials to prepare for next semester, three grants to write, an academic post-session proposal to write, and a family to spend time with and love.
I might post to this blog a few times a week this semester, and expect to migrate more images to Zenfolio soon, starting with my documentary shots of immigration rallies in Oregon. As the old Bartles & Jaymes commercials used to finish: “and we thank you for your support.”
Read More »Presence & Getting Better at Photography
At some point photographers come against a few questions regarding skill, craft, vision, and art. One question that emerges, and a relatively easy one to answer is: what does it take for me to do this not just well but with excellence? It is natural that an initial concern is with how we can become good at this activity. We recognize that there is a great deal of technical matter to master, and if we are motivated, we set about learning as much as we can about such aspects of photography. Invariably however, we come to the realization that in order to “do this” with excellence we need to see photography as much more than just pushing a button, changing a lens, using a tripod, “reading the light,” and so forth.
When we get enough technical expertise under our belt, we say, how do I move to the next step? What can I do to make my images be stunning? That is a whole different concern than the ubiquitous query in online forums regarding how to make an image “pop.” What we ask at this later stage is truly how do we become more than just good technicians. A friend of mine would say that at such a point, a person is asking “how do I further my artistic development, how do I nurture artistic vision and imagination?”
I agree. But I also think folks that really delve into photography have another question often not articulated, and perhaps it is the same question about vision but phrased differently:
Read More »Overcoming Some Obstacles Mindfully
A while back I wrote a post for another blog, and for folks on campus, regarding some obstacles that we experience in mindfulness practice (I lead a mindfulness group on campus). As I noted at that time, when I was writing “it quickly became apparent that these are nothing but my own challenges to practice.” It turns out that writing the list itself became an exercise in being mindful about my own practice. A mindfulness practice of course ought to encompass everything we do, and I try to make sure it permeates my photography. So, I thought, why not connect these “obstacles” to photography? I should say that mindfulness and photography are reciprocal activities for me. Photography enhances my mindfulness, and a mindfulness practice sure makes my photography practice better.
Since there were quite a few items I’ll post a few at a time here.
Facing our Assumptions & Inflexible Thinking:
- Either/Or Thinking: This kind of polarization is particularly unhelpful as I often come across folks who repeat things like, “a good practice HAS to be like this,” or who make claims about “the way an image should look” or what being “professional” or a “real photographer,” or “an artist” is or is not. In any case, a practice marked by either/or thinking would seem to be pretty limiting for exploring photography, our artistic selves, beauty, etc. We should try to be explicitly self-conscious about our own assumptions.
- Fear of Truth: This refers to the fear of facing the insight that emerges from deep looking and mindfulness. Often this fear becomes so intense that the insight from practice is distorted in order to make it fit with one’s own cherished assumptions. Discomfort with what we face about ourselves is unavoidable. We must welcome bracing insight about our own assumptions, beliefs, and claims.
- Seeing Only What We Expect or Have Learned to See: The tyranny of assumptions and expectations that are unacknowledged, or that we have been conditioned to expect, is enormous. A healthy mindfulness practice, whether in photography or any other activity, looks deeply to see how we fetishize attachments to brands, equipment, to this or that master, or particular approaches.
The theme here is that photography is a creative enterprise, too many assumptions, too much boxing ourselves in, limits our ability to be present and experience the moment fully.
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