"In the Moment"

Are you able to screen out distractions so that you are totally "in the moment"

when you take a photograph or perfect it in the darkroom or digitally? Do you

create your best images that way? Or do distractions and intrusive thoughts

("The Visa bill is due Tuesday...") detract from the creative process?

I don't much think about it when I take a photograph. The darkroom takes a bit of concentration at times.

I don't think I've ever been able to truly "perfect" any photograph. But my personal best shots

or series of shots come when I'm in the groove and not over-thinking the composition or

timing. Too much thinking kills my shots- they just look contrived and uninteresting.

An addendum: There's a concept in zen teaching that translates to something like "no mind".

This also applies to martial arts, where too much thinking gets you injured. It can be applied

to just about anything, including making photos. Your experience takes over from your

intellect.

"...Are you able to screen out distractions so that you are totally "in the moment" when you take a photograph or perfect it in the darkroom or digitally?..."

 

 

Yes.

actually, I get yelled at for it. I can do it when shooting pics of my 2 1/2 yo grandsons, with a house full of people....some of whom apparently have been talking to me for a bit......heh.

I like Asher's comment about Zen except for "It can be applied to just about anything". One of the main goals of Zen is to achieve that state in absolutely everything, including the darkroom or photoshop or responding to forums on the web.

 

So, for those who have perfect Zen, a gentle bow.

 

For me, not always.

 

But I believe those images that manage to reflect that state of mindfulness are always keepers. I have argued before in this forum that it is being able to touch that state of mind in the viewer that makes any image work. It is the soul of our experience of beauty.

I'm certainly not thinking about the Visa bill (even though I have a pretty good one!)... I'm just trying to not screw up! So I'm running through a checklist in my head of things like composition, exposure, etc.

 

It's funny because I used to encounter the same thing (sort of) when playing. (I used to make a buck as a musician) and found that the more I thought about what I was doing - in terms of analyzing while playing - the worse I'd get! I had to practically make a conscious effort *not* to think about it and just let it flow.

 

I recently attended a concert by the great Bassist Victor Wooten who was discussing how he wanted to play "naturally". He used speech as an analogy saying that, for most of us anyway, we don't "think" about talking when we do it. He said his goal was to be able to play his instrument without thinking about it at all - just as if he was "talking" with his bass.

 

Judging by his performance, I think he's pretty much there. ;-)

For me, being in the moment means paying attention to distractions (both visual and aural

distractions in my close surroundings). Sometimes I incorporate them into my photos,

sometimes not, but they often will affect how I see my subject. I may isolate my subject, but

if I do, I am mindful of what I am isolating it from. I find I can sometimes tell a better story

that way. The Visa bill is another matter, which I try to pay little attention to at ALL times! But

if something seemingly external does come to mind, I figure it just gets into the mix like

everything else.

The Zen principle of "centering" works well to concentrate on any task at hand, especially one such as photography that requires the coordinating of so many variables.

 

For years, my wife would join me on photo "expeditions" (day trips in the car around New England,) but I almost invariably would come home empty-handed. Between selecting a comfortable spot for her to wait for me in the car, finding a nice place for lunch, pit stops and all the other considerations involved in being a genial host and tour guide, it was difficult to concentrate on my primary goal -- making pictures. I'd pass up promising locations because there was no appropriate place to leave the car, get a late start and miss the best light, have to leave early to get home in time for supper and miss more great light.

 

Finally, we had "the talk" and I explained it wasn't for lack of enjoying her company that I felt I simply had to make such trips on my own. Fortunately, she understood and the results have been fewer, but much more successful field trips with my gear on the front seat where it's ready to grab when I see a promising situation.

 

One of the joys of photography is the way it acts as a mirror in which we can see and discover ourselves. By expressing ourselves through our pictures, we peel off layers of the onion-like nature of our inner beings and find the essence of who and what we are. By its very nature, it's a solitary experience that's greatly enhanced by the ability to remain centered and concentrated "in the moment."

My "in the moment" experiences always take place in the darkroom. I find that I go into the darkroom, and before I know it, a full day has passed. It is the only situation I know of where I can stand up and concentrate entirely on the task at hand for 8 hours or more without noticing time going by.....

More Zen: If you think you know you don't know. Thus keep a clear mind and allow life to surprise you. Just have your camera at the ready.

Seems easy enough to eliminate distracting thoughts while taking a photograph. Dark room is pretty much the same.

 

I have the whole rest of the day to worry about bills etc. tho mostly this happens at night when I can't get back to sleep! :(

Interesting timing, I was just out on Wendover Road here in Charlotte, shooting Bradford Pear trees, and I do mean out ON the road.

 

Easier with no traffic either way, not so worried that one of the cell phone drivers would kill me

 

On the idea of thinking about what you're doing while doing it, Sam Snead said he once took all a guys money on the course by just asking on the first hole, "Do you inhale on the backswing?". All the sap could think of the rest of the round

Being totally in the moment is where I'm at.... at least with my personal work. I've found grabbing the camera and photographing is theraputic for me, all the stress, the thoughts of bills are forgotten, and least for a little while. And I feel so much better afterwards. :)

"Are you able to screen out distractions so that you are totally "in the moment" when you take a photograph"

 

This doesn't make any sense to me, unless you mean a setup shot as in a studio or other controlled environment.

 

I don't care to be disturbed when I'm 'perfecting', though, and my tendency is to be unaware of other things, thoughts or not.

The thing about, "Are you able to screen out distractions so that you are totally "in the

moment" when you take a photograph..." is that when you're in the moment you don't notice

the distractions because you're in the "zone" as they say. You don't screen it out, you just

flow into to it and you notice nothing else but what you're doing. It happens when I

photograph in walking around looking and seeing. Sometimes I have to remind myself where

I'm at or find myself in an awkward situation forgetting things like signs and people. And

reviewing the images, I have to say, sometimes I ask myself, "What moment were you in then

and there?"

there are no distractions when "in the moment" other than annoying people asking technical questions about what you are doing. All the rest is part of the experience, the zone. I couldn't imagine thinking about visa bills...when I'm looking through a lens all that stuff goes away...but yet the world becomes enormously clear at the same time. It's easier to see more objectively.

 

I mean, don't you experince that emgerance into that place? With every shoot it's sort of cold at first..mayb for 20 minutes...but the deeper into the shoot, the more clear it becomes.

The biggest place I notice this is when taking pictures of sporting events. The best places for pictures are often the worst places to watch the event. In basketball the place for photos is sitting on the floor near a basket. The place to watch is on the sideline at mid court. In football, the best place for pictures is at field level near and end zone. The place to watch is at the 50 yard line high enough to see both ends of the field. It is difficult to be a spectator when watching through the viewfinder. If I'm taking pictures at a basketball game, I have no idea whether they were playing zone or man-to-man.

I'm mostly on autopilot. The thinking comes before the shoot and at the computer or in the darkroom. In photojournalism you are often just chasing a shot or series of shots. In the camera room I do my prep work carefully but don't really get techinical during the shoot. Overthinking a shot can not only foul up the shot IMO but it is also really annoying for a model when you take his/her role too. When it comes to thinking through a shot I believe less is more.

Management of the (fully manual) camera has become unconscious for me. On the scene, it's

100% framing, focusing, working and reserving some sense to keep from getting clobbered

or walking into a manhole. But then my background is entirely newspaper and PJ work. Being

there, being selective, doing the best one can.

 

The outcome is almost aways disappointing, but so is life.

"The outcome is almost aways disappointing, but so is life."

 

Oh, my! I emphatically disagee.

First, as a Buddhist, I find the discussion on Zen interesting. No comments, though, other than that.

 

In regards to the original post, I find that as long as I am being mindful, my work turns out the way I expected it to turn out - if I just pot around, without putting thought into what I am doing, my results turn out poor, which not unexpected. Perhaps I should say that my results typically turn out as I expected regardless of my mindfulness. This is true both with the camera and in the darkroom, as well as mounting prints, and in displaying my work.

 

- Randy

"The outcome is almost aways disappointing, but so is life."

 

Unfortunately, such a mindset becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Life usually gives us about what we expect, leaving it up to us to handle the bumps in the road to our advantage -- or be upset by them.

 

Sure, there are always some disappointments, but even they suggest that we must have had positive expectations that weren't met. What of the outcomes that aren't disappointing? Don't they help to make up for the ones that are? A few spectacular successes can offset a whole bunch of disappointments, cant they?

 

As an astute observer of the human condition, Pico, I'm sure you understand more than most that life's a mixed bag and that it's important to focus on the good stuff. It's just that some days, the pickin's a tad slim.

Yes I'm able to do that, but you better focus on the subject/photo and take care of what is around you because before you know it, it starts raining, or you fall in the water, or you miss something that could be used in the picture. Distractions can be good and bad. The trick is to select the good ones and use them and let the bad ones not distract you.