Week #44

After the Rain

"Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more."

Vincent Van Gogh

Week #33

Tea Cup

"It doesn't matter as much where you point your camera as where you point your heart."

Douglas Beasley

Last year I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a day with Doug Beasley learning about his philosophy on photography and practicing my camera skills as we explored the Twin Cities together.  We started the day in his home in St. Paul where he showed me his studio and talked about the basics of photography. After lunch, in one of his favorite local hangouts, we took off to practice what we had spent the morning discussing. Doug is a gentle and wise teacher. I will always cherish the time we spent together.

Doug's book - Zen and the Art of Photography: A Guide to Mindfulness in Creativity has just been updated and rereleased. This gem of a book is filled with the basics of Zen, mindfulness, and creativity and how we can use these practices to guide our photography. You can order the book directly from his site.

Week #30

Reading on a Sunday Morning

"The visual life is an enormous undertaking, practically unattainable. I have only touched it with this wonderful democratic instrument, the camera."

Dorothea Lange

Week #28

Paper Abstract

“To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality.It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.” 

― Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers

Week # 25

Aspen Grove

"No matter what your work, let it be your own. No matter what your occupation, let what you are doing be organic. Let it be in your bones. In this way, you will open the door by which the affluence of heaven and earth shall stream into you."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Week #23

Impressions

To see we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at.

Claude Monet

This week in class we looked at Monet and Impressionism in the context of looking at the phenomenal world as the way of the contemplative mind. We studied Monet and the way he used light, water, and nature to capture the the contemplative aesthetic. Monet had a fascination with water and it's reflective properties. My guiding questions for this week was - how does water reflect the world around me and in my photography practice, how does my mind reflect the images I take?

Week #22

Spring Flowers

"When we see things as they are, they make sense to us: the way leaves move when they are blown by the wind, the way rocks get wet when there are snowflakes sitting on them. We see how things display their harmony and their chaos at the same time. So we are never limited to beauty alone, but we appreciate all sides of reality properly."

Chogyam Trungpa - Shambhala The Sacred Path of the Warrior

Week #21

Sun Ray

"When you are able to look at things without saying, "This is for me or against me," "I can go along with this," or I cannot go along with this," then you are experiencing the state of being of the cosmic mirror, the wisdom of the cosmic mirror. You may see a fly buzzing; you may see a snowflake; you may see ripples of water; you may see a black widow spider. You may see anything, but you can actually look at all of those things with simple and ordinary, but appreciative, perception."

Chogyam Trungpa - Shambhala - The Sacred Path of the Warrior

So week three of Level II Miksang has been about the Ordinary Personal World or OPW. The baseline concept is the everything is ordinary and everything is magical. An object does not need to do anything to be this way, it just is. We focused on our personal environment working on how to take a "truer" picture that delivers to the viewer what we experienced in our flash of perception. At the same time incorporating into the experience or creating vs. letting it happen.

Week #18

Tree and Wall

"Our life is not average. It is unique and sacred and worth fully appreciating. Deep down we know this. Contemplative photography is a way to connect with our contemplative mind, the mind that knows this - the heart that knows this."

Looking and Seeing - Nalanda Miksang Contemplative Photography - Miriam Hall and John McQuade

I am looking forward to starting Level II of Nalanda Miksang Contemplative Photography with Miriam Hall this week. I took Level I of Nalanda Miksang last year and have been hoping to have the opportunity to take level II. Contemplative photography is a lifelong pursuit and I feel so blessed to have found such a gifted teacher in Miriam.

Week #15

Curtis's Hands

"Art has a way of confronting us, of reminding us, of engaging us, in what it means to be human, and what it means to be human is to be flawed, is to be contradictory, is to be often weak, and yet despite all of these what we would consider drawbacks, that we're also quite beautiful."
Juno Diaz

Week #13

Old Truck

"It is about letting our minds be quiet and spacious, moving out beyond what we think and then making work from there."

Sean Kernan

Week #11

Glass on Table

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

Elliot Erwitt

Week #10

Red Umbrella 

"Going outside and meeting the challenge of taking what is and making it yours, that's what photography does for me. It's not the subject that interests me as much as my perception of the subject."

Roy DeCarava

Yesterday morning I was sitting reading in our living room feeling sorry for myself. I been down for a few days with a cold and I had just had to cancelled a photo shoot at a friends house that I was looking forward to the next day. I was watching the rain fall down when I looked up and saw the red umbrella. Pulled up my camera and took a shot.  Always go for the red!

Week #8

Looking in the Window

"Very often I try to find something that matches a feeling I have. On the other hand, a lot of times I photograph with nothing specific in mind. I just play it as it comes. If it's good, fine. I find 'letting it happen' relaxing, a playful vacation. Stimulating pictures almost always result."

Minor White -

People often ask me how I decide what I want to photograph. I must admit that I usually don't go out with something specific in mind that I want to capture. I am more inclined just to show up and see what happens. Yesterday I was at the Vacaville Vintage Market poking around looking at the various treasures when I paused a moment and looked up to see this old house with this wonderful window. To others there this might look like an eyesore but to me it revealed a beauty and soul that only comes with age.

Week #7

Downtown Shoppers

Anyone who knows me know that I love to learn and share the experience with other like minded souls. I often take online courses as a way to stretch myself and hold myself accountable to getting out withy camera.

Right now I am taking an online class titled Photo Meditations. The class is being taught by a photographer and author by the name of Susannah Conway  The purpose of the class is to help us connect to our creativity and use our cameras as a way to connect ourselves to the world around us. Susannah provides wonderful materials and examples from her own work and the work of many other creatives.  Because the class is online, the students are from all over the world. We share our progress together and get to learn from each other as well as Susannah. I would encourage you to check out Susannah's site and to think about signing up for one of her classes. You don't need anything more than a phone camera - so get out there and start seeing your world with new eyes.

Week #6

Two Trees

"Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I'm going to take tomorrow."

Imogene Cunningham

There is something about the process of photography that compels me to want my camera with me at all times. I am most comfortable now when I am looking at the world through my viewfinder. Perhaps it has something to do with what Ms. Cunningham said - I am always looking forward to the next picture and the chance to see the world in a new way.

Week #5

Foggy Morning In The Backyard

Last week I listened to Krista Tippett interview Stephen Batchelor regarding his work with Secular Buddhism. If you aren't familiar with Krista and her podcasts, I recommend that you check them out at On Being. During the course of the interview, Stephen Batchelor shared that one of the most profound practices he took away from the years he spent in Zen monasteries was this Tibetan death reflection.

Death is certain.

The time of death is uncertain.

What shall I do?

 When I first heard him say these words I thought to myself what a  morbid statement but in fact, over the past week, it has become just the opposite. Like a gentle prayer the words have drifted in and out of my thoughts. They've become a reminder that my time on this earth is limited. They have acted as a focal point, a check-in, to make sure that my actions align with what is most important to me. They have released a renewed commitment to be fully present in my daily interactions with my family, my co-workers, and strangers I pass on the street. Life in it's whole is more vibrant and alive. So I ask you - what shall you do?

Peace

Week #4

Early Morning - Mt. Diablo

It's official - I'm a crazy person with a camera! Here in Northern California we had a glorious rainy week. Wednesday I was driving to work, sitting at a red light, waiting to enter the freeway when the quality of the light through the fog and the streaks of lights on the pavement overtook me. Before I knew what was happening I had rolled down my window and had my camera up to my eye. With only a few moments to try to capture in my camera what had captured my eyes and heart I clicked away. Soon the light changed, I laid the camera carefully down on the seat next to me and rolled the window back up. 

A few minutes later I found myself again fighting the urge to pull out my camera to capture the incredible images before me. The hills were glowing with the hint of the new day sun . I might be crazy but even I don't stop and pull over on Highway 4 to take pictures. I saw a road that meandered around the side of a hill off to my right and quickly took the next exit. Not knowing where I was heading I carefully starting climbing the hill on a road that was not much more than a paved path. I parked the car and looked down the valley. Sunrise on Mt. Diablo. So maybe I am a little crazy but it is so worth it!

Week # 3

Winter Hills

On Friday night I watched Willie Nelson receive the Gershwin Award for his contribution to the American Song Book. It was wonderful to see and hear so many tributes to this artist. Throughout the show Willie remained grateful and humble as he made his appreciation known to each of the artist honoring him. Near the end of the show Willie came down and performed with his sons and some of the other artists. As I was listening to the music I noticed that his guitar was not only scratched and banged up, but it was literally worn through in parts, leaving a large hole on the front.  Willie is an great artist not because of the instruments he plays but because of his artistic vision and his ability to touch each of us with his words and music. What a powerful reminder that it isn't about the "gear" but it is about an artist's commitment to their vision. Reminder to self - don't get distracted. One camera, one lens, one year!

Week #2

Newspaper and Hand

I've been thinking about ways to improve my photography this year and I've decided to only use one lens for all of my work. I'm going to use the new Fuji XF 35mm F2 that also happens to be my Christmas present from my wonderful husband. This lens along with my Fuji X-T10 should carry me through the year.

Valerie Jardin is a talented street photographer and teacher that talks quite a lot about the "power of limitations".  You can read her articles at the Digital Photography School . I'm hoping that by using one lens I will, slow down, take care to compose the shot, get it "right" in the camera, and develop muscle memory with my camera.

I'll check in as the year progresses with my thoughts and learnings as I move forward with one camera - one lens.