Well, what was it that famous French fellow with the hyphenated name said,
Carter-Breton or something <wink>: You think before the picture and after the
picture, but you never think while taking the picture. That may be a poor
paraphrase, but I think it captures the gist.
The zen photo folks talk about three elements of contemplative photography:
Perception, Discernment, and Equivalence. (The later, I believe, is heisted
from Stieglitz, but I'm not sure.) Perception is the initial split-second of
seeing, when color, texture, pattern reveal themselves. It comes in the absence
of thought, critical or otherwise. The problem is that most of us immediately
upon "seeing" a photo, begin to think about it in more critical terms, and we
lose the original perception. The second, Discernment, is where you attempt to
retain the perception while examining it more closely, Resting with it, the zen
master might say, while still not awakening the editor inside you. Discernment
permits a longer, softer look at the subject matter, though the whole process
may be a matter of split seconds. Equivalence is where you attempt to cause
your camera to capture your original perception. This is where thorough
knowledge of your equipment comes in handy, You can frame, ad
just an shoot without thinking.
I am very bad to start an immediate analysis process upon seeing a potential
shot. It really does get in the way.
In your case, the perception would be seeing, say, that third rock on the
beach. The discernment would be really looking at it without the editor coming
into play where you sort of grok the elements, and equivalence would be making
the camera capture the vision.
At any rate, an excellent first outing. I'd say you might have found a kit that
suits you. If you think so, don't let the engineers derail you. All equipment
is good. All photographers are not. <g>
--Bob
On Apr 2, 2011, at 10:37 PM, Marc Lawrence wrote:
> Thank-you, Bob. I really appreciate your opinion on such things,
> seeing as how much I appreciate your photos. Oddly, I think I like the
> stick least, but perhaps because I struggled (during and
> post-processing) against a different pre-visualisation.
>
> Cheers,
> Marc
--
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