Category Archives: Dreamcatcher

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Streetshooter

December 6th, 2017 … The Excellence of Being

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Of course this is a loaded topic but nonetheless, I want to get into it some. There are times that when I am working, something comes over me and I am totally aware of my being.  Some may call the the ZEN. Perhaps it is. I read a series of books that has effectly altered my thinking and feelings about being. This was in the early 1970’s. The author was Carlos Castaneda.  Many say he made everything up but who cares. The world is made up and all we do is choose the parts we want to believe and love.  Anyway, it’s basically about Carlos and his relationship with a Native American mentor named Don Juan.

I think Don Juan had a more focused outlook on life than even the Zen Masters. Different for sure but extremely focused.

 

Some things Don Juan taught Carlos and me by reading, was that…Death is always on your Left Shoulder. He also taught that if you are doing something, it must be worth your death. If you are in the middle of anything and death comes to you, you must not have wasted life but embraced it and your death. Death must be worth you life and you are able to feel as a warrrior not only thru life but thru death.

 

What does this have to do with photography? Well, I believe that photography is a cause for going on. So, that being the case, what attitude should I have when working? What frame of heart and mind shall process what my eyes present to them? What is the switch that I can hit that makes things lighter and less important? I have never been able to answer these questions and more. I found that it is better to live the answers than to try to verbally define them.

The independant state  of being is attached to the breathing of photography.

I had a friend for a long time. His name is jack. Jack was a successful commercial photographer. He made a lot of money and was in demand in DC, Phila and NYC. We met at Oscar’s Pub years ago and chatted and each expressed our views on photos and stuff. Jack said I was too serious and asked how much money I made with my camera. I felt kinda second class and told him I had to leave.

It moved me about the thought of equating satisfaction and success with money. I really felt  kinda out of place. Life went on and cameras and photos came and went. One day I was at Logan Square and sitting on a bench. All the sudden, Jack came to me and sat next to me.  I said, Jack, it’s been a long time man. He said, yup,12 years and 2 wives.

I asked Jack what he was making photos of and he quickly stated that he gave photography up cause the money well dried out.  I asked him if he did personal wotrk and he said, never. Then Jack asked me if I still was making photos. I looked at him and said, Jack….if you need to ask that question, you don’t know me at all.

I shook Jack’s hand and got up and walked away. I never saw him again and yet I never wanted to either. The excellence of being is not absorbed from others but born inside of each of us. We all have the ability to produce a life with photos that teases our death. We can’t escape it but we can live the moment of excellence of being so that when the time comes, we depart with a peace that is undescribable to those that do not heed the warnings or the flavor of life.

I don’t expect many to agree with me or even like this post. That’s not the issue. The thing is, now you have an understanding of where I’m at.

So, tell us where your at?

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Photography, Street Photography

November16th, 2017 … A Casual Walk With My Intent … or Gone Fishing

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Like any serious photographer, I have my moments of discontent. What I mean is that the photos I’m making are ok for me to continue but not the celebrated ones we hope will shine. I wrote about this a few post back. Flashback to around 1973.

I’m sitting on the bank of a creek and fishing with Bill, my father in law and Bob his brother and my 2 brother in laws Dan & Billy. I have all the good stuff. Fenwick ultra lite rod, Penn reel and all the lures and things to make Opening Day of Trout Fishing a great experience. I had my Leica M4 and 35mm Cron in my vest pocket. I will not talk about the financial investment in this undertaking. We are fishing our own styles and I caught a few small ones and put them back in the water.  I said to Bob, what the hecks going on? All these people fishing and not many fish being caught. Bob was laid back against a tree stump like it was an expensive leather chair.

Donald, he said, 90% of the fish are caught by 10% of the fisherman. 10% of the fish are caught by 90% of the fisherman. I almost stopped breathing. I had an epihany, and it proved Bob right. Oh my I thought. Why am I doing this? Bob said, Donald….I come out here to relax. I love the fresh air, the water all the nuts like you trying to catch fish.  I said your fishing. He reeled his line in and there was just a sinker, no hook, no bait. He’s calling me nuts right.

Bob said. look, it’s very relaxing right now. No kids, no wife, no work just you bugging me, he smiled. I asked him, why no hook or anything? Donald, if I have a hook, then I need bait. Then the hook gets snagged on something so I need to start over. What happens if I catch a fish? I gotta deal with that and …it’s good fishing but it damn sure ain’t relaxing.

Making photos for me is like fishing. I love to catch the big fish but I won’t rule out the ones that are not keepers. I LIVE photography. I love every single aspect of it. If I was to just go for those great shots, what about the energy that goes into that. I mean if you picked up your camera and every time made your masterpiece, well, they wouldn’t be. The inverse square law dictates that in order to survive as a photographer, you need to take the good with the bad and love all equallly.

The ones you feel are not keepers, if you don’t love them you will not learn from them and probably not find the great shots you are capable of. Not every shot is a benchmarm, nor do they need to be. I go out on the streets and I am relaxed. I’m breathing, listening, seeing and processing in my heart abd mind photos I seek to find. You can do things the way you want but trust me, if you slack off because your not getting the work you rhink you want or need, you better open your eye, heart and mind cause your making a mistake.

I’m not saying to get complacent, just saying there’s a lot of fish in the waters. For me, I;m very relaxed and content just being alive with my camera.

….shooter out………………..

Dreamcatcher, Street Photography, Streetshooter

November 5th, 2017 … A junkies Lament

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Years ago I would walk most of Kensington Ave but I can’t now so I drive to a spot and then walk some. I parked at Lehigh Ave and started walking up towards Somerset St. I get under the Rail Bridge and I see across the street a familiar face. Mom the Ricoh GRII was at the ready and we made a photo. I put her in my pocket. I walk over to the guy on the sidewalk and say, Hey Harry, what’s up? He looks up and has a slow nod on from the dope but responds, yo ma’ whatz up? I ask Harry how it’s been and he says, 17 already. What? 17 years out here, nothing any better.

See a few years ago I worked the avenue making photos of the junkies and  hookers etc. I spent maybe 2 years there and got to know a lot of people.

Harry told me his wife and daughter both od’d years ago. His daughter was 14 and she been tricking since she was 12.  Harry asked me how I was doing and how the PTSD was creeping up on me. I smiled. Harry was in the Marines and served a few tours in Afghanistan. He was a grunt and I suppose that’s how he ended up on the streets. He said he didn’t need the VA for help cause he gets all the help he needs from the next fix.

He told me he was hungry and could I spare some cash. I handed him $20.00 and he said no. That kind of money I shoot, just a few bucks for a coffee and a hot dog. I asked hi if here had any plans and he said, someday I’ll get a hot load and then I can sleep. I ain’t got no family anymore and friends just wanna rip me off.

Don, this is my home under the bridge. Your free to pass by or stop and chat anytime. So I sttod up and said my fafrewella. He looked at me and said…

“Semper Fi”. Ya know, that’s about the highest honor a Marine can bestow upon another Marine. For him to do that for me, Damn man… Fucking Hard Ass Soldier..

 

Lighter days a comin’….. be blessed

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

November 3rd, 2017 … Motivation vs Satisfaction … The Battle to Sustain the Self

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The idea of the Unique photo came up in my last post. A rehash; the photo that makes you sing and that you feel is the best you get. This is a great experience, or is it? I will make a scenario and feel free to change the numbers as you see fit. Digital shooters normally make many exposures. Let’s say that a shooter makes 100 exposures. Out of the 100, there is 1 unique image. I’ll tell ya this, that’s a great percentage rate of Unique images. In real world, I doubt anyone gets close to this.

So what does this mean? Well, I believe the Inverse Square Law is applied here. I don’t exactly know how but maybe as we go along, it will reveal it self. Look,we are all in the same boat. We strive for that unique image because it gets liked and loved by the many. We feel a satisfaction that is stimulating and that drives us to continue. We have grasped the brass ring and feel that all that we were and all that we are will now continue on the Path of the Unique Image.

Well, that’s nice and worthy but what about all the ones left behind. If we are using 1/100 = Unique, what then of the 99/100 left behind? If the 1 Unique drives us and gives us energy and motivates us, what do the 99 others do? (ISL may apply, you decide) Do the 99 not give satisfaction even if in a different way? Do they motivate us in a way that maybe we aren’t sure of? Well, I believe that the 99 are just as important as the 1, (not talking USA politics)…

The 99 are not strangers to us. The 99 help to direct to the 1 because if we understand our work, they are a clear road map to the 1. All important decisions about gear, processing and everything will be handled by the 99. If we dismiss the importance of the 99 and only respect the 1, well soon there will be a loss in our light. See, the masses of images that we acquire and continue to make, are all that we are as a person.

I remember at the Museum, Ding pulled out a few boxes of Paul Strands work. He trusted me to be ok holding the photos because he taught me to di it proper. We put a box on a table and started going thru it. My heart raced as I went thru the photos. I could feel Paul standing behind me as I gazed upon his work. His existence was there at my fingertips. Ding said, the Curators did a splendid job here. After a minute I came up for air and turned to Ding, I asked what do you mean the Curators. Paul selected the photos right? Ding said, doesn’t really work that way. Paul makes the photos Ns the Curators will select the photos they want for the collection. We of course have the majority of his work. Then Ding told me to open this box that was around 11×14″. I opened it and the air from it was released and I breathed it in.

I started going thru the collection and there were photos of his garden, friends, Hazel and some from his ex-wives. Many photos came to light and I was totally absorbed. Ding said, these are the photos Paul made for himself. The ones that didn’t get selected. I felt a sense of well being. I mean I felt that maybe the Wizard was shown to me in actual light.

What this boils down to is this. When you look at someone’s work you admire, remember that there are more photos that are not seen than those that are seen. Chances are that a curator or editor has helped in the selection of what your seeing. It’s all good and it works this way. Perhaps we need not cut ourselves to pieces by comparing our work to another. Maybe we should seek the unique and compare it to our own work. That’s the best way to have sustainability and to manage to love our work and ourselves. We are all unique and if you learn to love your mundane, then maybe your unique photos will come to light.

…………………………………………….end transmission……………………………..

Dreamcatcher, Street Photography

October 31st, 2017 … The Dreamcatcher … Recipricating Energy

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Andre’ the Leica M240 and i was out on Market Street. We were walking at a nice comfy slow pace for 2 old guys. Actually I’m older than Andre’ but his lineage predated me so, we are equal. One should always be equal with their camera. One should always be equal with their process. No matter how hard one tries one will never be equal with life.  What does this mean? I’ve talked about stance before. Stance is how you are perceived by the world. What you do and how you do it effects your stance.

Well everyone on the planet has a stance. For shooters the stance is crucial to making photos. It’s not just about how you work your stance but also just as important… how the world and the people in the Frame work their stance. and how you perceive that. Of course this is all reality based. I mean that mostly things are tangible and thue we can accept them or not. Even if not, we can grasp what we not accept.

What about things not tangible. Things that exist but maybe in a different state of being. How about thoughts? What dimension are thoughts? So the way I see it is, thoughts, emotions, feelings all manage to effect our stance. Our stance has a direct relation on what and how we make photos. It has the innate ability to conjure up dreams. These dreams will flow into your thoughts. Your thoughts will seek the affirmation of being  real by trying to find photos.

 

When you find your photos they may become a catalyst  to create thoughts  and those thoughts can trigger dreams. This is an example of the photographers concept of Reciprocal Energy.

Anyway, Andre the Leica M240 and I were out making photos. I mentioned this at the start of the post. For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to isolation, loneliness, detachment  and other emotions similar to these. I suppose that I am seeking my self out there with my camera. I think I find pieces of me in the photos I make. Maybe the photos are more me then I care to admit. This is of course a very personal situation and I understand the position this places me with my work. I kinda think you, yeah YOU the one reading this has a similar situation.

 

So I look at my photos and many are the catalyst for my Dreamcatcher work.  When I sleep, which is never long, I may see these photos in my minds eye. It’s better than the nightmares that usually haunt my mind. When I wake, perhaps when I’m out working, the thoughts from the dreams manifest in my vision and I seek to satisfy those thoughts.

The energy a photographer acquires and uses is the driving force of his/her vision. Un-Photographers walk around and see things and most does not penetrate the mind or heart. Photographers see things and make photos of things. When the mind processes these images, they become a part of your photographic value system. You can not escape this reciprocal energy. Fight it as hard as you may and you will lose every time. These thoughts are what make you and your work unique in the universe of photography. They give birth to your photos. They keep driving you to find the next photo. They bless you with a photo that sings a song that Mother Light smiles upon. They don’t happen very often. We don’t want them to anyway. They would dilute themselves into excellent mundane photos.

The beauty of the Mundane is that it makes contrast to the excellence of the Unique. They say and I damn sure don’t know who they are but I assume they are someone……that the Unique photo is what keeps you driving and working hard to find you next photo. It is supposed to be the driving force. Well, I don’t feel that way. I am a lifer in photographer. I have learned that what drives me is not the Unique photo but the entire process of working. I am not now nor ever was a heavy shooter. I go out and usually make around 20-30 frames. I do this 3-5xs a week for over 50 years.

I love my cameras, I name them. I love the entire process of photography. I love the reciprocal energy that drives me. I get my share of unique photos and even some that sell to my collectors and galleries etc. I LIVE making photos. They are all my children and I am the origin of my work.

I have more thoughts and will post in a day or so…….. be blessed everyone and maybe once in a while, take note of what your doing and fall in love with it.

Dreamcatcher, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography

October 18th, 2017 … Observing … Social Commentary Ain’t No Crime

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…..ya got yer politicians doing nothing but shamming the people, ya gotz yer nfl players that don’t show respect to the flag and that means to all Americans, then ya ya got no good health care and no money to get it anyway……

I think there is a lot more that gets shoved in our faces and feces but I ain’t one to say to much.  See, we are all non-immune from the social injustices in life. The way it effects most but not all photographers, is like a spice or flavor added to our work.

Ok look, I ain’t supposed to know about this stuff and certainly not to express it here or anywhere else either.  I know you will find this hard to believe but, shhhh….looks around….hmmmm ok then…. it is said from photographers from centuries passed that walking around and making photos, well things could effect you. Crazy huh.?

We are not isolated from others and more importantly, we are not isolated from ourselves. If we walk down the street and see a homeless person on the side, laying there….even if we don’t make a photo… that sight effects us in ways we may not want to pay attention to. Maybe we are walking around and see store window that’s designed to attract middle class working people, that effects us also. We can not escape the elements of life and all that comes with it. We are attacked, assaulted by life all the time and then we are blessed with simply breathing in the sweet stench of the street that once inside us, has the ability to consume us and overtake the heart.

There needs to be a release because there is no escape from life. Death, that’s not a solution to life. Life is the cause and the solution for living. Photographers are blessed with the ability to digest and find a meaning for oneself.

We as photographers are the lucky ones. Of course all beings are invaded by life’s good and bad. Photographers process all that confronts us and we make photos of whatever we decide to make them of. Just because we choose not to let the virus of life infect our personal world, doesn’t mean it’s not in our DNA.

The blessing for we photographers is not in the making of the photos, but in the gift of having others see what we feel and think. We don’t need to have many comments or accolades. We just need a few from people that try to understand us, other photographers.

Therein lay the real Social Commentary.

 

Dreamcatcher, Leica, Street Photography

October 17h, 2017 … Flashback … Hue Vietnam … Losing My Religion

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….. “Jingles, get your ass out of there and fall in.” See, I been here long enough to know I ain’t got much humanity left in me but dang it, I’m a photographer. We are humping thru what’s supposed to be friendly area and not have to sweat too much about ambush or fire fight or mortars. So they say. We get near these statues of Buddha and other spiritual beings. I am like in awe of this. My eyes wander all over and I pull the Leica and start making photos. Yes, your right. I was making photos back then and not taking them.  I could feel the energy from Buddha and it’s like he was crying. I lowered my head and my heart took over. Not supposed to do that, supposed to be a grunt. Well, I found that Grunts have more heart than any living being. I looked up at Buddha and I felt a weight being lifted. No, it was Hentz taking 60 rounds from my sack. Well, that’s a poor excuse but at this precise moment in life and my time, I felt a kind of spiritual awakening.

I was born Jewish and did the Bar Mitzva and went to Hebrew school. I wanted to be a good guy with a strong religious belief.

Anyway, back to Hue. As I stood in front of Buddha I knew that I had lost my religion. I felt like in order for me to regain my humanity, I would need to abandon many things I learned. I would need to stand in front of THE LORD and and be accountable for my life and actions. (what’s this got to do with photography Shooter?…relax)

I could feel the cold steel of my M-16 on my shoulder. Then all the sudden, these rays of light passed by Buddha and fell upon me. I looked at my Leica and felt my rifle and as the light shinned upon me, I felt like I wasn’t lost anymore. I wasn’t just lost in Nam, I was lost in life. The light that shinned on me was from Mother Light. I could feel the warmth of my Leica. I felt like I was being born again and that a religion was being born from within me and I understood. I knew standing in front of Buddha that he had blessed me with the love that photography would provide all my life. I had abandoned what I thought was Holy and let myself be born to a belief that was in me since I was born.

I wish I could say that I made all this stuff up and that I was a good writer. Bill tells me I am but the thing is, I write what’s coming from my heart. It is something I can never get used to. I turned 21 in Nam and turned 68 on the 8th of Oct. All this time these things have lived inside me. They never went to sleep permanently. Some say that life is but a dream. For me and countless other vets, Nam is life and we live it every moment of our existence. Reality that I am a part of  in the here and now, that’s not life to me. That’s the Dream.

Photography still allows me to make photos of the Dream I am in. My camera’s name is Andre’, together we are the Dream Catcher.

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Street, Street Photography

October 15th, 2017… A Photography Lesson From Vietnam …The Divide

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….and the sweat running down me, all over me was like a river of tears. It’s 115F and not the heat of the day. LT Biggie says to me, Jingles, you gotta get outta here, your evidence that we all existed.” He meant that because I made photos of everything and everyone. I was kinda like in auto mode. Me, not the camera. I have bugs all over me, I think there’s a leach making love to my back, not sure. I guess it’s like anything else in life, if ya can’t see it, maybe it don’t exist. My M-16 is against me as I sit under a tree, trying desperately to cool off. The Leica M4 is in my hand and catching some rays to keep him dry. The sun dries out the moisture. I wanna close my eyes and sleep till I’m 60. Charlie has other plans cause he wants us all to sleep forever. Not an issue cause we all want that for him.

I smell the weed all over in the air. Some of the guys are as stoned as it gets. Many others are drinking whiskey, any kinda booze. No matter, it’s all the same. Try to escape the reality we are cast in and believe we will never escape. We are brothers of a different kind until the shit hits the fan, then we are all the same, all on the same side, all doing the same things, fighting for each other.

Jock comes over and sits next to me. He takes my camera and rewinds the film but not all the way. Takes the film out and hands it to me, says 11. Then he does his inspection to check things. Put it on 1/15 sec and listens to that lovely sound of the ball bearing. Closes his eyes and brings the camera to his nose and slowly breathes in the scent. Moves the camera a little around and looks in the cavity, blows gently. Then he takes a sewing needle from his bag and gets a small hair against the pressure plate. He ask for the film and says “number”….I said 11. He winds the film to frame 12 and hands me my camera.

 

I had never seen a man make love with a camera and I learned what it meant and I still do that periodically. I name my cameras. We sit back a little and he hands me a cig. I lite up and draw deep into my lungs. Maybe I would be lucky and my heart would explode but it doesn’t. I just cough like the idiot I am. Jock is making photos of the troops, many drinking and many smoking weed. I like watching him work cause I learn about being a human with a camera. I’m a grunt with a camera and not a human. That’s what Congress and the politicians tell us. Your grunts, do your job.

If I knew then what I know now. I’d like to have 2 players from every NFL team there with us. See, them guys are strong so they could help pull the bodies of my friends  to the chopper. And they got good eyes looking for the ball so they should be able to find the legs and arms that got blown off easier then us. Many of them like to sexually abuse woman. Wonder if they would find those woman that lost legs and arms and the desire to live sexy and nice. I do but I’m just a grunt, not a human.

Maybe I’m too hard on the guys. Perhaps they could just all get Harley’s and call the Warriors Watch Riders and learn to respect the troops and first responders. WWR members would teach the manners and respect.

…..brain is on vacation but my mind goes back to Nam and sitting there with the troops and Jock. Jock snaps the shutter and looks at me and says…The Divide. I look at him and say, WTF is The Divide. Jock says, for the rest of your time on the planet, you will live and make photos of the Divide. He explained that the drinkers and the potheads are on either side of the divide. Same for Charlie and for US, the divide. Everything and everyone is on the edge of the divide. Politicians, The Law everything. I sat back and took a sally joint from Bro Hentz. A few good hits and I understood.

As it turns out, Jock was and is correct. See, think about juxtaposition….. divide. Contrasting elements, divide. Maybe if we look at things as a division, we may see the right side of it, or the left side of it. Perhaps, maybe just maybe the interesting part is not whats seen on either side, but what lives in the middle of the divide.

Go get you camera and find out, I’ll do the same and meet you here in a few days.

Dreamcatcher, Street

September 20th, 2017 … One Shot Per Shoot

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The thing abut the streets is, if your really in the streets working and breathing, then you should be aware of your surroundings. I don’t mean like watching out for the criminals or worse, politicians that mean you harm  and try to rip you off. The heck with them. After all that goes without saying. Life 101, watch your stuff cause ya know some one else is watching it.

I’m talking about the here and now and where it is. Maybe I’m just an old cocker and set in my ways but I feel as an observer, the environment is observing me too. I feel energy from almost everything. I don’t mean I talk with buildings and cars and stuff. I’m busy enough talking with my camera.

So Mom the Ricoh GRII and I are walking around. I feel the energy from the buildings kinda calling out to me to make a photo of them. Lonely and sad buildings are. They serve people in many ways and yet we rarely pay attention to them. But I do and feel the buildings energy. The streets call out to walk upon them but not to ignore them. I don’t Anyway, if you don’t pay attention to the energy of all forms of life regardless of what life means…. then when your out working, you may be on the streets making photos but you are not IN the streets.

“LIFE” to a shooter means “STREET”. I say life first before street and you should know why. So anyway, Mom and I are walking on Market Street and going East. I’m on the South Side. I get to 8th St and I turn around and cross the street. I go into the Mellon Center and looking around. Ok, so now I get a little weird but it’s me and I don’t feel weird.  I put my hand against the wall and close my eyes for a second…..then I can feel the energy from the wall and it feels like vibrating a little.

Ok, here’s the point. You can laff about energy from buildings and maybe from streets talking as you walk on the not paying any attention. Maybe you say I’m out of my mind. That’s a shame. See, I know something. I know the the buildings you don’t feel energy from and the streets you don’t pay attention to….well….they will all outlive us. WE will be dust and the buildings will give energy to all that come after us. Most pay no attention to any of this and that’s ok. I choose to live my life believing everything on the planet deserves respect and love and attention.

I was heading down the steps and then saw my shadow with the parts of the building and the shadows it cast and I knew we share light together, I was a part of it all….CLICK!

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Streetshooter

September 4th, 2017 … One Shot per Shoot … Rekindled

23 Comments

Ya’all know I’m a normal guy. Seriously, my shrink tells me that, well not 3 or 4 times a week but maybe like once a month sometimes maybe. See, I got this issue with always taxing myself. Not like the IRS taxing but the kind that makes my brain hurted and then go on vacation …. but I’m used to this and it’s not normal or anything to think about. It’s just my way of keeping the inspiration going. Go on, laff… have a good chuckle. Yeah, yeah, old shooter is going off again. Youin’s be right. Ok, see we can all go out and shoot many photos in the course of an outing. I call these outings, shoots. Comes from my daze when I did some of this for money.

The thing is, without discipline, we don’t tax ourselves and maybe we even stifle ourselves. Not good and what’s worse, is that it happens and we don’t know it is or did happen. Here’s an observation. There’s a principle in photography called, The Inverse Square Law. This states that Less is More and More is Less. so if we apply this to making photos, we could see it as, making a lot of photos on a shoot,  probably gives less satisfaction or…. the shot that makes you breathe. Well, my brain couldn’t think this way, here’s why. If that’s the case that more is less, then less is more… wait, wait. So, I see it as, if I shoot less, maybe I get more satisfaction and possibly the shot that makes me breathe.

I started to think about this cause I wanted a conclusion I could not only live with, but to apply and  teach. Obviously going out and burning many exposures in hopes of a good frame is not a brilliant but very popular method of operation. Same token says, I could just shoot less and try for that shot that makes me breathe, ya know the shot that is more than anything you anticipated.

Hmmm I thought. If this Mr Inverse guy made this Square Law and we have to live by it, maybe there’s something I need to uncover. See, here it is. If your out there burning many exposures and hoping to catch the magic frame, there’s a good chance your INTENT is confused. On the other hand, if your out there looking for just one shot per shoot, well…seems to reason your INTENT is more focused. What happens with the later method is….you develop a sense of timing, framing, selection, and being in the here and now without confusing yourself. You get to feel, think, see, breathe your frame. I’m not saying to go out and just make one exposure. I have done that for years with my 8 X10 Deardorff. I am saying that by slowing down and being alert and tuned into everything, you get a ZEN sense of the moment. Instead of going out and machine gunning with you camera  hoping to catch something, you go and just try to catch just one. If you know you got it, go back and process it and start over next cycle. Do not succumb to the fascination of making many exposures.

Remember, all the gear and stuff you acquire and use is for one single purpose….to make a photo that when you view it….makes you feel that you made a part of the portrait of you and your life. So, maybe just focus on a single frame for each shoot. This will allow your eye, heart and mind to work together with your camera and help you on your journey.

Be blessed my friends and even in this time of mass fear thru the world, stay focused on yourself and your loved ones.

seeya soon………shooter out…………………………………………..