Tag Archives: Intent

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street

Street … More Thoughts … More Findings

May 25, 2015 streetshooter 8 Comments

It was hot as hell. I don’t really know that it’s hot as hell cause I hear tell it’s really hot there and I have no desire to find out anyway. So let’s just agree that it’s bloody hot. I’m walking my bloody hot zombie walk and I can’t be satisfied cause I don’t drink beer anymore. The problem is that I drink a lot of water. Yup, that H2O wet stuff. When I’m working the streets, I have a mental map of where restrooms are so I can take a leak. See, water goes thru me quickly. So I try to just drink enough to stay alive and refresh when I get home.

I was getting tired and decided that I had enough for the day. I think I did like 27 frames in a 3 hour period.

So I started to walk to the Elevated entrance at 11th street. As I get close to the stairway, there’s a young woman looking at me like she’s seeing Death. I looked back at her and I felt the same vibe as she did. Now I don’t really know what she was feeling but I felt it anyways. She never took her eyes off me, not for a second. I wasn’t like a sexual feeling, I know that all to well. It was more a lonely feeling and for a brief moment we shared that loneliness together. I made the turn to go down the steps and readied Walker the Nikon Coolpix A and as I started down the steps, I froze and looked her right in the face. Our eyes met as if we knew we would never see each other again and that made us both sad. I raised the camera and as our eyes locked, Walker mad the photo.

I started to descend down the stairs and still her eyes locked upon me. I looked at her and as I was now going out of sight, I saw her bend over and continue to look at me till we both disappeared in the darkness of Humanity. I got on the train and sat back in a seat with a young black girl next to me doing magic on an Android. It amazes me that these things can even happen on a phone. She looked at me and smiled. I started to check out the photos from the walk and as I did, I notice the girl stopped playing Android and started to look at the screen on my camera. When I got to the last frame, the one above the girl said to me, that’s awesome mister.

seeya tomorrow…………………………………………be safe out there but shit, be yourself……………………………….

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Streetshooter

Living With Street Talk … Living With Yourself

May 14, 2015 streetshooter 2 Comments

Sometimes I get tuned into things that I don’t know I’m tuning into. It’s just cause I’m old now and don’t give a shit unless I can make a photo I like. I got 2 here, I mean there’s others sleeping but these two kinda do it for me. I was walking down Market and right in front of the Federal Courthouse, all these people blocked my path. I mean the nerve of these people. I have to make photos, get the hell outta my way. No, they got their fancy dance TV stations all over and every is racking up some of their 15 minutes. I’m in real close cause Andre’ the Fuji X100s told me to get close then get closer. Wonder where he got that from, imagine that.

So I did get in there and a few Fed agents were probably nervous but that’s ok cause I don’t give a shit right. Here’s something to ponder. It’s not easy to digest and act on but you really must in order to achieve self satisfaction.

Defining your photos is the most important thing you will ever do. I don’t just mean the content. It means content election, timing,approach, presentation and some other things I can’t remember this moment. When your working hopefully you know what your stuff is and that helps you find it. What makes us different from everybody else is not location or camera etc. It’s your eyes. How you plug your eyes into what you are seeing is the key. Then seeing the photo in your mind is the goal. It’s called Pre-visualization. Ok, no one can do it all the time but think about it like this. In your mind you have a preset that you feel is your vision. So when you raise the camera to make the photo, the preset should activate.

In LightRoom there are presets and you can make your own. The mind needs to think like a preset or it’s lost. Some might say that this is making preconceptions. It is and even if you don’t work this way, you have preconceptions about a photo or you wouldn’t make it. What I’m saying is, don’t live by others preconceptions. Make your own so you recognize your work.

There is no one way to do anything in life. There is no path to take to get you to the magic garden. It’s inside you and always was. It’s up to you to fight and say, “I am me and good or bad, these are my photos. I love them because they are me and I am them and they do not exist without me and I don’t want to exist without them. ” That means that you have committed to your work and committed to make a signature that you recognize.

If your out there trying to fit in to the IN Crowd or to be accepted by others, well I pity you and you have my condolences for a wasted life. I the end we all get to lay on our death bed and that’s not the time to be sorry about what you did with your life, it’s the time to say, hey, I did what I felt was right and I made what suited me. I am ready to go to the other side.

Excuse me, do they have battery chargers over there?

Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

Streetshooter … Thoughts and Findings … Defining and Finding “Intent”

May 5, 2015 streetshooter 11 Comments

Sometimes I just want to make photos and not for any other reason then the enjoyment it gives me. Whenever I do tho’, I feel guilty. I feel like I’m not working which is bullcrap. I mean I still get my 5 miles walk in. I’m still carrying my camera. I’m still trying to find my photos and trying to allow my photos to find me.I would think it’s a matter of intent but I know that is wrong. My intent is to make photos. I feel that everytime I pick up the camera, Hmmmm. So what is happening when I feel that I’m somehow working different but I’m not.

So if I’m doing things kinda the way I do things and I’m thinking about things the way I do and the camera is too, where is the variable?

Maybe it’s not me at all. Maybe theres some kinda Kinetic energy from the subject matter that is working in a strange way and maybe I am responding to that energy in a different way. Nah, even if that’s true, I can’t let it alone like that. I am accountable for everything I do and make in this world. There are no accidents and there is only my incompetence or inability to deal with life and all things living or dying or dead. So that must mean photographically that I am the origin of my work and I don’t accept that. I believe that I am only partially the origin of the work. That must mean that I am only partially accountable for the things that’s don’t work. Mayne this sounds like a bunch of contradictions and maybe you think you don’t have these issues but I beg to tell you that you do. I see it as more an act of discovery. I’m 65 and been a shooter all my life but doing something for a long time don’t make it right, it just makes it a long time coming.

It is also said that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is insanity. I have my VA Shrink, what’s your excuse? So maybe it’s the fact that I work in Center City all the time, well, most of the time that is finally taking a toll on me. Funny, I was shooting Market Street for a while last year and I felt like this. So I took the Elevated Train out to 69th & Market. I walked around about 90 minutes, went back to Center City and worked for 5 months and never felt stifled. That alone amazes me. I mean it’s not like going to Paris for vacation. It’s just a few miles away from my normal stomping grounds.When I’m having these moments, even changing cameras means nothing. I just see the same shit with a different camera.

I write this because I know everyone with a camera goes thru this. It’s normal and it might seem like the doldrums will never pass. Well, let me point a beam of light onto the subject. I think for me, it’s more internal then external. I mean if I bring up the old preconceptions that are harbored in my mind and heart then my eyes shall see them as old preconceptions. Regardless of my intent, I am destined to fail.Sure, I’ll make photos and sure I’ll probably like some but, I wont get what I am looking for because I am not connected on all levels.

Here’s some things I discovered and figured out. I am not claiming to be the inventor or Doctor of Photography. I am just a guy that’s made photography a very important of my existence and these are things I try to live by.

There are 3 facets to photography. Eye, Heart and Mind. The Important thing is INTENT. Try to visualize a Pie. In the center is INTENT. Equally at three points are Eye, Heart and Mind. There are 3 parts because Intent is why you do things and not how you do things. The other 3 are how you do things. All parts are the sum of one and effect each other at different times.

Now I am distracted on the streets and don’t know why. SoMy intent is to make photos and my heart and eye are working together butmy mind is preoccupied with why it isn’t working right.

So if the center of the pie is intent and lets say, that’s where the photo wants to live,it’s impossible because even tho my intent is good and my mond and eye are good, my mind is on vacation so I can’t get what I want because the system is failing. All parts must work and if one part doesn’t, well, don’t fight or pressure yourself like me, just go with the flow and in time it will fix itself.

Thee is a place I try to live in most times but I can’t be there all the time because I’m human as you and it’s impossible. The place is called, “The Here and Now”. To get there you must apply the principals I just described. If you don’t know where this is, it’s no on a map, it’s not found by Google, no GPS will get you there. The only way is to Understand and LOVE your Eye, Heart and Mind and then when your out shooting, pay attention to the MOMENT because that’s where you need to be to be in the HERE and NOW.

If you think this is nonsense, well look at your work. I promise you that this is where your images live. They may only speak visually but you need to be able to understand why and how you came together with the. If your not in the here and now with your camera, where the hell are you and why?

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

Philly Streets … More thoughts and Findings … Olympus Pen EP-5

April 27, 2015 streetshooter 8 Comments

I seem to get intoxicated with life on the streets and then it has a flavor of just life. See the streets are life but life is not only the street. Remember that. It means you can make photos of any damn thing you want and it’s legal and ok to do it with intent. I remember being in Nam and we were on a mission to check around Chu Lai base perimeter from the outside. I wanted a smoke, didn’t have a lighter so I asked Sgt Biggie for a light. He tosses me a Zippo. Listen, a grunt ain’t no grunt ain’t got a Zippo. So I lite my smoke and then look at the lighter. It was silver colored but tarnished with blood, sweat and tears. On the lighter was an inscription that read….“For those who fought for it, Life has a flavor the protected will never taste”. I instantly grokked that and I remember it as a memory for living.

Photography shooter, don’t drift off again….OK LET ME GET TOO THE POINT

Margaret Bourke White is quoted as saying…..“No eyes ever will, nor ever shall, see what I see now.” Well, She was a grunt in photography and all grunts grok her words. She was a warrior in life and her words equal for photographers what the grunts words mean for the Infantry. See, the point is that we must be warriors in life. As photographers we must do our work without fear of acceptance or rejection by others or by ourselves. We do our work because we must. We don’t define our work, it defines us. It makes us who we are and shows us the way to become who and what we strive to be.

Maybe you are the person that doesn’t take your photography serious. That’s fine and I hope you are satisfied with what you are doing. I see it kinda like this but it’s not a solid vision because it changes as time goes on. Who are we responsible to with our work. I don’t mean a job like weddings etc, I mean our real work, the work from the heart and soul, our personal work. When you release the shutter are you thinking about where the image will go and where and who will see it? Will they like it. Will they accept it and will they accept you. If they do accept you, will they always? The hardest part of our process is to see our own work. We have a tendency to want to please others and also want to be accepted. That’s all very nice but if it’s effecting your work, and it is, it becomes a problem quick. The thing is that we are effected by input and that in turn effects our output. The worse part of input is when it comes from inside us. That’s the stuff that has the strongest effect on us because it’s self generated and we have little control over it.

Here’s a quick thing I realize, I need to express more about this. I remember my Mother asking me why I did so much photography and how I loved it all my life. I told her that when I die and am on my deathbed and THE LORD comes to me, I will say that I lived the best life I could and that I am ready to go, I wouldn’t mind some more time but I’m ready. This moment can happen for me at any second and I feel that.

I think the fear in living is dying. The you get to the slab and lay there naked and you realize, OMG, I wasted my life. I should have done this, and that…………..

What this means in photography is that you come in alone and you go out alone. It’s your camera and your life. Make photos for you and if others like them along the way and maybe buy them or collect them, wonderful, but if that’s why you made them. That’s a waste of love and life.

Who Loves Ya Baby…………

…………………………………………………………….shooter out…………………………………………………………………..

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Streetshooter

Philly Street … Thoughts With … Olympus Pen EP-5

April 22, 2015 streetshooter 16 Comments

So I grabbed Ruth the Olympus Pen EP-5 and an extra battery and a lenspen. The camera has the Lumix 20mm f1.7 II. We headed out the door for the trip down to Center City, namely Market Street. There’s a feeling on the street something like we are all coming out of hibernation. For me it’s like breathing. I met a young shooter from Philly and we chatted for a minute. He had those fancy dancy headphones on. I asked him what he was listening too and he replied 80’s rock. He asked if I listen to music while I work and I said, the street is my music. His head went back a little and his eyes squinted somewhat. He had that look my shrink gives me when he ask how I’m feeling and I tell him I don’t feel. Well, that’s the look.

He asked me if I was nervous about taking photos on the street and I told him I’m an American and I have The First Amendment as my protector. Then we sat and sipped some $50.00 burnt Starbucks wannabe coffee. He said he likes it and his wife does too and it was then I realized he was more fucked up then me. ….but we got into a conversation about making vs taking photos. Now it was I talk and he listened and sipped the Starbucks rustocoffee. So he wanted to know whar the difference was and could I explain it where it makes sense. So I sipped my spring water with a slice of lemon and started to explain about Intent and the aftermath of it.

After 15 minutes he started to understand and he thanked me for the free lesson. OMG, a lesson, ok dude, your welcome. I didn’t know it was a lesson and then, then all the sudden it occurred to me that everything in the universe has the ability to teach and to learn. So even on the streets making photos the energy you receive is equal to the energy you send. So your intent is to make photos but ya know, you aren’t in it alone. Those that think they ARE EITHER SUPER EGO MANIACS OR JUST FRUSTRATED WITH LIFE. If life is a give and take miracle then it stands to reason that photography is also. So that means that we think we are the origin of our work but that’s not true. We are not alone in life.

Our photographs and I am only talking about photography, are a collaboration between life and ourselves. We hope for and strive to find a synergism with the street and make the photos that represent that synergism. We can not rightfully state that we are the Origin of our work. There are those amongst us that think they are the Supreme Image Maker and that life had nothing to do with their work. Bullshit!

If your out there and your not tuned into life and the street, then you may as well drink that shitty coffee because your better off not destroying your energy. If you are like every reader that ever was or ever will be on this blog, then you are aware that you don’t take any photographs, you collaborate wit Mother Light and The Street and you make your photos.

Tomorrow is another day and if I wake and am healthy, I’m hitting the streets. I hear tell Life is out there and I’m gonna look for it.

…………………………………………………….end transmission……….shooter out…………………………………………………………………

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street Photography, Streetshooter

Ruth … The Olympus Pen EP-5 … Starts Working After 19 Months

March 31, 2015 streetshooter 4 Comments

A recap. I used to be an Admin at MU43.com and I really enjoyed the group and helping it grow. It also helped me with Micro 43 gear because the members there tested everything and posted results. So I was at home in the beginning because I loved the Pen EP-1 and ten the Pen EP-2 oh and let’s not forget the Pen EP-3 besides the Panasonic cameras and lenses.

Word came down the pike that I was leaving the forum and many wished me well and I went with BB to Amin’s other forum, Serious Compacts. Great place and crowd and many members belong to most of Amin’s forums.

Well time moved on and I heard the Pen EP-5 was being released and the specs turned me on. Ok, right from the git go, my preferred viewing system on a camera is the screen. I wrote and lectured extensively about that. So I waited a while to see what ppl were saying about the new Pen on the block. Maybe 6 months went by and finally I got a deal and bought the body. I still had a few lenses I didn’t sell so that was cool.

The camera is delivered and it’s beautiful. Olympus makes the Flagship Pens better than almost any other maker.

I open the box, put the 14mm on and wow, very happy. I decide that this camera is female and that it’s name would be Ruth after my mother. I knew it’s a good name and I was happy. Well after a week shooting and learning how the camera works and how it makes me think and work, I come homw and she’s on my shoulder. I swing her off the shoulder and there, there in the oddest place, there in the oddest place in the universe is a corner on my desk that wanted to see the camera up close. Smash!. Now there’s not much on THE LORD’S green earth that upsets me anymore. actually one thing that does is my own stupidity especially when I can’t blame someone else for what happened. I tried blaming the strap, the desk, the corner, can’t ever blame the camera. Mom always said,“I may not always be right, but I’m never wrong”. So I had to eat it and hold myself accountable.

So I contact Olympus and get a return authorization. I know that this is not covered but I don’t care, I want it fixed. The camera goes to Oly and the give me a price and I pay. The frame is mangled also that holds the tilting screen. Ok, fix it. Well about a week later the camera comes back in a beautiful box and I take it and put it on the shelf. 18 months later brings us to about now. The Pen EP-5 named Ruth has been lying in the shipping box from Oly and I never opened it. I don’t now what’s going on in my photo psyche at the moment but I do know I was to open the box and call the Pen-5 to duty. Box opening any camera is great but doing it with a Pen, well, there’s an excitement that surpasses opening an M camera. Oh, yeah, I opened many of them and this was more exciting to me.

I had already charged a battery the evening before. The elves and fairies were dancing in the air. The unicorns were standing by. Big Fish and all his friends were standing behind me waiting for the sacred moment of feeding the Pen-5 named Ruth here power to come to .

We got a call that Dr Frankenstein was on the way and he wanted to say the words that all Cameras worthy of a name love to here when the battery is inserted.“It’s alive, it’s alive”.

Tanya yelled up, Gene Wilder…uh..uh.. Dr Frankenstein is here. We were all at the ready. Everyone waited patiently to see Ruth the Pen-5 come back to life. So I took a deep breath, Winslow patted my shoulder to relax me. Like a surgeon, I opened her carefully. Her insides were exposed and I was careful to protect her. I put the battery in my right hand, picked Ruth up with my left and slowly inserted the power of life into her. There was nary a sound, not even a breath from anyone as the battery slowly butwith intent made it’s way in. Then, as if a miracle happened, the power of life battery was at home inside Ruth.

Everyone was supportive. Big Fish said, “Shooter, go for it son”. I looked around and all 1500ppl in my office were smiling at me giving me emotional support. I turned to Ruth the Pen-5 and put my hand on the switch to bring the power of Eye, Heart and Mind to focus on the moment of Power On Procedure. So I took a few deep breathe and felt Winslow patting my shoulder in support. I knew I wasn’t alone. I mean damn, 1500 ppl in my office and ppl doesn’t mean ppl, we had dragons, dinosaurs, fishes, fairies of all sorts and elves.

So, being the Veteran that I am I mustered up the courage to….FLIP THE SWITCH! Well, at once when the flipping procedure was completed, I could hear, awwww such a shame, will he be alright,..so sorry shooter, bummer and 21847 different things all in the matter of a few seconds.I looked at Ruth the Pen-5 and felt this sick feeling all the way to my soul. She didn’t start. Just a machine like some guys call a tool. No soul, no warmth, nothing, just a tool. PPL started leaving and after 45 seconds, I looked around and I was all alone, except for the dragon shit in the corner.

I get the return authorization and off she goes. I a phone call last week that they can see that I never used the camera from the shutter count but the warranty period is still over. The guy tells me that there’s serious damage to the circuit boards etc. Then he says, “Look shooter, if you pay $???? we will send you a brand new not reconditioned body just like yours. I kinda felt bad but relieved. I give him my credit card number and in 2 days, last week, there, there in the UPS man’s hand is a box that houses my new Pen-5. I quickly run up to the office and unpack the box. Now listen here folks, I didn’t tell all the friends about this so it’s kinda secret.

So I quickly put the battery in and low and behold, “She’s alive, she’s alive”.

Color, Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street

Fuji X100s … Juxtaposes an iPhone 6 on ThE StReeT

March 25, 2015 streetshooter 5 Comments

One of the most important uses of syntax in street is Juxtaposition. Some may call it contrast and they are right in a weigh. I don’t think it weighs enough so lets call it what it is, Juxtaposition. Without it, your photos won’t work. Juxtaposition is one of the most important elements in making photos. Just like exposure and a few other things, we need to be aware of the juxtaposition we are seeing and making. Hopefully it’s not an after thought but that happens sometimes, cool beans.

Well, I’m sure you all are aware that I was an Admin at Amin’s forums for a few years. I worked MU43 and really liked the activity. I bought tons of m43 gear and my favorite was always the Olympus Pen. I have the Pen 1, 2, 3 & 5. Well, my Pen 5 was a beautiful camera and it’s name is Ruth, after my mother. Not long after I had the Pen5, I accidentally hit the corner of a table and smashed the screen. So I sent the camera in to be repaired. When it came home, I never opened the box and just put it on the camera storage shelf. This shelf is different from the camera working shelf. We, I sold off most of my m43 gear and kept the 14-42 (28 – 84) and the 14mm 2.5. Maybe there’s something else down there, dunno.

So, here’s the point. I use Andre’ the Fuji X100s and Walker the Nikon Coolpix A. So, I’m thinking, if I take Ruth the Oly Pen 5 out, then she can sport the 28mm and the 50mm which is something the Nikon Coolpix can’t do. This exercise is due to me being old and lazy and not wanting to carry 3 cameras. So I go take the box with Ruth the Oly Pen5 off the shelf and anxiously open it up. It’s been maybe 19 months.

So I pre-charged the battery and look at the beautiful Pen5. Silver shining and the design that no other camera comes close to. Can’t wait, can’t wait. The batter goes in real nice and I sit back ready to redo the menu cause I figure Oly reset the camera. Hit the button and wait for the screen to light up. Hmmm me thinks something is wrong. Put the battery in the meter and low and behold, full charge.Well,I need Tums cause at this point my stomach is having hissy fits. I’m breathing and I’m a doing all the good things Vets in Therapy do to stay calm and not go off the deep edge.

Shit, ain’t nuttin working and especially the camera. I do everything, like the button reset that I know about from the forum. Ok, hit the phone.

Hi, it’s shooter in Philly. My camera was repaired and now it won’t start. Ok, I’ll hold on. 5 minutes later, we had your camera a year and a half ago, who worked on it since and what was the problem. Well, I never opened the box when you sent it back to me. I can hear smirks in the Oly office.

Ok, Mr Shooter, I’m sending you an email with instructions to send it in. We will look at it and notify you of the cost to repair it.

I’m a happy camper. I sent the camera and in 2 days, I get a call and an email. It’s an estimate for repairs. Well, it turns out that theelectronice are fried in the camera and some other things. I want my camera. I’ll pay but I want my camera.

Mr Shooter, give me your Card info and I’m hitting it for $227.95. It will be as new with a warranty. I authorize the repair cause I want mom back. My mom died years ago and this is the only Mom I got now.

So now I can’t wait to get her back and put her to use. I know one thing in this damn world, when it arrives, I’m opening the damn box and testing her out.

One of the cool things about juxtaposition is that you get to see it before you release the shutter. It actually becomes a star on the map of your photos….. you do see this before release …..right……?

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Streetshooter

Walker the Nikon Coolpix A … ain’t LoSt on the StReEt

March 16, 2015 streetshooter 4 Comments

As I get myself geared up for the season, I seem to be thinking the same way I always have. Imagine that. I have a thing for fixed focal length cameras. Andre’ the Fuji X100s sees 35mm and Walker the Nikon Coolpix A sees 28mm. These 2 focal lengths will do almost all my work for ever. As youse know, I picked up the Canon EOS M2 and lenses etc for it. It’s a nice camera and good quality but, it’s not my cup of tea. I knew that when I got it but wanted to see if this year would be different from last year, nope. I don’t like zoomie lenses and I can’t bond to that camera cause Walker and Andre’ do what I need. So I don’t need it and it’s being sold by tomorrow on the bay.

Funny thing. I’ve had every variation of the 28mm Elmarit for my M cameras. I got a pair of M6’s because I would use the 35mm lens and the 28mm on the second body. Nope, years of struggling and I never adapted to 28mm. I always used 35mm. So now digitally, I find the 28mm getting used a lot like the last 10 years maybe. I still love the 35mm FOV but no longer have issues with the 28mm. Now I need them both, the horror. Of course Penelope the Ricoh GRD4 does 28mm very well, in fact better than any camera ever released…but…I really like APS-C sensor. There’s just something about it that floats my boat. So I find myself with the Fuji X100s and Nikon Coolpix A and feel very well covered. That means anything else I have, hmmmm won’t get much use.

It’s been said that a good shooter can get a good shot with any camera. So what? What does that mean. I can get my photos with any camera, but so what, bunk to all that shit. I wanna use my cameras that I want to use. I ain’t using a camera that intrudes on my vision, you’ll know that, damn.

Ya know, we don’t get enough time to live let alone to make photos. We have that responsibility to do both with passion and in the way we choose to do it. That responsibility belongs to us at first and then if you choose, to others. You have to own yourself and do for yourself. If not, others will own you and you end up doing for them and you still get to die alone.When you release that shutter, all that you ever were and are at the moment of exposure is right there with you.

Why would anyone let others influence us to the point that we don’t recognize our selves or our work? It happens mostly out of a lack of confidence and the need for approval. The idea that others like what we do can and will steer us into a direction that may not be our chosen path but the path influenced by others. We are all guilty of this phenomenon in both ways and it’s ok as long as we recognize it as deal with it.

It’s when we refuse to recognize it or just don’t that we have problems. How do I know about this stuff? I’ll tellya. I have a shrink and he recognizes me even when I don’t. Whats your excuse?

Be blessed everyone.

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Street, Streetshooter

The Zone Of Awareness … Continued … But Not Finished

March 12, 2015 streetshooter 8 Comments

So it’s like kinda maybe just happen to be like above everyone else but only visually and connected with your eye, heart and mind. See, shooters are always in the same space and reality as everyone else but for real, they are connected to Mother Light in a way that they wait for her to grace their presence and give them a breath of light to share and experience and make their photos.

I can only explain what happens sometimes when I’m not interfering with the natural order of things. I say the natural order because there is a harmony in making photos. There exist a rhythm and beauty in life that one must try to tune into. Shooters can’t be themselves without dancing to the rhythm of life. This rhythm fills our essence and when the subject matter is present and the rhythm of life is in us and we allow our minds to dance freely then and only then will the shooter make photos that reflect the time of the moment of awareness. At the very time of release. all is accountable and all is suspect. If we dint get the photo as we visualized then something is wrong in our perception of time and space and how and where we fit in.

The value of the photo is what we desire it to be. If if reaches that range of acceptance to us, then the ultimate goal is achieved. Yeah sure, it’s nice to have ppl like our work. It’s sweet to sell the work and get shows and exhibitions. If this is the reason you work and find the value that others place on your work most important, well you are destined to die a very lonely death.

Your photos will not miss you because they are busy entertaining others and not you, the parent.

I was sitting at the desk that Ding had and he pulled some prints out for me to study. We looked Strand and Evans because Ding knew I was most in love with them. Of course Kertesz was in my brain and heart at all times. So Ding put back the Strands and the Evans prints and said, for you Don, we will chat with Andre’. Well it’s 1976 and Kertesz is still alive and I’m thinking that a visit is going to happen. I asked Ding when Andre’ was arriving cause I wanted to have my Leica ready.

He smiled and said, Don, here is Andre’ in total. He opened the box of prints I knew so very well. Ding said, as you go thru life remember this as you ever remember anything. Kertesz is the most important photographer that lived and worked in the moment. He never was outside life. I looked at the photos in a new way. I mean I could feel Andre’ in the work but more than that, I felt him inside me. I mean it’s as if I was aware of him in a way I had never understood before. I had tears in my eyes and Ding smiled. He said, Don I love how you take it all in and absorb life.

So I thought about this experience for decades and in fact, I’m in thought now. See, shooters must work from the heart. You gotta feel what your doing. Don’t give a fuck if anyone responds to your your work. You work for you. Ya know what, you work for me too because shooters make photos for themselves and for other shooters.

The awareness of your life is the presence you make and the photos you make. The camera will either be your tool and master or become your friend. In order for it to be your friend you have to surrender to the controls ppl place upon you. I take Walker the Nikon Coolpix A out and we are friends. We get into the moment to and work together to make photos that I can learn from and relate to. Maybe if things go well, someone else can relate to them also.

I feel that the most important thing to digest is that my photos for me represent the moment of awareness and dammit, I’m friggin’ loving that.

ok, gotta run the ambulance is outside to take me to my VA Doc…….he’s not a photographer byes………………………..

Dreamcatcher, Inspired Eye, Philosophy of Street, Streetshooter

Ansel Adams and the Zone System … One More Zone

March 11, 2015 streetshooter 12 Comments

Ansel set the stage for how we interpret the tonal range in our photos. The Zone System is the most followed course of work by the most dedicated shooters. It works and works well. I kinda think that there exist 1 more Zone that should be addressed.

The Zone I’m talking about is the Zone of Awareness. I suppose I have written about this many times over and over. I think I enjoy the rediscovery myself. I mean I love learning and relearning what I already know but take for granted because that’s what we do. It’s great to redo your stuff and when no one is looking, check your knowledge banks and recalibrate your way of thinking.

Photographers more than any other people have a tendency to repeat success. We get blinded by the idea that something works so we will do it over and over and even with variation to make a series or body of work, call it what you will.

So what we do is justify the failures we make so easy by using the photo that was a success to start a train of thought or series. Why is all this important? I’ll tell ya how I see it. Photographers really find it very easy to go to auto mode and kinda just drift and maybe make some photos that satisfy you. For most of us that’s enough and we are happy with this scenario. Now hold the F**K on! I am not one of those ppl but I have to write that I am so we are all equal in the shit we call the world.

If your out there and wandering around and shooting aimlessly and think it’s ok. Please move to the next blog. Let’s get something straight right from the get go. We are photographers, granted. We have different ideas, thoughts, working methods, desires cameras etc, etc.

There are a million variables, right. Well, hang it all up to dry. The common denominator is that we are all humans first and foremost. If your making photos of ppl then they are the same as you at the start. So what makes the serious shooter stand apart from the rest of the crowd? Awareness!

Awareness is what separates success from mediocrity. We can accept mediocrity from everyone around us but not from our selves. The Horror! It is an awareness of the self that makes us strive to do better for ourselves. It pushes us to perform better and to make images that work at the lever we want them to work.

So, that means to me that I have a responsibility to share what shit is in my mind with anyone that wants to digest it. I want the shit that’s in your mind so I can digest that. Ya know, here’s something so crazy it just might work. How about as shooters we share our work in different ways so that we all get the ideas of what other shooters think and feel.

Of course this is being done by many and it’s gonna catch on. What does this mean actually? I think it means that I want others to see what I was feeling and seeing and thinking as I’m working. I want other shooters to recognize the Zone that I strive to maintain as I work. I want the awareness of my self to be evident in the photos I make and share. This means that I will not be concerned about a level or success of the photos but only that the Intent shine thru and that the Eye, Heart and Mind cane be understood.

I’m doing more on this probably forever cause photography is my life’s work. Tomorrow more thoughts and photos…………………………………………………shooter out………………………

Street Photography Chronicles by Don Springer