I Love Photography!

It Takes Three. September 3, 2016.

More specifically, I love the process of taking photographs - the investigation of the scene and subject ... How will I compose the shot? How about from this point of view, or how about down low, or behind this bush? ... Where is the light? Why is the light so drab! ... I need a person in frame to really make this shot come alive. When is somebody going to walk by, it's been thirty seconds already! And so on.

Photography is a daily invitation to get in touch with myself and how I see the world through the viewfinder. Each subtle shift of the camera body is an opportunity to see something different, to notice small details that are often overlooked.

Of course, as everyone who's taken photos knows, the vast majority of images just don't work. They come out blurry and out of focus, or the composition doesn't draw the eye to the subject effectively, or the light is off, or there's a strange orange thingy sticking out of that person's head - why did I not see that when I clicked the shutter?!

Photography is a contemplative process that involves plenty of action: shifting position, leaping fences, lying on the ground, climbing a dumpster, moving forwards, crossing the street between alarming traffic. I love entering this spiritual space of noticing how my body is moved by the scene that I see, or that I imagine that I could see, and finding ways to move closer to that vision.

There are days that I come home despondent because the vision I had for a session just didn't come together. Maybe I was shooting in the middle of the day and just couldn't find anywhere the light was interesting. Perhaps there was a super colorful wall of graffiti, but I couldn't settle on the right angle to take the shot. Some days I simply feeling uninspired with no vision of what to shoot, and so everything looks uninteresting.

But Philly being Philly. Or cities being cities. Someone or something crosses my path and I think, Wow! That would make a great photo!

Walking out my front door for a photographic session I have no idea what's going to happen, what images I will come home with. What I do know is that I will get closer to my body and my spirit as I contemplate the world right in front of my eyes. I love photography!